The Murder on the Links
by Agatha Christie
249 pages
William Morrow, 2011 (1923)
fiction / mystery
Finished in 2 days
Rating: ★★★★
"I believe that a well-known anecdote exists to the effect that a young writer, determined to make the commencement of his story forcible and original enough to catch and rivet the attention of the most blase of editors, penned the following sentence:
" 'Hell!' said the Duchess." "
Review: Immediately after finishing this book I watched the David Suchet BBC version. Let me start by saying that the televised version fell flat and short of the book, as I would expect. What harm would it have done to stay authentic to the characters, clues, and even the ending of the book? But let me move on...
This mystery is the second one Agatha Christie wrote about Hercule Poirot and his assistant Captain Hastings. Poirot is a Belgian detective who considers himself to be the best in the world. Well, in this case he meets his match with Giraud who considers HIMSELF to be the best. Instantly the competing begins between the two of them. All the while Hasings has fallen in love with a woman whose name he doesn't know and who just might turn out to be the killer. But he doesn't care. Like all the men in this case, he is willing to risk his life and career for the woman he loves.
This case involves a similar case that went somewhat unresolved 10 years earlier. But nothing gets past Hercule Poirot who keeps his "little grey cells" active at all times in order to solve the murder. I enjoy Agatha Christie's ease with which she is able to lay out the murder, the suspects and the clues all without giving it all away until she/Poirot are ready.
As with the previous case I was totally fooled until the last 10 pages when all was finally explained sufficiently. That is something else I like, she leaves nothing unexplained or nothing to the readers imagination. Sometimes it's good to clean up any loose ends that may have become exposed during the course of a mystery.
There is little more I need say except you should read at least ONE Agatha Christie book in your lifetime if only to figure out why she is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare!
Summary: An urgent cry
for help brings Hercule Poirot to France. But he arrives too late to
save his client, whose brutally stabbed body now lies facedown in a
shallow grave on a golf course.
But why is the dead man wearing
an overcoat that is too big for him? And for whom was the impassioned
love letter in the pocket? Before Poirot can answer these questions, the
case is turned upside down by the discovery of a second, identically
murdered corpse.…
To learn more about Agatha Christie, visit her site here.
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