Some thoughts on reading Agatha Christie

The body in the library (2023)

One new author that I read a lot of (mostly last year) and enjoyed was Agatha Christie so I thought I make a list about that. This list is mostly based on reading 12 Miss Marple novels, 1 Miss Marple short story collection, 33 Hercule Poirot novels, 1 Hercule Poirot short story collection, 4 Superintendent Battle novels, 5 Tommy & Tuppence Mystery and 5 standalones. (I also read a novelization of one of Christe's plays by Charles Osborne which I wish to forget.) I maybe mostly refer to Poirot and Miss Marple books since I read them the most. Here are some of my thoughts on Christie's books:

01 - The mysteries are not easy to solve — I only guessed right who did it for two or maybe three books but that's it. Perhaps if you carefully read and examine every detail, maybe you can solve the mysteries but for me, I don't always care to solve the mystery. I enjoy seeing the detective's progress instead. I think there are certain knowledge and obscure facts that the reader doesn't know or will never know because they have not lived in those time period or in England so not every mystery can be solved by the reader, at least, in my opinion.

02 - Hercule Poirot is an unlikable character and yet, I like him — He is often described as having a large mustache, wears leather shoes that are often too tight and very often described as 'a little man.' I don't think five-feet-four-inches is little but that's coming from Captain Hasting who is taller than Poirot. What we know about Poirot mostly comes from Captain Hastings' point of view so perhaps, it's a bit bias.
    I do find Poirot is someone who knows the human heart quite well. Certainly, he always seem to know what people are thinking or had thought. But we don't know much about his history. All I can remember reading is Poirot was a former policeman and had been injured somehow. And Poirot sometimes talks in third person — this bothers me a bit. So perhaps he is conceited but that's no reason to talk in third-person. I don't know, I just don't like it when people talk about themselves in the third-person especially out loud.

"I do not need to bend and measure the footprints and pick up the cigarette ends and examine the bent blades of grass. It is enough for me to sit back in my chair and think."
— Hercule Poirot from Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie

03 - Miss Marple is simply a terrific character that we hardly know anything about —  Even after reading the short stories and novels, I don't think I know much about Miss Marple at all. I know her first name is Jane and she has never married, likes to knit and garden and has nephews and nieces but I can't say anything else with certainly. We know nothing about her life before her sleuthing days. But we have to know that the books aren't about the detective or the amateur sleuth, it's more about the crime and the people involved. I do like Miss Marple and if asked, I would say I like her more than Hercule Poirot.

“I’m very ordinary. An ordinary rather scatty old lady. And that of course is very good camouflage.”
— Miss Marple from Nemesis by Agatha Christie

04 - Most of the characters are kind of racist — This didn't bother me much because most of the characters aren't likable anyway. They do, however, keep referring to Hercule Poirot as a foreigner and not to be trusted.

05 - I didn't like Captain Hastings at first — I didn't quite like him in the first book but I like him better after that. I found him annoying in the first book. The fact that he has a wife (I think he got married in book 2 & had two children) was kind of surprising because he seemed like a bachelor at all times. Why he went around the country with Poirot while his wife is at home is a bit odd to me but maybe in those days, that's what men do. It's very odd that Hastings was only in a few books but I seem to remember his character more than the others but he is mentioned when he's not around.

06 - Poirot speaks French and everyone just ignores it —  Speaking French is true to his character but every single person in England (as this is where every books is set) speaks and understands French? Maybe there was one or two person who asked for a translation but most of them, I assumed, either they understood him or they ignored the French words. This bothered me at first but now I just accept it as a quirk.

07 - Mrs. Ariadne Oliver is a fun character — I think she's basically Christie but perhaps a little more cartoonish, impulsive, and kind of aloof. I think of her similar to Poirot but not as picky about things. I like her character but probably in small doses.

08 - Lots of murderers ended in suicide - In those times, people gets hang if they are convicted of murder and I guess suicide is the easier way out. Poirot even sometimes gave these people time to do it. I'm not sure I like it and yet, these people are going to be killed anyway so perhaps it's a mercy?

09 - Superintendent Battle is a large man — That's all I know about him other than he's married and he has a daughter. His character is like those detectives that are calm and rarely do anything out of sorts, like a good cop but that's about it. There are very of little him in the books.

10 - There seemed to be a lot of rushed romances/rushed marriages at the end of some of the books — Romance here seemed kind of the sort of thing people just do without any prolong thinking or courting. People keep getting engaged or getting married having after met each other for a day or less. I don't read these books for romances so it didn't bother me much. I did think one woman rushing to marry a guy she had only known for a day (probably like twenty minutes if you count the actual time) knowing he had tried to commit suicide is a bit extreme. Suicide is not something you can just dismiss but I guess she could but she was married to a homicidal maniac so maybe she can handle a fellow who had tried suicide even if she knew nothing about the man.

11 - There are more than one versions of some of Christie's earlier books — The versions I read are mostly re-edited versions but I probably wouldn't know which ones are edited but I did read an old version of one of the Poirot books and then a newer version of it so I know there are changes. I suppose some of the books are edited to remove some racist things but I don't know, I think some are just edited for no reason. I suppose there's no point in reading the original versions since it's mostly minor changes and yet, I do wonder if I'm missing anything. (Project Gutenberg has some of Christie's earlier books over here).

12 - Not a lot of dialogue tags — Sometimes a conversation happens but there are no tags so you kind of have to guess who started speaking first. This might be due to the fact that if someone speaks, the dialogues are on its own paragraph without any tags. I don't understand this way of writing but it's probably a style.

13 - Tommy & Tuppence are not murder mysteries — So yes, there are murders and there are mysteries but it just seemed something wasn't there to make them murder mysteries. Plus Tommy & Tuppence do more undercover works and less detective works. They seemed rather like children playing spy games and even when their characters are older/middle age, they still seemed like they were children. I actually thought these would be like lighter books with more fun in them because of the names and titles but they do seem lighter in tone but I couldn't find the fun in them.

14 - The standalones are mostly enjoyable — I didn't read a lot of them but I find them just okay. Somehow without Miss Marple or Poirot, it just wasn't as enjoyable. I think if I haven't read any Miss Marple or Poirot, I might enjoyed them a lot better.

15 - Conclusion: I do enjoy Christie's books but more if they are a Poirot or a Miss Marple mystery —  I'm doubting I'll read the Hercule Poirot books by Sophie Hannah. Nor will I read Christie's romance books (written under Mary Westmacott) as I don't really have a strong desire to read them. If you want to know more about Christie's books or the author, go to www.agathachristie.com.

Have you read any Agatha Christie books? If so, what do you think of them?