Book #69 The A.B.C. Murders

The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I first read The A.B.C. Murders back in the 70s. Last week I watched the BBC TV adaptation starring John Malkovich as Hercule Poirot - Poirot, but not as you know him! I had to read the book again just to confirm what a travesty the BBC airing was! The book for the most part is narrated by Poirot's old friend Captain Arthur Hastings, O.B.E. who has returned in June 1935 from his ranch in South America to see to various affairs at home. He looks up his old friend who is now retired but still practiced his profession on occasion. The BBC for reasons best known to themselves completely omit Hastings from the cast list! DCI Japp figures prominently in Poirot's previous investigations and he plays his usual rôle in the book - BBC have him retired and bump him off with a heart attack in the first scene... And Malkovich? Well - he is not David Suchet!

Despite all of this, reading the book again so soon after the TV show was very rewarding. It did not spoil my enjoyment in the slightest. I won't go into the details of the plot as I am sure most of you will be familiar with it. The book really is Agatha Christie at her best. And those little grey cells? Don't get a mention on the BBC!





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Book #71 Murder on the Orient Express

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My first read of MOTOE was in the early 1970s with a second punt in the 1990s. This latest paperback edition is exclusive to Waterstones and it is a pity that the wonderful art-deco cover has not been reproduced. It was this that drew me to the novel, once again. It has been published to coincide with the latest screen adaptation directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot. He will find David Suchet a difficult act to follow!

There cannot be many, if any, in the Goodreads fraternity, who have not read Murder on the Orient Express so I won't dwell on the plot. It was a joy to read once more and reacquaint myself with the characters. Needless to say there were passages and events that I had completely forgotten and to follow the clue trail once again proved to be - difficult, even though I knew 'Who did it'!

Christie's evocation of the golden age of travel is sumptuous and it remains a desire of mine to travel on the Simplon-Orient Express, although I doubt that the romance, so endearingly described by Christie, could ever be the same.

I find myself now on a mission to revisit Christie's back catalogue. I have read most of them during the last forty years but the thrill, I am sure, will be the same. How about 'The Mystery of the Blue Train'. Anyone?

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