Category: Mystery & Suspense

Written by Agatha Christie

SUMMARY:

First published in 1944, sporadic re-releases include this large-print, 316-page 1988 G.K. Hall & Co. paperback edition. 

Set in England during 1943-44, a series of seemingly unrelated and ordinary events unfold across several months. In September 1944, the participants subsequently converge at Lady Camilla Tressilian’s posh estate, Gull’s Point, at Saltcreek.  Among the scenes depicted are:

• Retired criminal defense attorney Mr. Treves contemplates his ‘zero hour’ concept of crime (i.e. homicide) where a collection of individuals (the culprit, the victim, and possible witnesses) will inexplicably converge upon the same place at the same time.
• After his botched suicide attempt, a despondent Andrew MacWhirter resentfully endures further indignity during his recuperation in a British hospital.
• An unknown psychopath sets out sinister plans for a date later that year in September.
• Scotland Yard’s Superintendent Battle ‘rescues’ his teenage daughter, Sylvia, from a private boarding school after she falsely confesses to a series of petty thefts.
• Pro tennis player Nevile Strange tries coaxing his much-younger current wife, Kay, into establishing a friendship with his ex-spouse, Audrey.  Hence, he suggests that they holiday together that fall at his stepmother’s riverside estate, Gull’s Point.
• The elderly Lady Tressilian is hostile towards Nevile’s (her late husband’s ward) likely self-serving intentions.       

Assembled that fall at Saltcreek are: Nevile and Kay Strange; Audrey Strange; Ted Latimer (Kay’s friend); Thomas Royde (Audrey’s cousin); and trusted family friend Mr. Treves, as proximity intermingles their vacations.  Lady Tressilian and her distant cousin/live-in companion, Mary Aldin, invite these guests for dinner a September night at Gull’s Point.  Jealousy and simmering old wounds reopen amongst them, as one person inexplicably dies before the next morning.

Far more shocking is a second death where the victim is brutally murdered in a locked-room mystery.  Soon called upon is Superintendent Battle, who is presently visiting his nephew: Saltcreek’s Inspector James Leach.  In their criminal probe, Battle and Leach recognize that the crime scene implicates Nevile Strange.  Yet, resolution isn’t so easy, as Battle suspects that someone is cleverly framing Nevile.

Once the preponderance of evidence shifts again, Battle must initiate his own decisive endgame to ensure justice prevails.

Notes: This title is Superintendent Battle’s fifth and final appearance in Christie’s works (though Poirot later mentions him).  Battle had previously appeared in 1925’s The Secret of Chimneys; its 1929 spin-off sequel, The Seven Dials Mystery; 1936’s Cards On The Table team-up with Poirot, Ariadne Oliver, and Colonel Race; and a cameo in 1939’s Murder Is Easy (aka Easy To Kill).      

As far as Towards Zero’s recent TV adaptations go, there is a same-named 2007 TV episode of Agatha Christie’s Marple where Battle is replaced by a generic Superintendent.  A loose French interpretation is a 2019 TV episode from Les Petits Meurtres d’Agatha Christie (aka The Little Murders of Agatha Christie / Agatha Christie’s Criminal Games). 

At this time, a new BBC TV mini-series is in production.  The casting of Battle (or another surrogate) hasn’t been disclosed; given the announced cast, the actor is most likely Matthew Rhys.  Interestingly, still another Battle is in progress.  Currently, Netflix is filming a mini-series adaptation of The Seven Dials Mystery.  Sherlock’s Martin Freeman reportedly has been cast as Battle – a rare instance of the character appearing on screen.

REVIEW:

Considering this novel’s 80^th Anniversary, one at least gets a decent read.  Yet, as to why Towards Zero frankly rates among Agatha Christie’s middling works, there are multiple reasons: 

1. The potential for intriguing plot threads is undermined by a relatively bland whodunnit bearing too few actual surprises.    
2. Towards Zero’s gimmickry suggests a Hercule Poirot-style mystery. As Christie fans know, Superintendent Battle’s low-key presence falls far short of her legendary Belgian sleuth’s star power.  More so, even substituting Poirot in for Battle can’t make the culprit’s devious methodology any less implausible. 
3. Aside from a mostly dull Battle, the novel lacks memorable characters to make one sufficiently care about the mystery’s climax – let alone the fates of various players. 
4. In reference to the above reasons, late plot contrivances will leave readers’ eyes rolling, regardless of generation. 

If anything, various plot elements (i.e. how Daniel Craig’s flamboyant sleuth, Benoit Blanc, comes off like an amalgam of Battle and Poirot), makes Towards Zero perhaps the closest Christie work resembling Rian Johnson’s 2019 Knives Out film.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

A table of contents is included.  The 18-point Plantin font, as expected, is easily readable.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                        5 Stars

Written by Agatha Christie

SUMMARY:

First published in 1953 in both the United States and the United Kingdom, this 286-page William Morrow paperback reprint was released in 2014.

