Agatha Christie Lovers discussion

Originally published 1940. Features Hercule Poirot.

Beautiful, young Elinor Carlisle stands serenely in the dock accused of the murder of Mary Gerrard, her rival in love. The evidence is damning: only Elinor had the motive, the opportunity and the means to administer the fatal poison. Yet, inside the hostile courtroom, one man still presumes Elinor is innocent until proven guilty; Hercule Poirot is all that stands between Elinor and the gallows...

I just finished it. Could not put it down over the weekend. I love the conversational style in this book.

I must psych myself to read this one.

Wikipedia explains the source of the title. It comes from a song from Act II, Scene IV of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night which is printed as an epigraph to the novel.

Come away, come away, death,
And in sad cypress let me be laid;
Fly away, fly away breath;
I am slain by a fair cruel maid.
My shroud of white, stuck all with yew,
O, prepare it!
My part of death, no one so true
Did share it.

I started it today.

Thanks for the quote, Victoria. Interesting!

I hope I can get this one. I had already read last months about 3 times.

My memory of this is that some of the psychology is spot on, and some of it is rather dodgy. I liked Poirot's words at the end, though: (view spoiler)[ "Don't you understand? With you she can be happy." (hide spoiler)]

finished it in a sitting. Its a reread for me, but as I had read it a long time ago, seemed like a fresh book.
The ending was a bit disappointing (view spoiler)[ Christie always manages to rope in some relative who's been missing or supposed to be dead or unknown to other family members to do the deed. I want someone who is known throughout to commit the crime so that the psychology behind the act would be more complex (hide spoiler)]

I'm 30% through and enjoying it so far. I don't seem to remember reading this one before, which is a bit of a surprise, as I've read MANY of her books. Unless I did read it and just forgot!

Smitha wrote: "finished it in a sitting. Its a reread for me, but as I had read it a long time ago, seemed like a fresh book.
The ending was a bit disappointing [spoilers removed]"

I agree. I found that complexity lacking. And the book has made me crave fish paste sandwiches...

This is one I haven't read many times, which is why this 'project' is great - it gets me to read some that I don't remember so well! I am almost halfway through, just to the point of the murder. Interesting that it occurs so far into the novel, but I think that Christie gets away at it by starting with Elinor in the dock, so we know it will happen and who will be accused, and then see everything leading up to it.

I just finished reading it a couple of day ago I enjoyed it. I had figured out who did it before the end of he book.

Just waiting until one of my holds comes in at the e-library and then I can get this one. Agatha Christie reminds summer vacation, and reading with my grandpa - who took my to library on the first day of my annual summer visit so we could stock up on Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock and spend many an evening side by side reading in tangent. Haven't read this in a while - looking forward to it and the discussion.

Janet wrote: "Just waiting until one of my holds comes in at the e-library and then I can get this one. Agatha Christie reminds summer vacation, and reading with my grandpa - who took my to library on the first..."

Me also. May be late in getting it read, but next months is one I read about 6 months back.

I finished it this morning. It was good, not her best IMO, but still a good book.

I'm glad I reread this one. I thought it was a good complicated puzzle, with interesting characters.

I really enjoyed this one. I rather like the way it all played out in court at the end and never would have suspected the ending and murderer!

I liked it a lot. Initially I was suspecting one of the big 3 main characters, but then had come to settle for one of the minor ones being the murderer. The court passages brought this book down from 5 to 4 stars, for me.

I really enjoyed this one. Classic Christie! If you're use to Agatha Christie, then the murderer wasn't shocking. It was exactly the kind of thing I expect from Dame Agatha and why I read her. If someone were new to her books, this might have been a really unexpected turn. I love that the doctor wanted her acquitted whether she was guilty or not! So sweet!

Thoroughly enjoyed re-reading this book. Especially after devouring the first four Inspector Gamache novels whom reminds me slightly of a modernized, Québécois version of Hercule Poiroit. This was like bumping into an old friend.

(view spoiler)[Did others find the ending/solution rather unlikely? How was the murderer going to collect the money without suspicion? (hide spoiler)]

This one incorporated a couple of truly classic Christie features. During the war she worked dispensing medications in a pharmacy. This is where she learned about poisons and often incorporates that knowledge into her books. She also was well known for using psychology and this one is heavy on that as well. One feature she used in this book that was a departure for her was the courtroom drama, which I enjoyed a great deal. I enjoyed this book very much even though it isn't ranked as one of her best.

Victoria_Grossack wrote: "Wikipedia explains the source of the title. It comes from a song from Act II, Scene IV of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night which is printed as an epigraph to the novel.

Come away, come away, death,
An..."

Thanks for sharing this quote. It not only explains the title but goes perfectly with the plot. I wonder if this passage inspired her to write the book or if the book suggested the quote to her. I've never read anything that speaks to that.

For me, this one is right in the middle- not one of my favorites but a good one. I had the baddie figured out halfway through but didn't know why until the end.

It took nearly 100 pages for Poirot to pop his egg-shaped head up!