What do you think?
Rate this book
Murder-Go-Round: Thirteen at Dinner, The A.B.C. Murders, Funerals are Fatal
Agatha 3 Complete Hercule Poirot Murder Mysteries in one "Thirteen at Dinner", "The A.B.C. Murders" and "Funerals are Fatal". From the jacket cover's Here are three of the great Christie classics, notable for their breathtaking suspense, their deft characterizations, and for the superb detection by the incomparable Hercule Poirot. In "Thirteen at Dinner" the fatal stabbing of rich Lord Edgware was a perfect crime, until Poirot discovered the killer's one error and unraveled a super-intricate problem in murder. In "The A.B.C. Murders" Poirot received a series of leters, signed A.B.C., announcing when and where the killer would strike. In spite of the warnings, the police were powerless to save the innocent victims. Then the master detective produced a stunning surprise. In "Funerals are Fatal" Aunt Cora, one of Richard Abernethie's relatives, sugested that Richard's death was not quite natural. The next day another corpse was found. Aunt Cora had been murdered! Poirot, a stranger at the family gathering, watched and waited. Behind a mask of respectability someone was hiding a terrible secret.
638 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1953
6 people are currently reading
344 people want to read
About the author
Agatha Christie
5,817 books75.3k followersAgatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
January 14, 2012
Rating: a jolly, smiling 3* of five
Well, okay, this is my first group review of the new year. It's not really necessary to review anything by Agatha Christie at this late date, is it? So I'm not going to *review* review the three books I've just finished. I'm going to give a general impression of them.
In reading Christie's Poirot novels, one is transported to a time and a place where saying "one" wasn't looked upon as affected or uppish, it was simply using correct grammar. One is also reminded that Dame Ags was a beastly, beastly snob, an anti-Semite, a chauvinist, a racist, and one helluva good storyteller. Even though she really only told one story. Well, two, but the second one only once (The Murder of Roger Ackroyd wouldn't have worked twice from the same author). So happens that I like that story enough to read it multiple times.
I found a volume in our wine cellar called Murder-Go-Round, a three-in-one omnibus edition of Thirteen at Dinner, The A.B.C. Murders, and Funerals are Fatal. The first two were written when Dame A. wasn't yet sick unto death of Herc, so we still had Capt. Hastings narrating the books. He'd disappeared by the 1950s, when the fatal funeral was penned. (And may I say, go Aggie! Good call!) So while auntie's away and I've been pretending to be a walrus, lolling and grunting and scratching and napping, I've taken a few moments to pass these marvies before my eyes. Somehow, I've managed never to read a single one of them! Now having rectified my oversight, let me pass the remark: Oy.
This is NOT literature, this is NOT groundbreaking technical tour-de-force writing, this is plain ol' TV for the pre-television era. Same sort of thing as TV gives us now: Familiar faces with different names, doing the same things again and again, while we smile and nod (off) and pay very little real attention while being entertained. But it's Channel 4 TV, not BBC or Canal-Plus. Pseudo-high-brow, or middle-brow with pretensions...kind of the stuff one imagines Hyacinth Bucket reads between candlelight suppers. As such it's really a lot of fun, and David Suchet, the actor condemned forever and always to be the Face and the Moustaches of Poirot, would sound perfectly at home delivering any of the lines in the books.
Oh my oh my, have the plots dated! Someone discovers a painting, a Vermeer if you please, and it will fetch the princely sum of two thousand pounds! Someone commits a murder to resolve a minor social issue, by today's standards. Period pieces, one and all. Are they to be considered historical mysteries then? They're about as much related to today's world...but nay, they were written at the time when these problems were real and vital issues. So how to categorize them?
Fun. That is about the size of it. They're fun. And don't miss out just because you think the fun is fusty and needs a bit of tarting up! Just go along with Dame Agatha, there's a good little soldier, and see what fun you can have following little old ladies, short Belgian fops, and glamourous film staaahs about.