After the sudden passing of elderly English millionaire, Richard Abernethie, a will reading is held by his trusted family attorney, Mr. Entwhistle.  Invited to the posh family mansion, Enderby Hall, are Richard’s surviving heirs, including his adult nieces and nephews; two sisters-in-law; and his youngest sister: the eccentric and middle-aged Cora Lansquenet.  Routine revelations by Entwhistle of Richard’s will inexplicably spurn Cora to opine that: one, that Richard was murdered; and two, that his homicide has been discreetly hushed up. 

Perturbed to varying degrees by Cora’s outlandish comments, Entwhistle and the various Abernethie family members go their separate ways in returning home.  Yet, the shockingly savage homicide of the reclusive Cora within forty-eight hours prompts Entwhistle to consult London’s premier sleuth: Hercule Poirot.  The Belgian private detective’s arsenal of ‘little grey cells’ must then determine how Richard’s seemingly natural demise correlates to that of his brutally murdered sister.  More so, the subsequent attempted poisoning of Cora’s best friend and live-in companion, Miss Gilchrist, adds further sinister complications. 

The truth may ultimately rest with one family heir, who had vaguely sensed something awry when Cora had blurted out her conspiracy theory at the will reading. That is, if the desperate culprit doesn’t eliminate this potential witness first to ensure the success of a shrewdly constructed crime.  

Note: This title has been released in multiple formats, including digitally and audiobook.

REVIEW:

For a cozy mystery, After The Funeral is more complex and slightly better than average within the genre – as far as ensuring readers a good night’s sleep. If compared to the Hercule Poirot franchise’s upper echelon, however, one merely gets an unremarkable whodunnit. 

In part, Agatha Christie’s intriguing premise becomes bogged down by a confusing overload of Abernethie family suspects, not to mention a somewhat languid pace. Though some engaging characters emerge (i.e. Entwhistle, Susan Banks, and Helen Abernethie), none shine brightly enough to surpass the ordinary ‘screen time’ that Christie has allotted them. It’s ironic that the welcome plausibility (and shades of ambiguity) After The Funeral’s guest characters imbue this storyline with doesn’t inspire a more meaningful enigma for Poirot to decipher.

Poirot’s own waning star power is problematic, too. Frankly, his low-key sleuthing makes one wonder about the supplemental efforts by Entwhistle, Inspector Morton, and a few of the Abernethies. For instance, might After The Funeral have been a better whodunnit without involving Poirot, i.e. along the lines of Crooked House or Ordeal By Innocence? With minimal tweaking (such as Inspector Morton and Entwhistle splitting Poirot’s contributions), a character like Susan Banks might have been an excellent addition to Christie’s collection of amateur sleuths.

Removing Poirot altogether, unfortunately, doesn’t fix the novel’s biggest weakness. Specifically, After The Funeral lacks exhilarating moments of suspense or unique plot twists that will reverberate with readers afterwards. That’s really the prime reason why this Poirot caper is all too easy to forget by mystery buffs.

The flip side is Christie still concocts a readable plot that diligently pecks away at self-involved aspects of human nature (i.e. greed) that any number of cozy mysteries so often explore. Hence, this subdued Poirot whodunnit is best found at the library or a discount book sale.         

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

This edition starts with a page-length Christie biography.  Sophie Hannah (who currently writes new entries in the Poirot franchise) pens a brief introduction.  Specifically, she teases this storyline’s ‘nontransferable motive,’ where only its culprit would commit the murder for a specific reason. 

Of more practical benefit (preceding Chapter One) is a brief Abernethie family tree establishing the surviving family members by name and relationship.    

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                    5½ Stars

Written by Agatha Christie

SUMMARY:

Released in both the U.S. and the U.K. in 1941, N or M? is Agatha Christie’s third novel depicting married British adventurers Tommy & Tuppence Beresford.  Among its subsequent reprints, Penguin Group, Inc.’s Signet imprint released N or M? as a mass market edition in 2000.  In terms of the franchise’s continuity timetable, N or M? is set approximately twenty years after the episodic events of Partners in Crime.      

Note: The “Tommy & Tuppence” series also consists of: The Secret Adversary (1922); Partners in Crime (1929); By the Pricking of My Thumbs (1968); and, lastly, Postern of Fate (1973). 

Aside from successfully raising twins, Derek and Deborah, into adulthood, it isn’t revealed what else Agatha Christie’s patriotic detective couple has pursued in the interim.  With World War II raging on in Western Europe, Tommy & Tuppence Beresford (now in their mid-forties) have been rejected from the British war effort, essentially due to age discrimination.  With a new generation (including their own children) fighting this war, Tommy and Tuppence find they have too little to do fulfilling their ‘empty nest’ phase in life.   

