‘It was Agatha all along’ why Agatha Christie is undoubtably the best

We all know that Agatha Christie is the greatest mystery writer of all time. 

You’ve probably heard a lot of compliments about Agatha Christie over the years. She writes the best plot twists. She defined the future of popular fiction. Every thriller writer currently publishing is writing in her shadow. With The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Agatha Christie confirms her legacy. She is undoubtably the greatest. 

I am in no ways a Christie expert (that title is reserved for a couple of my closest friends), but I have read a fair few of her novels over the past few years. During the first lockdown, I discovered how much I love a murder mystery (as opposed to contemporary thriller fiction). There is something about the dynamics of family, friends, or strangers stuck in one singular location that just appeals to me… I think this is partly the reason that I love a dinner party trope (yes Fleabag, I am looking at you). I found myself bored of reading about middle aged alcoholic women who are unrealisable narrators (partly because they are an alcoholic, partly because the author is judging their unfeminine approach to motherhood). The murder mystery might have a longer tradition (and for some be an overdone genre full of tropes), but the atmosphere is always great. They create a pressure cooker that reveals the worst in everyone involved. The distinction between the two genres relies heavily on the vibe for me. While both include different tropes, conventions, and narrative structure, the main difference between the two is that murder mysteries infuse the disturbing with the desired (most typically wealth).

As I became obsessed with novels like Lucy Folely’s The Guest List and films like Knives Out, I had to try out the queen of the genre. In some ways it is embrassing how little I knew about Agatha Christie’s work before picking one up. I am not ashamed to say that the main source of my knowledge is ‘The Unicorn and The Wasp’ episode of Doctor Who. In my humble opinion, this is one of the greatest Doctor Who episodes of all time. It features the best Doctor and companion due (David Tennant and Catherine Tate are second to none), a selection of iconic scenes (it is hard to forget the scene where the doctor requires something salty, but not as salty as salt), and it features many up and coming actors (watching it now, you may be surprised to notice that future Oscar nominee Felicity Jones has a major role). Yet despite knowing far too much about this episode, I knew very little about miss Christie herself. Basically, I knew that she once went missing and could name her most iconic titles. I was basically a civilian.

The first novel I picked up was And Then There Were None and this is hands down one of my favourite book concepts of all time. Since reading, I just have to pick up any book focusing on a group where one person dies on by one (and there are quite a few, Ruth Ware’s One by One being just one of a long list). With this novel Agatha Christie proved herself to be the creator of the best plots and concepts. Even though the who-done-it is perhaps not the most exciting reveal, the rest of the novel more than makes up for it. This is one reason why Christie is so great, the enjoyment of her books does not rely heavily on their ending. Many a thriller has been ruined by an ending that doesn’t quite make sense, but you won’t be upset by a Christie ending. Every detail is carefully plotted and designed. Regardless of whether you like her reveals, you cannot deny that it makes perfect sense. You couldn’t make a hole in them if you were a hole puncher.

Immediately after finishing this book (I mean this more literally then you are perhaps imagining) I picked up Murder on the Orient Express and this novel features my favourite plot twist I have ever read. I did start this novel knowing that she features this twist in one of her stories and yet I was still shocked and blown away. It is another perfect ending to a novel.

Since then, I have read a few more novels including Halloween Party, Death on the Nile, and The ABC Murders and I thoroughly enjoyed all of them (although, I did find Christie’s repetition of how annoying the murdered child Joyce is beyond frustrating). I was also privileged to witness the immersive experience of The Mousetrap. It was this fantastic play (and my friend Tyler) that finally encouraged me to pick up another of Christie’s iconic titles, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. This book made me realise what others have known for a long time. Agatha Christie is the greatest mystery writer of all time.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is another classic murder mystery and yet it subverts all of the traditions masterfully. It is the perfect mix of the known and the unexpected. Set in a small village, a widow dies and soon afterwards so does her dear friend Roger Ackroyd. The novel follows a local doctor and, everyone’s favourite detective Poirot, as they unpick this chain of events. What made this reading experience totally unique was that I guessed the ending AND I still loved it. I managed to predict who the murderer was and decipher a major earlier reveal. Don’t worry, this blog is not now going to turn into a lengthy humble brag. Instead, I am going to reassure that I am very dumb. The murderer normally has one over me. It is very rare for me to guess a who-done-it, and even in the rare case that I do, I never get all the details. This is why I was in love with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (in fact, I enjoyed it so much that I would call it my favourite mystery novel of all time). Even though I guessed what is for many a shocking reveal, I had less than no idea of how it could work. Christie is truly the master of making what civilians think as impossible entirely plausible within her world. When reading her novels, you are never unaware that she is far more intelligent than you are.

