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snowynightWhile I read and enjoyed Sherlock Holmes series as a child, Agatha Christie was who opened my eyes to the wide world of detective novels. Not only was her She a master plotter, but also she had great understanding of darkness in human nature. While she was most known for the Hercule Poirot series, her other detective series Miss Marple and Tommy & Tuppence series are great too, as well as her stand alone work.
Hercule Poirot
With recent movie adaptation, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile rightfully caught the spotlight. If you want to read more of this Belgium detective using his grey brain cells, I recommend The Murder of Roger Achryd and Five Little Pigs among her many good works.
Murder of Roger Achryd: Poirot retires to a village near the home of a friend, Roger Ackroyd, to pursue a project to perfect vegetable marrows. Soon after, Ackroyd is murdered and Poirot must come out of retirement to solve the case. Not only is The Murder of Roger Achryd an influential classic to later detective works, but it holds out very well on its own.
Five Little Pigs: Caroline Crale dies in prison after being convicted of murdering her husband by poison 16 years ago. However, she claims to be innocent of the murder in her final letter from prison. Her daughter asks Poirot to investigate this cold case, based on the memories of the people closest to the couple. It 's a brilliant murder-set-in-past investigation in which everyone has a secret and the truth is bleak.
Miss Marple
Miss Marple is a small gentle old lady who loves knitting, so she's often underestimated and overlooked. However, she's also keenly observant and a master of darkness in human nature, based on extensive life experience in her quaint murderous English home village.
Sleeping Murder: A newly wed couple turned to Miss Marple for her help to investigate a mysterious death years ago. The story was shockingly relevant and sad , playing up perception and truth. It really shows case how observant Agatha Christie of human weakness and social norm.
A Caribbean Mystery: During a vacation at a beautiful resort in the Caribbean, Miss Marple encounters an old wind-bag. One of his stories is about meeting a murderer. He has a snapshot. Suddenly he hesitates, and gets flustered. By the next morning he is dead, seemingly of natural causes. Miss Marple has doubts. And well she should. Cleverly plotted with a large cast of interesting and suspicious characters, two of which reappear in Nemesis.
Tommy and Tuppence:
Tommy and Tuppence start out as friends who start a detective agency for excitement and money. Then they fall in love and get married at the end of The Secret Adversary. Unlike the other series, Tommy and Tuppence age in real time and the series has a more period specific favour. While the first book, The Secret Adversary is a good introduction to the series, my personal favorite is Partners in Crime. It's lighthearted and charming on its own, and you will get a bonus if you have read detective novels around the same period .
Standalone:
And Then There Were None: Ten strangers are summoned as weekend guests to a little private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal—and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none.
It will be an oversight if I don't mention And Then There Were None for Agatha Christie's work. It's full of suspense, and the build up of terror and tension is excellent.
Hercule Poirot
With recent movie adaptation, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile rightfully caught the spotlight. If you want to read more of this Belgium detective using his grey brain cells, I recommend The Murder of Roger Achryd and Five Little Pigs among her many good works.
Murder of Roger Achryd: Poirot retires to a village near the home of a friend, Roger Ackroyd, to pursue a project to perfect vegetable marrows. Soon after, Ackroyd is murdered and Poirot must come out of retirement to solve the case. Not only is The Murder of Roger Achryd an influential classic to later detective works, but it holds out very well on its own.
Five Little Pigs: Caroline Crale dies in prison after being convicted of murdering her husband by poison 16 years ago. However, she claims to be innocent of the murder in her final letter from prison. Her daughter asks Poirot to investigate this cold case, based on the memories of the people closest to the couple. It 's a brilliant murder-set-in-past investigation in which everyone has a secret and the truth is bleak.
Miss Marple
Miss Marple is a small gentle old lady who loves knitting, so she's often underestimated and overlooked. However, she's also keenly observant and a master of darkness in human nature, based on extensive life experience in her quaint murderous English home village.
Sleeping Murder: A newly wed couple turned to Miss Marple for her help to investigate a mysterious death years ago. The story was shockingly relevant and sad , playing up perception and truth. It really shows case how observant Agatha Christie of human weakness and social norm.
A Caribbean Mystery: During a vacation at a beautiful resort in the Caribbean, Miss Marple encounters an old wind-bag. One of his stories is about meeting a murderer. He has a snapshot. Suddenly he hesitates, and gets flustered. By the next morning he is dead, seemingly of natural causes. Miss Marple has doubts. And well she should. Cleverly plotted with a large cast of interesting and suspicious characters, two of which reappear in Nemesis.
Tommy and Tuppence:
Tommy and Tuppence start out as friends who start a detective agency for excitement and money. Then they fall in love and get married at the end of The Secret Adversary. Unlike the other series, Tommy and Tuppence age in real time and the series has a more period specific favour. While the first book, The Secret Adversary is a good introduction to the series, my personal favorite is Partners in Crime. It's lighthearted and charming on its own, and you will get a bonus if you have read detective novels around the same period .
Standalone:
And Then There Were None: Ten strangers are summoned as weekend guests to a little private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal—and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none.
It will be an oversight if I don't mention And Then There Were None for Agatha Christie's work. It's full of suspense, and the build up of terror and tension is excellent.