G'wan.
Well, okay, this is my first group review of the new year. It's not really necessary to review anything by Agatha Christie at this late date, is it? So I'm not going to *review* review the three books I've just finished. I'm going to give a general impression of them.
In reading Christie's Poirot novels, one is transported to a time and a place where saying "one" wasn't looked upon as affected or uppish, it was simply using correct grammar. One is also reminded that Dame Ags was a beastly, beastly snob, an anti-Semite, a chauvinist, a racist, and one helluva good storyteller. Even though she really only told one story. Well, two, but the second one only once (The Murder of Roger Ackroyd wouldn't have worked twice from the same author). So happens that I like that story enough to read it multiple times.
I found a volume in our wine cellar called Murder-Go-Round, a three-in-one omnibus edition of Thirteen at Dinner, The A.B.C. Murders, and Funerals are Fatal. The first two were written when Dame A. wasn't yet sick unto death of Herc, so we still had Capt. Hastings narrating the books. He'd disappeared by the 1950s, when the fatal funeral was penned. (And may I say, go Aggie! Good call!) So while auntie's away and I've been pretending to be a walrus, lolling and grunting and scratching and napping, I've taken a few moments to pass these marvies before my eyes. Somehow, I've managed never to read a single one of them! Now having rectified my oversight, let me pass the remark: Oy.
This is NOT literature, this is NOT groundbreaking technical tour-de-force writing, this is plain ol' TV for the pre-television era. Same sort of thing as TV gives us now: Familiar faces with different names, doing the same things again and again, while we smile and nod (off) and pay very little real attention while being entertained. But it's Channel 4 TV, not BBC or Canal-Plus. Pseudo-high-brow, or middle-brow with pretensions...kind of the stuff one imagines Hyacinth Bucket reads between candlelight suppers. As such it's really a lot of fun, and David Suchet, the actor condemned forever and always to be the Face and the Moustaches of Poirot, would sound perfectly at home delivering any of the lines in the books.
Oh my oh my, have the plots dated! Someone discovers a painting, a Vermeer if you please, and it will fetch the princely sum of two thousand pounds! Someone commits a murder to resolve a minor social issue, by today's standards. Period pieces, one and all. Are they to be considered historical mysteries then? They're about as much related to today's world...but nay, they were written at the time when these problems were real and vital issues. So how to categorize them?
Fun. That is about the size of it. They're fun. And don't miss out just because you think the fun is fusty and needs a bit of tarting up! Just go along with Dame Agatha, there's a good little soldier, and see what fun you can have following little old ladies, short Belgian fops, and glamourous film staaahs about.
G'wan.
July 18, 2020
I went into Murder-Go-Round with the intention of immersing myself in the time period these were written, rather than focus on how Christie holds up today. All of her plots are easily recognizable because so many of them have been used as the basic building blocks for countless stories in several genres. When you're partying as if it's 1939, which means you need to let your imagination wander a bit, the stories hold up better than if you were to compare them to similar stories of today, even when those stories are directly lifted from Christie's original.
I admit, I've never been a Poirot fan (or Marple for that matter), always preferring Christie's stand alone work. That made this book a bit of a slog for me. I enjoyed The A.B.C. murders well enough, but Thirteen At Dinner felt like it went on for thirteen hours. Funerals Are Fatal is entertaining, but feels more like it's there to fill space rather than compliment the two that came before it.
These stories were probably fascinating 80 years ago. But people no longer speak in winding sentences they way they did here. Today, what may have been common pre-1940 just sounds pretentious and phony now.
If you're a Christie fan, you've likely already read these stories as stand-alones, or as part of another collection early on in your budding fandom. The stories here aren't strong enough to recommend to a new reader. So, in the end, I'm not really sure who this book is aimed at. It's a good book to read on a train ride through a secluded, foggy mountain with a small group of strangers standing around drinking Highballs. Otherwise, meh.