This blog post has been leading up to one final conclusion and it is one I have basically already stated earlier. No one ends a mystery like Agatha Christie. Sure, a writer might use the same concept or trope as Christie, but they cannot write like her at all. They cannot make you like a controversial ending, love a twist you knew was coming, or fascinated to disocver how who did it actually did it. The enjoyment of her novels does not rest on the ending, because her endings are always so well connected to the entire novel. No one writes an ending like Agatha Christie because they add an ending to their novel rather than naturally draw an ending out of a satisfying plot.

Exploring Agatha Christie

In the past couple of months, I have read 4 different Agatha Christie novels – before this, I had literally never read one of her books. After doing a quiz on Agatha Christie and watching Knives Out I had a real itching to read some mysteries and I thought I should obviously start with the master. I also came to the conclusion that I prefer a whodunnit rather than a psychological thriller – mystery is often not a genre I pick up because I don’t find it fulfilling, but I do like a whodunnit. I thought I would test this theory out! Below I am going to discuss my feelings on the whodunnit murder mystery genre and see whether it is something that I like.

Before I discuss the Agatha Christie novels I read I think it is worth mentioning that I did read other mysteries during this period. I read The Guest List by Lucy Foley and The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Tutton. Both of these books I wanted to read because they gave me Agatha Christie vibes. The Guest List has a premise that reminds me of And Then There Were None and The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle reminded me of the stereotypical idea of an Agatha Christie novel with a twist. Both of these books I have mixed feelings about – more so than any of Agatha Christie’s novels. I liked some of the reveals but I wasn’t blown away by any of them – while some reveals were shocking they didn’t make me amazed by how clever it was. However, I must say that I don’t think the genre satisfies me in the way other genres are able to – I am not currently sure if I would ever rate one 5/5 stars. To hear more of my specific thoughts on these books, check out my July Wrap up.

Now onto Agatha Christie.

My favourite, and the first, book of her’s I read is And Then There Were None. I have mentioned many times on this blog how I flew through this book – after about 50 pages I was thoroughly engaged and couldn’t put it down. The reveal wasn’t my favourite, but I think that was more how it was done rather than the reveal itself. I found this book so intriguing and the plot of the novel was so different too other mysteries.

I also read Murder on the Orient Express. My experience of reading this book was definitely impacted by the fact that I knew how one of her books ended (without knowing what book it was) and it happened to be the ending of this one. Despite this, I think it is a fantastic novel – again I read this really quickly and was so interested in the clues and what was happening.

Sparkling Cyanide, the most recent of her books I have read failed to draw me in. This book has a slightly different structure and felt much slower.

Ultimately, I do think that murder mystery whodunnits are a genre that I really like. I just need to be more selective with what I read and perhaps not read so many of them in such a short period of time. This year I have found that I read a lot of the same thing (generally an easy to read genre) and then I have less of an interest in it going forward – I did the same thing with the romance genre earlier on this year. Hence, I should try and vary what I read more than I currently do. I imagine if I read one a month or every other month they might be able to have more of an impact on me.

I am, however, planning to read ABC Murders soon so my opinions might change even more – I will let you know if they do. I know I probably shouldn’t read another one so close to reading the last one, but I am doing it for a readathon so I don’t feel so bad about it.

I also think to test if whodunnits are my favourite mysteries I might need to read more of the genre. I think I might in the future aim to read a few domestic mysteries, or some other subsections of the genre, to test this out fully. I think I will give this a rest for the time being though.

Wrapping It Up June 2020: Books I Read

I am really enjoying reading at the moment so hopefully, this should be reflected in how many books I will read this month.

Wise Children by Angela Carter

I thought I would enjoy this book more than I did. It was not a bad book, I think I just had high expectations for it. Angela Carter is a great writer but there is something about her work that is unable to fully engage me, for whatever reason her books don’t make me excited to continue reading them.

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

I loved the tropes that were included in this book, but for whatever reason, I did not enjoy the execution of them as much as I thought I would. The book includes enemies having to pretend to date which is something that I enjoy, but it felt like the plot included too many obstacles – it was just a bit too much. I quite liked the sister’s complicated relationship with her husband, but it felt a bit out of place in this narrative – I might have preferred it if the sister was included more in the novel. I also thought it was weird that it did not include both main characters perspectives, from what I can remember Christina Lauren’s others do.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron

This book was hailed as an epic journey centred around a love of reading, and that’s exactly what this book was. It was a beautiful story that I would recommend to anyone. I think after reading The Starless Sea and The Archived I have to admit that books about libraries are something I look for in books.

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

I had been wanting to read this book for years, however, I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I had read it years ago. I think now reading books about fan culture and high school is not something that I relate to as much or something that I particularly seek out. That doesn’t mean that this book wasn’t good, it was. It was a great book about coming of age, accepting yourself and letting other people in.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

I read this book in one day and I was very much not intending for that to happen. I really wanted to read a mystery novel and was not really sure where to start, so I decided I would start with the master – I had been saying I would read an Agatha Christie novel for a while now. There is a reason that this book in the best selling crime novel of all time, it is excellent. At first, I was having to really focus on who all these characters are (introducing 10 characters very quickly is hard), however suddenly without really thinking about it I was drawn deeply into the story. It was at this point that I just couldn’t stop. I highly enjoyed and would recommend this book. I am definitely planning on reading more of her books in the future, and let’s be honest I will probably read another one of her books this month.