A British spy’s unsolved homicide necessitates a back-channel invitation to Tommy to rejoin British Intelligence.  Aware that the Nazis are systemically infiltrating the United Kingdom to organize a subsequent invasion, the British Secret Service’s upper echelon senses it, too, has likely been breached. 

Needing a trusted face who has been ‘off the grid’ for years, the Service’s Mr. Grant sends in an undercover Tommy to probe a low-key seaside village, Leahampton.  It is suspected that two shadowy Nazi conspirators dubbed ‘N’ and ‘M’ (one man and one woman) are somehow linked to the local Sans Souci Hotel.  Covertly overhearing what Grant and Tommy intend to do, Tuppence opts to make this mission a joint invitation. 

Posing separately as the widowed ‘Mrs. Blenkensop’ and widower ‘Mr. Meadowes,’ the Beresfords infiltrate the middle-class Sans Souci Hotel. Their new neighbors include: a middled-aged couple – The Cayleys; an embittered German refugee – Carl von Deinim; Mrs. Sprot and her playful toddler, Betty; crochety Major Bletchley; a spinster – Miss Minton; and the hotel’s manager, Mrs. Perenna, with her outspoken daughter, Sheila.  All too predictably, the hotel’s residents exhibit varying degrees of patriotic antipathy towards Germany. Also, living nearby is retired Commander Haydock, who gladly shares tales of how his cliffside home had once housed a German spy ring.       

Accumulating evidence of ransacked rooms, eavesdropped phone calls, a woman’s violent death, and a missing girl, Tuppence and Tommy uneasily conclude that their sting operation is rattling their unknown adversaries.  More so, it’s apparent that eliminating pesky nuisances is a task that neither ‘N’ or ‘M’ have any qualms with. After Tommy ominously disappears from sight, a worried ‘Mrs. Blekensop’ must rely upon an old friend for some emergency help. With time now running out, Tuppence redoubles her efforts to bring the Sans Souci enigma to a definitive end. 

REVIEW:

N or M? initially presents an intriguing whatever-happened-to-Tommy & Tuppence? premise.  More so, this storyline is consistent with the Beresfords’ established personalities, as to why they would jump at the chance to rejoin British Intelligence, if and when called upon.  Amidst wartime spy games, Christie has imbued the middle-aged Beresfords with a plausible sense of real-time evolution.  It’s a commendable literary trait that neither of Christie’s most famous creations, Hercule Poirot and Ms. Jane Marple, ever attained.     

Yet, the Beresfords are hampered by a surplus of unsurprising irony.  Spry, tongue-in-cheek entertainment emanating from the couple’s youthful, post-World War I escapades remains timeless – a century ago, Tommy & Tuppence became the genre template for romantic detective duos.  After stoking a few promising chapters, N or M?, unfortunately, initiates their franchise’s slide towards midlife tedium.    

Such disappointment mostly lies with N or M’s far too methodical take on espionage capers.  The plot’s machinations, in other words, unnecessarily unfold at a tortoise’s pace.  One could argue that Christie’s patient storytelling isn’t cheating her readers, as opposed to churning out a fast-paced, shallow potboiler leaving no impact.  The problem is really more such dull execution of this mystery where long stretches go by with little to no progress.      

For instance, far too much ink is allotted to the Beresfords’ cover identities: how many times does Christie really need to address Tuppence by her ‘Mrs. Blenkensop’ alias?  Or how often must Tuppence discuss her cover story’s fictional sons with various Sans Souci housemates?  For that matter, how many jabbing reminders of the Beresfords as restless empty-nesters are sufficient?  Aside from the British Intelligence contact, Mr. Grant, an absence of interesting suspects merely exacerbates a slow read.

One component, however, that N or M? excels at is depicting Tuppence’s remarkable competence as a veteran detective.  Her undercover sequences subtly deploying traps baiting Sans Souci’s possible moles implies someone with formal spy training.  The same applies to a late sequence where she grimly stares down the threat of excruciating torture by a Nazi captor.  The fact that she is the same Tuppence previously defined by flighty impulsiveness, intuitive reasoning, and a flamboyant hat collection makes such scenes a treat to read.  As the novel’s MVP, Tuppence’s climatic heroism compensates for her husband’s bland characterization and minimal plot contributions.

Lastly, in addition to a nice introduction, Christie ensures that readers are bookended by a satisfying climax and conveniently happy epilogue.  It just leaves one with a shrug or sigh that a lackluster mystery is stuck in between them.  For that reason, the middling N or M? makes a practical bedtime read, as far as facilitating drowsiness.        

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

There is a sparse, single-page Christie bio.   

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                    4 Stars