Reading the Classics #54: Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie is a very well-known author, both in her native land of England and abroad. During her life she was known as the Queen of Crime, and her detective Hercule Poirot has become an icon of fiction. Born in 1890 in Devon, she quickly rose to fame for her ingenious murder mysteries, and by the time she died in 1976 she had recieved one of the highest orders of Britain, and had gained millions of devoted fans around the world. I have a lot of her books to review today, so I’m gonna try to not make this a super long post. That being said, I’ll start off with the novels I’ve read that involve Hercule Poirot.
1. Murder on the Orient Express
2. Curtain
3. Death on the Nile
4. Hercule Poirot's Christmas
5. The A.B. C. Murders
6. The Patriotic Murders
7. The Big Four
8. Poirot Investigates
9. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
10. Murder on the Links
11. The Mystery of the Blue Train
Murder on the Orient Express can perhaps be called the most famous mystery novel of all time, and it’s been adapted into a movie twice (1974 and 2017, respectively). While aboard the Orient Express, a murder takes places, and Poirot is put to the test to discover the murderer. I loved reading this story, and the shocking reveal of the culprit at the end.
Speaking of shocking reveals, Curtain had an insane ending. This is the last of the Hercule Poirot novels, and takes place in Poirot’s old age. This is another must-read. Death on the Nile is also a fascinating story, and Hercule Poirot’s Christmas was the most recent one I’ve read, and I liked it a lot.
The A.B.C. Murders and The Patriotic Murders are also both great stories. For the one, the letters of the alphabet drive the story. For the other, it is a man who has deluded himself into thinking murder is patriotic. They weren’t amazing mystery novels, but they weren’t bad either. The same goes for The Big Four.
The last 4 Poirot novels on this list, Poirot Investigates, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Links, and The Mystery of the Blue Train, didn’t leave much of an impression on me. I’m not saying they were bad, but just not memorable stories. Ok, so those are the 11 Poirot novels I’ve read. I only have one Miss Marple story to review, so I’ll do that one next.
1. The Murder at the Vicarage
To put it simply, I don’t like Miss Marple. I’m not comparing her to Poirot or Sherlock or any of those, I just didn’t like her. Maybe I started off with the wrong book, idk. If there’s a Miss Marple fan reading this, help me out here lol. Ok, these next books are just stand-alone novels that Agatha Christie wrote, all mysteries but featuring different characters.
1. And Then There Were None
2. Crooked House
3. N or M?
4. The Man in the Brown Suit
5. Passenger to Frankfurt
Out of all the Agatha Christie mysteries I’ve read, my favorite overall is And Then There Were None. About 10 people are alone on an island, with no way to get back to the mainland, One of them is a murderer, and slowly but surely the body count rises. Once I started reading this, I could not put it down. It was phenomenal, and the murderer took me completely by surprise. You have to read this book before you die. Even if you read it on your deathbed, it’s worth it.
Crooked House and N or M? were great books as well. The first one is a typical murder mystery, but it definitely wasn’t mediocre. The second is actually a spy mystery that takes place during World War II.
These last 2 were the ones that were the least enjoyable for me. I honestly don’t even remember what either The Man in the Brown Suit or Passenger to Frankfurt were about. What I do remember is that I found them dull and slow, so based off of that I wouldn’t recommend them.
So, those are my reviews on the 17 Agatha Christie novels that I’ve read. I’d love to keep reading more of her stuff. She was an amazing author, absolutely incredible. I hope that you enjoyed this post, and that it’ll help you find some good mysteries to read. Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you next time!
1590-1592- The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
1592-1594- The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
1593- Richard III by William Shakespeare
Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare
1595- A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
Richard II by William Shakespeare
1595-1596- Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
1596-1599- The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
1598- Henry IV Part I by William Shakespeare
Love’s Labor’s Lost by William Shakespeare
1598-1599- Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
1599- As You Like It by William Shakespeare
Henry IV Part 2 by William Shakespeare
Henry V by William Shakespeare
Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
Early 17th Century- Hamlet by William Shakespeare
1600- Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
1602- Othello by William Shakespeare
1603- King Lear by William Shakespeare
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
1610-1611- The Tempest by William Shakespeare
1623- Henry VIII by William Shakespeare
1667- Paradise Lost by John Milton
1671- Paradise Regained by John Milton
Samson Agonistes by John Milton
1704- The Battle of the Books by Jonathan Swift
A Tale of a Tub by Jonathan Swift
1726- Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
1729- A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
1811- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
1813- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
1814- Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
1815- Emma by Jane Austen
1817- Sanditon by Jane Austen
1818- Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
1836-1837- The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
1837- Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
1839- Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
1843- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
1844- The Chimes by Charles Dickens
1845- The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens
1847- Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
1848- The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
1849- Shirley by Charlotte Bronte
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
1853- Bleak House by Charles Dickens
1854- Hard Times by Charles Dickens
1855- Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
1859- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
1861- Silas Marner by George Eliot
1864- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
1870- The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens
1871-1872- Middlemarch by George Eliot
1874- Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
1876- Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
1878- The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
1886- The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
1887- A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
1890- The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle
1891- Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
1892- The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle
1895- Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
1898- Youth by Joseph Conrad
1899- Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
1900- Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
1902- The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
1905- The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy
1906- Sir Nigel by Arthur Conan Doyle
1907- The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad
1920- Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence
1923- Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
1924- The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie
Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie
1926- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
1927- The Big Four by Agatha Christie
1928- The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie
Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
1930- The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
1934- Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
1936- The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie
1937- Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
1938- Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie
Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
1939- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
1940- The Patriotic Murders by Agatha Christie
1941- N or M? by Agatha Christie
1942- The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
1943- The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis
Perelandra by C.S. Lewis
1945- That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis
Animal Farm by George Orwell
1949- Crooked House by Agatha Christie
1984 by George Orwell
1950- The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
1951- Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
1952- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
1953- The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis
1954- The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
1954-1955- The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
1955- The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis
1956- The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis
1970- Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie
1975- Curtain by Agatha Christie
1977- The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