City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert

As soon as I heard about this book I knew I would read it, I love a book about fame in decades past. This book does remind me of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, but that isn’t a bad thing. Not only are both about fame (City of Girls is about theatre rather than Hollywood), they also both include an old woman explaining her past to somehow who she doesn’t know very well and they also include complex characters who don’t always make the right choice. City of Girls is not just for fans of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo it is an absolutely fantastic book.

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

For whatever reason, I just did not connect with this book as much as I wanted to. It was not a bad book or anything, it just did not live up to my expectations. Firstly, I knew that it wasn’t actually inspired by Lord of the Flies but I had heard that it was similar to it so often that I actually expected it to be at least somewhat similar. I really wanted there to be some battles for leadership or fights over who is in charge or debates on morality, and while there was some of the latter it wasn’t what I wanted it to be. I also felt like I never fully understood The Tox or found it ground in any reality, even when the novel explained what it was. In general, I think it did not nearly include enough horror elements to be considered horror – every so often a description would make me feel a bit uncomfortable but nothing else. The characters and relationships in the novel also confused me, I don’t feel like I ever fully understood them. I had more to say about this book then I thought I had.

Burn by Patrick Ness

I have been listening to this audiobook for a while. It wasn’t a long audiobook I just never wanted to listen to it, I kind of had to force myslef to finish it. Burn has a weird concept, but this wasn’t fully my problem with the book. However, there was something that happened in the middle of the book which is something that I specifically do not like in books. I used to love Patrick Ness a lot but the last couple of books he has released have not been by favourites. To be honest, I was not planning on reading this book but I heard some good things about it and the audiobook was on my library so I gave it a go. I’ve listen to the last couple of Patrick Ness’s books in this way too and it worked for Release but for Burn I just failed to connect. This is totally my own fault though as I was not planning on reading it at all.

Murder on The Orient Express by Agatha Christie

After enjoying And Then There Were None I decided to pick up another one of Agatha Christie’s books. Like And Then There Were None I read it very quickly even though I initially thought that I would not be able to keep up with all the characters. I didn’t enjoy this one as much, but that was because I knew how one of Agatha Christie’s books ended and as I was reading I realised it was this one. This meant that I picked up on various clues to who the killer was and was unsurprised by the ending. In some ways, I enjoyed this as you could tell how well planned it was, however, I definitely would have enjoyed it more if I did not know how it would end.

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

I decided to reread this book as I was wanting to read a really fun summer romance book and I was kinda craving reading this one again. I don’t think I enjoyed it as much the second time around – it is quite a long book considering nothing much happens. That doesn’t mean I did not enjoy it, I just think I perhaps shouldn’t have reread it.

Autumn by Ali Smith

I am rereading some Ali Smith books for university, so expect to see some more of her books throughout these upcoming posts – I won’t say much about them as I am reading them for a very focussed reason. I really enjoyed reading it again, I definitely noticed more of her clever witticisms than I previously remembered.

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Recently, I had been thinking about reading this book. For years and years I have heard about this book and never really payed attention, but recently it became something that I wanted to read and I am so glad that I picked it up. It has been so long since I had started a young adult series that I truly found myself emersed in – I am definitely planning on reading the other books in the series at some point. At the moment I am loving a 20th Century historical setting and even though this book is supernatural it really felt like it was set in the 1920s. I have also been really into mysteries at the moment, and while it isn’t fully a mystery it still had the characters trying to find out what was happening. The supernatural elements of the book were also so well done, it was a perfect mix. I think I read this book at the perfect time.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

I was unsure if I was going to read this book but I am kind of glad I did. I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it, Santino Fontana narrates it and he is great, although knowing that he can sing made it frustrating when he didn’t sing the songs that are in the book. I quite liked how it showed how Snow became a villain – at first I was a bit wary it was going to make him too sympathetic but I think it did a good job. However, it is quite long. The character of Lucy Gray was by far the most interesting part of the book, I wish it focused on her a bit more. I quite liked how it showed the hunger games being made as it shows the pyscology behind them, however, at times the references to the original trilogy were a bit forced.

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

This book was like a mixture of And Then There Were None and Big Little Lies and I’m still not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. The Guest List follows a variety of people involved in a celebrity wedding on a remote island. Lots of secrets surround the characters. Someone dies and you don’t know who did it or who even dies. I don’t want to stay too much about this book as it’s almost impossible to talk about without spoilers. I will say I became very attached to some of the characters and completely hated others. Some of the secrets were hard to read about, but at the same time the novel kept pushing me to read on.