I admit, I've never been a Poirot fan (or Marple for that matter), always preferring Christie's stand alone work. That made this book a bit of a slog for me. I enjoyed The A.B.C. murders well enough, but Thirteen At Dinner felt like it went on for thirteen hours. Funerals Are Fatal is entertaining, but feels more like it's there to fill space rather than compliment the two that came before it.
These stories were probably fascinating 80 years ago. But people no longer speak in winding sentences they way they did here. Today, what may have been common pre-1940 just sounds pretentious and phony now.
If you're a Christie fan, you've likely already read these stories as stand-alones, or as part of another collection early on in your budding fandom. The stories here aren't strong enough to recommend to a new reader. So, in the end, I'm not really sure who this book is aimed at. It's a good book to read on a train ride through a secluded, foggy mountain with a small group of strangers standing around drinking Highballs. Otherwise, meh.
February 9, 2021
Note: This review is only for The A.B.C. Murders.
Sometimes I just need a little Hercule Poirot in my life, and this was one of those weeks to disappear into another mystery. Poirot receives letter after letter warning him that someone will be murdered -- first in Andover, then in Bexhill, and then in Churston. How far will this killing spree continue, and who is the murderer? Interestingly we meet who we believe to be the killer very early on in the novel, a man whose initials are -- wait for it -- ABC. How will Poirot catch him, and is this all that meets the eye? As always you'll have to read along and see if you can figure it out in time (as always, I didn't).
Sometimes I just need a little Hercule Poirot in my life, and this was one of those weeks to disappear into another mystery. Poirot receives letter after letter warning him that someone will be murdered -- first in Andover, then in Bexhill, and then in Churston. How far will this killing spree continue, and who is the murderer? Interestingly we meet who we believe to be the killer very early on in the novel, a man whose initials are -- wait for it -- ABC. How will Poirot catch him, and is this all that meets the eye? As always you'll have to read along and see if you can figure it out in time (as always, I didn't).
July 12, 2022
I highly recommend this volume if you like classic Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot, in particular. The three stories are quite different and written in different time periods. A couple have a good deal of Poirot and one very little, as he comes in at the end to tie it all up. An enjoyable read!
April 10, 2019
Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot are always good but I'm not going to read 2 murder mysteries at a time again-I keep getting the stories mixed up.
February 10, 2022
All three books within the one are very well done whodunits. I love Christie’s style. The solutions are a wee bit far fetched but who cares, I enjoy the ride.
March 22, 2023
Thoroughly enjoyed all three books 🤗
October 12, 2016
Thirteen at Dinner book review
By Ned Graf
How can a detective solve a mystery with dead ends in all directions? Deceptive scheming, actresses switching identities? In the gripping novel Thirteen at Dinner by Agatha Christie, known as the queen of mystery, the beautiful actress Jane Wilkinson declared publicly how she must be rid of her husband, and when Lord Edgware was found dead, the case seemed straight forward. However, in a bizarre twist, she was at a dinner party miles away on the night of the crime, leaving the role of murderer wide open.
At the beginning of Thirteen at Dinner, Poirot and the narrator Captain Hastings attend a show where the talented Carlotta Adams played a variety of parts in different acts, showing how adept she is at changing her appearance, in particular one act imitation Jane Wilkerson. At the party afterwards, Jane Wilkerson herself approached Poirot, requesting he help “rid her” of her husband, so she could marry the powerful Duke. When she is spotted entering her husband's house for the first time in months the night of the murder, suspicion immediately falls on her. After she her alibi was found however, the blame fell to Carlotta Adams, who had already proved her talent for imitating Jane. Unfortunately, the case became even more complex when Carlotta Adams, is found dead the next morning.
Although her death was put down to an overdose of Veronal, the inquisitive Poirot was not satisfied with either murder. His “little grey cells” working on overdrive, he and Hastings discover a series of strong motives yet equally strong alibis. The Lord Edgwire’s daughter, Geraldine Marsh, who declared vehemently to have hated her father, was at the theater with her cousin, who inherited a small fortune at Lord Edgware’s death. Thirteen at Dinner intrigues the mind and grips the reader, yet as always, Agatha Christie gives enough evidence to solve the mystery.
