Review: THE ABC MURDERS, Agatha Christie

• 
  This edition made available on Amazon (Kindle)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0046RE5CM
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins; Masterpiece Ed edition (October 14, 2010)
• Originally published 1936
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 244 pages
• Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 042513024X
• My original review
• this cover shows Jon Malkovitch as Poirot    
  

Agatha Christie’s world-famous serial killer mystery, reissued with a striking cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers.

There’s a serial killer on the loose, bent on working his way through the alphabet. And as a macabre calling card he leaves beside each victim’s corpe the ABC Railway Guide open at the name of the town where the murder has taken place.

Having begun with Andover, Bexhill and then Churston, there seems little chance of the murderer being caught – until he makes the crucial and vain mistake of challenging Hercule Poirot to frustrate his plans…

From the Back Cover

There’s a serial killer on the loose, working his way through the alphabet and the whole country is in a state of panic.

A is for Mrs. Ascher in Andover, B is for Betty Barnard in Bexhill, C is for Sir Carmichael Clarke in Churston. With each murder, the killer is getting more confident—but leaving a trail of deliberate clues to taunt the proud Hercule Poirot might just prove to be the first, and fatal, mistake.

My take

Once again this is a novel I am reading with my U3A Agatha Christie Reading Group, and it is a re-read for me. Once again I have used the note-making facility on my Kindle to make a big list of the things that I want to talk about. (I actually started off using a printed copy, and then thought this note-making ability would be very useful).

Here are some of the things we are going to talk about - please leave a comment if you'd like to contribute to our discussion

• The disclosure right at the beginning by Captain Hastings that he has departed from his usual practice of using only his own account, and has included third person accounts by someone else. So who wrote these extra chapters?
• this novel was originally published in 1936, but the setting is only a year before?
• How old is Poirot at this stage - Let's say he was about 60 when he arrived as a Belgian refugee during World War 1. Is he getting past it? Is Agatha Christie ageing him in "real time"? 
• Poirot and Hastings trying to prevent aging. Poirot with his black hair dye, Hastings with his comb-over
• I think it is Agatha Christie's only novel with a plot about a serial killer. But am I right? Aren't there some novels where the killer strikes more than once?
• How did Hercule Poirot tackle solving the puzzle. Why does Hastings get annoyed by his method? How do his methods differ from those of the other detectives?
  
• the fact that Hercule Poirot has now retired several times, and now tackles only "the cream of crime"
• The way Poirot is regarded (or not) by the other detectives trying to solve the crime
• What is ABC trying to do with his letters to Poirot?
• What are the questions Poirot asks himself in reference to the case? (Why has ABC contacted him rather than going straight to the police?)
• Why does Poirot get the "vigilante" group together - the victims of crime group. What is he trying to achieve?
• When does Poirot get his first idea about who is really behind the murders?
• What is the final solution?

What other questions do YOU think I should put on my list?

My rating: 4.7

See my list of Agatha Christie novels