From my first encounter with Agatha Christie--ironically, the novel where Hercule Poirot dies halfway through :)--I have only enjoyed reading more of her work. Only once in my readings have I ever correctly guessed "whodunit," and even then I thought it was someone else in the end. I have read many Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot novels, as well as all of the ones with Hastings in them.
Yes, it is true, all of Dame Agatha Christie's novels are extremely similar to each other. But the ending is
never as predictable as you think while reading it. Oddly enough, the feeling of superiority that you get from reading the novel is always deceptively untrue. I, personally, have learned not to be deceived by the simplicity and obviousness of her plots--nobody is EVER what you think they are!
Astonishingly, Christie wasn't just a really good murder novelist--her one work that was written only as a play has not stopped showing since October of 1952 when it debuted in West End. The play was also run in Ontario, beginning in August 1977, and running for 26 years! According to the terms of the contract, the play will not be released in book form in the United Kingdom until the show stops running. Also, until the
play closes in West End, it will never be made into a film.
All of this to say, yesterday was Agatha Christie's 12oth birthday, and I am glad that she lived. :)
David Suchet makes a marvelous Poirot! (Poirot is definitely my favorite detective)