I never used to read mysteries because they are hard to get into. After forcing myself through the beginning of a different Agatha Christie book, I finally realized how suspenseful and entertaining mystery books can be, and Thirteen at Dinner lives up to that expectation. Although I have never actually solved a mystery before Poirot, I enjoy the books nonetheless. I enjoy Hastings narration, because he never understands what Poirot is thinking, and the byplay between them is very amusing. Poirot often lectures Hastings about using his “little grey cells” driving Hastings crazy. Such a simple element influences this book in amazing ways, for no matter how good a plot, a good book is made by interesting characters, and Agatha Christie came up with two masterpieces in Poirot and Hastings.
If you have never read a mystery, Thirteen at Dinner would be an ideal book to start. It has some complex words and sentence structure, which was enjoyable to read and probably increased my vocabulary. More importantly, it was a gripping and clever mystery which has encouraged me to read more of them, and try to not just read sci-fi or fantasy books. In Thirteen at Dinner, Agatha Christie again has proved herself as the undisputed queen of mystery.
By Ned Graf
How can a detective solve a mystery with dead ends in all directions? Deceptive scheming, actresses switching identities? In the gripping novel Thirteen at Dinner by Agatha Christie, known as the queen of mystery, the beautiful actress Jane Wilkinson declared publicly how she must be rid of her husband, and when Lord Edgware was found dead, the case seemed straight forward. However, in a bizarre twist, she was at a dinner party miles away on the night of the crime, leaving the role of murderer wide open.
At the beginning of Thirteen at Dinner, Poirot and the narrator Captain Hastings attend a show where the talented Carlotta Adams played a variety of parts in different acts, showing how adept she is at changing her appearance, in particular one act imitation Jane Wilkerson. At the party afterwards, Jane Wilkerson herself approached Poirot, requesting he help “rid her” of her husband, so she could marry the powerful Duke. When she is spotted entering her husband's house for the first time in months the night of the murder, suspicion immediately falls on her. After she her alibi was found however, the blame fell to Carlotta Adams, who had already proved her talent for imitating Jane. Unfortunately, the case became even more complex when Carlotta Adams, is found dead the next morning.
Although her death was put down to an overdose of Veronal, the inquisitive Poirot was not satisfied with either murder. His “little grey cells” working on overdrive, he and Hastings discover a series of strong motives yet equally strong alibis. The Lord Edgwire’s daughter, Geraldine Marsh, who declared vehemently to have hated her father, was at the theater with her cousin, who inherited a small fortune at Lord Edgware’s death. Thirteen at Dinner intrigues the mind and grips the reader, yet as always, Agatha Christie gives enough evidence to solve the mystery.
I never used to read mysteries because they are hard to get into. After forcing myself through the beginning of a different Agatha Christie book, I finally realized how suspenseful and entertaining mystery books can be, and Thirteen at Dinner lives up to that expectation. Although I have never actually solved a mystery before Poirot, I enjoy the books nonetheless. I enjoy Hastings narration, because he never understands what Poirot is thinking, and the byplay between them is very amusing. Poirot often lectures Hastings about using his “little grey cells” driving Hastings crazy. Such a simple element influences this book in amazing ways, for no matter how good a plot, a good book is made by interesting characters, and Agatha Christie came up with two masterpieces in Poirot and Hastings.
If you have never read a mystery, Thirteen at Dinner would be an ideal book to start. It has some complex words and sentence structure, which was enjoyable to read and probably increased my vocabulary. More importantly, it was a gripping and clever mystery which has encouraged me to read more of them, and try to not just read sci-fi or fantasy books. In Thirteen at Dinner, Agatha Christie again has proved herself as the undisputed queen of mystery.
