Agatha Christie Re-Reading Project #2: Books 5-7

The next three books up in my Agatha Christie re-reading project are the second books in the Poirot and Miss Marple series, and the first in the Tommy and Tuppence Beresford series. The earliest of these is the Tommy and Tuppence, published in 1922, followed quickly by the Poirot in 1923, with the Miss Marple coming almost a decade later in 1932. There is a very strong stylistic consistency between the two books from the early 20s, which I reflect on in the individual book notes.

Next up will be books 3 for Poirot and Miss Marple respectively, and book 2 for Tommy and Tuppence. Given that I fit the re-reading project in around both life commitments and new book reading, it will probably take another 3 weeks for the next batch, even though these are super fast reads (usually they take me under 3 hrs to polish off).

The Murder on the Links

The second novel to feature Hercule Poirot, this book is very typical of early Christie style and theme. It is narrated by Poirot's "Dr Watson" character friend, the massive doofus Captain Hastings, and features a clever, twisty plot recounted in unvarnished, direct language - Christie's strongest suit, in my opinion.

These early books all feature a strong flavour of mystery-as-adventure rather than mystery-as-tragedy, which is something that Christie largely moved away from in her later, arguably deeper, writings. 

That said, it is immense fun, and I enjoyed re-reading it, despite having recalled the solution very well so I didn't get a surprise.

"Of its time" content notes for this one:
- Disparagement of the French and the Belgians
- A character who is a romantic love interest for adult men who is described as "not more than 17" (yikes)
- Constant casting of aspersions on servants / working class people

It's a 6.5/10 for me again. The Poirot books really hit their straps later, as will be seen!

The Thirteen Problems

The second book to feature Miss Jane Marple as the detective, this book is a collection of short stories, joined together by the conceit of a "Tuesday Murder Club" type situation as Miss Marple and her guests each regale a mystery known to them personally and invite the others to guess the solution.

The stories themselves are vivid, well-told, and clearly show Christie practicing devices she will later use to great effect in novels (eg. I hadn't realised until re-reading the collection exactly how much of a debt 1941's Evil Under the Sun owes to one of the stories in this book, and it was really interesting to see Christie trialling an abbreviated version of a concept in short form that will later be built out into a full plot).

Written in the 1930s, this book also reflects a changed aesthetic in Christie, where murder is no longer treated as primarily a jape without much moral weight, and is instead given some reflective (for the extent to which she does reflection) attention. I think the Miss Marple stories all dwell more on the inherent wickedness of murder, and what that might mean, than the Poirot stories - possibly due to the nature of the protagonist characters themselves - and I did enjoy reading them in that light.

There aren't as many content notes for this one - set exclusively in England, there is much less opportunity for slandering non-English people, although she still manages a few digs at servants, working people, Excessively Modern Young Ladies, and (hilariously) paganism. 8/10 for me.

The Secret Adversary

Now we come to my least favourite of Christie's series detective characters, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. That said, this first outing for the pair is the one I had remembered as being my favourite of theirs when I first read it back in the late 80s, and I hadn't re-read it since, so I approached this re-read with less trepidation than might have been supposed!

This book, even more strongly than the Poirot book (but stylistically, in harmony with it) is an adventure story, first and foremost. The heroes / protagonists are Prudence (Tuppence) Cowley, demobbed VAD in post-World War I London, and her childhood friend and soon-to-be business partner (and later to be husband), Thomas (Tommy) Beresford, a former soldier who is down on his luck. The two become embroiled in an adventure that has stronger kinship to espionage thrillers than conventional mysteries, although, Christie being Christie, there is still a puzzle element mixed into the constant technicolour action.

Although is seems apparent that Christie was trying something different with the Beresfords in terms of genre, the writing style and voice is so clearly aligned to the early 1920s Poirot books that is creates a straight line to them. Vivid, more than slightly fantastical, and the victim of a idiot plot (ie a plot in which an implausible number of characters behave like idiots, and the action relies on them doing so), re-reading this book highlighted again to me why I never cottoned much to Christie's more conspiracy-theorist outings. 

Like the Poirot, this book is pure early-20s Christie, which means it has content notes for anti-German sentiment, xenophobia directed at Americans and "colonials" in general, anti-Russian ideas, disparagement of servants, and a little bonus anti-unionism thrown in for good measure. It's not Christie's worst effort on any of these vectors, but it should be considered by potential readers.

At the end of my re-read, I confirmed my view that the book was an enjoyable enough throwaway, Tommy Beresford is a knob, Tuppence is genuinely charming, and Christie's strong suit was never going to be spy thrillers. 5.5/10 for me.

RUNNING LIST

Poirot books targeted (highlighted when read):

1. The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920): 6.5/10
2. The Murder on the Links (1923)
3. Poirot Investigates (1924, ss)
4. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
5. The Big Four (1927)
6. The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928)
7. Peril at End House (1932)
8. Lord Edgware Dies (1933) 
9. Murder on the Orient Express (1934) 
10. Three Act Tragedy (1935) : 6/10
11. Death in the Clouds (1935)
12. The A.B.C. Murders (1936) 
13. Murder in Mesopotamia (1936)
14. Cards on the Table (1936)
15. Murder in the Mews (1937, ss) 
16. Dumb Witness (1937) 
17. Death on the Nile (1937) 
18. Appointment with Death (1938)
19. Hercule Poirot's Christmas (1938) 
20. Sad Cypress (1940)
21. One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (1940) 
22. Evil Under the Sun (1941)
23. Five Little Pigs (1942) 
24. The Hollow (1946) 
25. The Labours of Hercules (1947, ss)
26. Taken at the Flood (1948) 
27. Mrs McGinty's Dead (1952)
28. After the Funeral (1953) 
29. Hickory Dickory Dock (1955)
30. Dead Man's Folly (1956)
31. Cat Among the Pigeons (1959)
32. The Clocks (1963)
33. Third Girl (1966)
34. Hallowe'en Party (1969)
35. Elephants Can Remember (1972)
36. Poirot's Early Cases (1974, ss)
37. Curtain (written about 1940, published 1975) 

Miss Marple books targeted (highlighted when read):

1. The Murder at the Vicarage (1930, Novel): 7.5/10
2. The Thirteen Problems (1932, short story collection featuring Miss Marple, also published as The Tuesday Club Murders)
3. The Body in the Library (1942, Novel)
4. The Moving Finger (1943, Novel)
5. A Murder Is Announced (1950, Novel)
6. They Do It with Mirrors (1952, Novel) – also published in the United States as Murder With Mirrors
7. A Pocket Full of Rye (1953, Novel)
8. 4.50 from Paddington (1957, Novel) – also published in the United States as What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!
9. The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (1962, Novel)
10. A Caribbean Mystery (1964, Novel)
11. At Bertram's Hotel (1965, Novel)
12. Nemesis (1971, Novel)
13. Sleeping Murder (1976, Novel)

Tommy and Tuppence and stand-alone books targeted (highlighted when read):

1. And Then There Were None (1939): 8.5/10
2. The Pale Horse (1961)
3. The Secret Adversary (1922 novel)
4. Partners in Crime (1929 short story collection)
5. N or M? (1941 novel)
6. By the Pricking of My Thumbs (1968 novel)
7. Postern of Fate (1973 novel)