January 9, 2017
The story is good, especially the plot.
The best part of Agatha's writing is that the entire book is divided into small chapters, albeit perfectly articulated. This fact let you persuade your mind to be awake a little more and you end up sleeping 3 in the morning.
After finishing the book I inferred one important aspect of crime mysteries: there are two kind of people around whom the story revolves, 1) Dumb mob and 2) Intelligent beings. There is no one with normal IQ, with some sort of common sense. As always intelligent beings are few (in this book, the protagonist Hercule Poirot and the master mind behind the crime) and all others ( Mr. Hasting, Inspector Japp, others) fall under "Dumb mob" category.
As I mentioned the story is good and it does not start with a murder (for a change). There are heap of questions but Poirot picks just five and this is what i like about him. He and his grey cells work beautifully to see and analyze the most relevant. Each character and every event were examined thoroughly and i was keep on changing my guesses. Eventually it was when Poirot started narrating his finding and I was like "Yes, this was possible, he is right".
A good book to read and sleep satisfactorily once u are done reading it.
The best part of Agatha's writing is that the entire book is divided into small chapters, albeit perfectly articulated. This fact let you persuade your mind to be awake a little more and you end up sleeping 3 in the morning.
After finishing the book I inferred one important aspect of crime mysteries: there are two kind of people around whom the story revolves, 1) Dumb mob and 2) Intelligent beings. There is no one with normal IQ, with some sort of common sense. As always intelligent beings are few (in this book, the protagonist Hercule Poirot and the master mind behind the crime) and all others ( Mr. Hasting, Inspector Japp, others) fall under "Dumb mob" category.
As I mentioned the story is good and it does not start with a murder (for a change). There are heap of questions but Poirot picks just five and this is what i like about him. He and his grey cells work beautifully to see and analyze the most relevant. Each character and every event were examined thoroughly and i was keep on changing my guesses. Eventually it was when Poirot started narrating his finding and I was like "Yes, this was possible, he is right".
A good book to read and sleep satisfactorily once u are done reading it.
April 29, 2016
"Thirteen at Dinner" was sub-par at best. I'm a highly dedicated fan of Dame Agatha, but this just wasn't up to her normal standard. This book dragged and dragged. It failed to convey the sense of urgency and true mystery and intrigue the way her other books do. I think there was a bit of a character surplus as well. I just felt bored the whole time I was reading it. I must admit that my biased opinion towards Poirot (go Miss Marple!; down with Poirot!) might somewhat skew my opinion, but I have in the past enjoyed other books with him... So I don't know what happened... She must've had an off book or something...
April 26, 2012
Not my favorite Christie, but can't find too much to dislike. At first I thought she was a little heavy handed on the foreshadowing, and of course, the ending completely reversed that. Don't choose it as your first, but don't miss it.
June 25, 2008
I love Agatha Christie's books and this is a good collection of her stories. Mysteries are one of my favortie genres and I love her writing style.
July 27, 2008
Christie has always been a favorite. The three novels included here are classic Hercule Poirot.
March 21, 2009
Read Funerals are Fatal from this book. Very good.
August 2, 2009
Three good Agatha Christie stories for a weekend in bed with a sinus infection. I couldn't ask for better company along with a cup of tea and three felines!
January 5, 2010
Great ones in this three book book.
October 29, 2011
Typical, predictable Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot) murder mysteries.
June 25, 2013
Another great Hercule Poirot story - Thirteen at Dinner. Didn't read the others yet.
July 21, 2013
Not one of the best Agatha Christie books, but still a fun read.
August 26, 2014
Only read thirteen at dinner...fun agatha Christie read
July 19, 2018
Not that Agatha Christie needs another review, but I am new to the Hercule Poirot stories and although I usually don’t enjoy murder mysteries, these ones kept me guessing.
May 25, 2012
Only read 13 to dinner
June 26, 2017
Funerals are Fatal
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews