Easy to Kill Murder is Easy Movie
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When Luke Fitzwilliam decides to sit near a fluffy old lady because she reminds him of his favorite aunt, he has no idea that action will set him on the scent of a murderer.
For those of you who saw Benedict Cumberbatch in the episode of the Miss Marple tv show, this story does not have her in it.
They lied. Sorry.
Miss Pinkerton, the above mentioned fluffy old lady, tells him that she is on her way to tell Scotland Yard about a serial killer in her small town, Wychwo
Some people are just born bad.
When Luke Fitzwilliam decides to sit near a fluffy old lady because she reminds him of his favorite aunt, he has no idea that action will set him on the scent of a murderer.
For those of you who saw Benedict Cumberbatch in the episode of the Miss Marple tv show, this story does not have her in it.
They lied. Sorry.
Miss Pinkerton, the above mentioned fluffy old lady, tells him that she is on her way to tell Scotland Yard about a serial killer in her small town, Wychwood under Ashe.
He thinks she's just got an overactive imagination, wishes her well, and goes on about his day without giving her a second thought. Until he reads about her death in the paper the next day. And then reads about the death of the doctor she said would die next if she didn't act.
It's too much of a coincidence for him to ignore, so he decides to go down to Wychwood under Ashe and poke around.
As per usual, there's a budding romance in this. As an added bonus it's one that doesn't make you want to stab your eyeballs out. No super creepy age gap and/or he doesn't try to strangle her.
I know, right? Awww.
I actually did suspect who the murderer was quite a while before the Big Reveal happened. So this is one that you can figure out if you're looking closely. Although, I wrongly guessed why they were offing everyone.
I liked the thought process behind the killings, not gonna lie.
This one was good.
Recommended!
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The old lady nodded vigorously.
'Yes, murder. You're surprised, I can see. I was myself at first . . . I really couldn't believe it. I thought I must be imagining things.'
'Are you quite sure you weren't?' Luke asked gently.
'Oh, no.' She shook her head positively. 'I might have been the first time, but not the second, or the third or the fourth. After that one knows.'
Luke said: 'Do you mean there have been - er - several murders?'
ABOUT 'MURDER IS EASY': In
EXCERPT: Luke's eyebrows rose. 'Murder?'The old lady nodded vigorously.
'Yes, murder. You're surprised, I can see. I was myself at first . . . I really couldn't believe it. I thought I must be imagining things.'
'Are you quite sure you weren't?' Luke asked gently.
'Oh, no.' She shook her head positively. 'I might have been the first time, but not the second, or the third or the fourth. After that one knows.'
Luke said: 'Do you mean there have been - er - several murders?'
ABOUT 'MURDER IS EASY': In a quiet English village, a killer is about to strike. Again and again.
Officer Luke Fitzwilliam is on a train to London when he meets a strange woman. She claims there is a serial killer in the quiet village of Wychwood. He has already taken the lives of three people and is about claim his fourth victim.
Fitzwilliam dismisses this as the ramblings of an old woman. But within hours she is found dead. Crushed by a passing car.
And then the fourth victim is found.
Each death looks like an accident. But in Wychwood nothing is as it appears....
MY THOUGHTS: I enjoyed this romp in a series by Agatha Christie that I hadn't come across previously. Although quite why this is included in the Inspector Battle series I am unsure, as Battle makes only a brief appearance at the end.
The mystery is an excellent one; one that had me quite sure that I had the murderer in my sight until I found that I didn't. There is a little romantic interest and an interesting cast of characters from which to select the murderer. Luke doesn't seem to be the brightest lightbulb in the pack, but then his mind was not entirely focused on the murders.
I listened to the audiobook of Murder is Easy, written by Agatha Christie and narrated by Hugh Fraser, published by Harper Collins Audio.
⭐⭐⭐⭐.1
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"Truth is seldom romantic."
I am a big fan of Agatha's works and she's my go-to author whenever I want to pick up a mystery novel without thinking much. She's also one of the authors I rate higher, mostly 4 and 5 stars! That being said, this book was okay, I did not get my Agatha dose that puts me into my usual euphoria!
What makes me happy every time I read her books is that she has a formula while writing. Their is an event at the beginning,
This Review ✍️ Blog 📖 Twitter 🐦 Instagram 📷"Truth is seldom romantic."
I am a big fan of Agatha's works and she's my go-to author whenever I want to pick up a mystery novel without thinking much. She's also one of the authors I rate higher, mostly 4 and 5 stars! That being said, this book was okay, I did not get my Agatha dose that puts me into my usual euphoria!
What makes me happy every time I read her books is that she has a formula while writing. Their is an event at the beginning, then the murder and then we are introduced to all of the characters gradually and finally everything comes together and the mystery is solved. The English used is surprisingly easy to read for books that has been written a century ago.
Following the formula I just mentioned, the book opens with policeman Luke Fitzwilliam on a train and he sees an old lady who tells him about a murder that is going to happen. He does not give it much care until it happens and the lady is killed when he decided to take things into his hands and investigate it,
The characters were okay, there is something beautiful in the way Agatha introduces her character and then solidify them with backstories and gossip. I felt it was kind of missing this time and Mr.Luke was not as good as Miss Marple and not even close to the amazing smartest detective of all time Mr.Poirot! The way he approached the case was not as intriguing!
Add to all this mess, some extra romance that the book did not need and you will have the final version of the book! I really saw the romance and wished I was imagining things but it was really there and we could have done without it! I think it was just a way to provide closure to the story!
"No one human being knows the full truth about another human being. Not even one's nearest and dearest."
Summary: I still think the book is smart and kind of enjoyable but I know Agatha's potential and that she could have done a way better job. With mediocre characters, romance and a plot line. It is not the Agatha book that I would be recommending for people!
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This is the first book I have read in the Superintendent Battle series and it does not have 'Smart Poirot' or 'An Intuitive Miss.Marple' but instead has 'The Blubbering Novice Mr. Luke Fitzwilliam'.
The start of this book is really promising, an old lady traveling on a train meets a gentleman (Mr. Fitzwilliam) and tells a tall tale about a series of murder that takes place in her cozy little village. The gentleman not believing a word goes on his own merry way and later comes to know tha
2.5 starsThis is the first book I have read in the Superintendent Battle series and it does not have 'Smart Poirot' or 'An Intuitive Miss.Marple' but instead has 'The Blubbering Novice Mr. Luke Fitzwilliam'.
The start of this book is really promising, an old lady traveling on a train meets a gentleman (Mr. Fitzwilliam) and tells a tall tale about a series of murder that takes place in her cozy little village. The gentleman not believing a word goes on his own merry way and later comes to know that now the old lady is dead. Here goes the Gentleman to the cozy little village to carry out his own sleuth work.
"It's very easy to kill, so long as no one suspects you. And, you see, the person in question is just the last person anyone would suspect."
But here's the thing, I did suspect two people right off the bat because of the above statement and one of them was the correct guess...
This story was a definite change from the other Christie stories as the manner in which the investigation is conducted is very basic and not very smart I might say.
It was like You or Me going in to detective work to find a murderer.
There is a setting of the cozy village where nothing can go wrong but an evil is under play below the nice facade.
"We often know what other people are thinking but sometimes we find out that we did not know, after all, and have, in fact, made an egregious mistake."
There is an unwanted romance added to the mix which I could have done without but then I think it was very much needed to wrap up the story in the end.
The Superintendent Battle only appears in the last few pages of this story and I am not sure why this mystery is clubbed under his series......
All in all this was better than an OK read but not as good as Christie's other work.
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The book starts off very interestingly with a chance meeting in a train between Luke Fitzgerald, retired policeman, and Lavinia Pinkerton, a fluffy village elder
Hmmm ... not sure how I feel about this one! On one hand, I really loved the village setting, the old ladies and I even enjoyed the actual plot a lot. On the other hand, I really found the main pair quite irritating, their 'love' story unbelievable and since everything else hinges on that bit, the entire story rather runs down a little.The book starts off very interestingly with a chance meeting in a train between Luke Fitzgerald, retired policeman, and Lavinia Pinkerton, a fluffy village elderly woman. She confides in Luke about a murderer who kills again and again and Luke disbelieves her. But the next thing he knows, he reads about Lavinia's death in the newspaper and then sets out to investigate. This part is quite brilliant.
After this, Bridget Conway is introduced and the characterisation flaws begin. She is witch-like with long and black hair, smart and perfect, and Luke immediately falls in love with her without even spending any time together with her. Terrible! Another extremely annoying angle is Luke suspecting a man called Ellsworthy, who is quite obviously gay and non-religious. Well, religious people with their terrifying rituals scare me more! So I wasn't particularly impressed with the "Satanism" bit and was just endlessly annoyed at everyone going on about poor Ellsworthy. It made me severely dislike Luke, which didn't help.
The murderer was fantastic, though! The plot was otherwise brilliant and only lacked in its actual execution, though I am getting a bit bored of women being rescued by men at the climax in murder mysteries. There were a few plot holes in this one, but the overall setting and basic premise were interesting as usual.
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You are aged but you are no fool. You are stronger than the foolish victims around you. They never listen. It will be the death of them, you say. But they dismiss you, they find you charming but inconsequential, they ignore that you have lived an entire life of emotion and experience and the world is no playground to you. It is a mine field, it is a pit, it is a coal mine and the people around you are canaries. Canaries die! Murder is easy if everyone thinks it is an ac
Choose Your Own Adventure!You are aged but you are no fool. You are stronger than the foolish victims around you. They never listen. It will be the death of them, you say. But they dismiss you, they find you charming but inconsequential, they ignore that you have lived an entire life of emotion and experience and the world is no playground to you. It is a mine field, it is a pit, it is a coal mine and the people around you are canaries. Canaries die! Murder is easy if everyone thinks it is an accident. Poor little canaries.
If you feel that murder is just another tasty course in the delicious menu of life, then choose this adventure.
If you feel that murder should be recommended by two out of three physicians as the easiest cure for what ails you, then choose this adventure.
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Sorry, but "Easy to Kill" by Agatha Christie was a surprise
98% of the time I LOVE Aggie. Agatha Christie is my "go to" gal when I'm in a reading slump. Like a hot rich Brazilian man under the covers, you know you're not going to be disappointed. Well, usually. But there is the rare DUD in her collection. And if I can relate it to the above analogy of the sexy South American, this book is the equivalent of hopping in bed with this Brazilian hottie and discovering that OOPS...he pooped the sheets!Sorry, but "Easy to Kill" by Agatha Christie was a surprise frothy lumpy turd. Aggie girl, why you have to go and done that? This book is a skipable one in her collection. Now, I will never give up on Miss Christie, but this book left me going "really?"
It starts out thrilling enough. A retired cop meets an excited spinster on the train to London who is on her way to report what she feels is a series of murders in her small town. She said she knows the next victim and wants to report it before anything else bad happens. Our cop Luke later discovers that his spinster friend was run down by a car on her way to Scotland Yard. Also, the "victim" she predicted, a doctor, is found dead in her village! Luke decides to investigate and goes to the town where he meets crazy cast of character caught up in the folklore of tales of witchcraft.
It started great and quickly went downhill. None of the characters are interesting (except maybe the spinster, and shes killed off right away). There are a buttload too many characters. I couldn't keep track of them all, even though there is a handy character list up front. there seemed to be no logic at all. Also, it is WAYYYYY too repetitive. She repeats the same information OVER AND OVER again. It became annoyingly exhausting. To top it all off, I EASILY predicted whodunnit. I was hoping it would be a red herring and I would be shocked to learn who the killer was. But nope! I was right!
If you are a fan of Christie and have read all her stuff except this one, or if you haven't read Christie, or jeesh if you have any taste at all you can throw this one on the top of the TO GOODWILL pile. Sorry, Aggie.
P.S. If you happen to know a hot Latino man who ISN'T going to be a dud who leaves milkduds, send him my way, STAT!
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I recommend this book to all.Enjoy and Be Blessed
Steven
Whilst traveling to London to inform Scotland Yard of her theories of a serial killer in her village, Lavinia Pinkerton meets young policeman Luke Fitzwilliam and shares her ideas on the train.
It's not until the next day that Luke sees a newspaper story that Lavinia had been run down and killed that he starts to believe that might be into something.
The problem I had with this story was that whilst the inexperien
With such a interesting hook, it's a shame that this mystery thriller just felt flat.Whilst traveling to London to inform Scotland Yard of her theories of a serial killer in her village, Lavinia Pinkerton meets young policeman Luke Fitzwilliam and shares her ideas on the train.
It's not until the next day that Luke sees a newspaper story that Lavinia had been run down and killed that he starts to believe that might be into something.
The problem I had with this story was that whilst the inexperienced Luke divers whilst investigating the case, there's just not enough mystery to sustain the story and I found most parts of the narrative dull.
In fairness to Christie I didn't expect the ending, but it was one of her weaker mysteries.
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The action centres around Luke Fitzwilliam,a retired policeman who encounters an old lady in a railway carriage.She wants to report a series of murders,but is soon dead herself.
The detective work,thereafter,is not of the highest quality.A love story develops.At the end,there is a violent confrontation,in a rather suprising revelation of the
No Poirot or Miss Marple in this one.There is just Superintendent Battle,and as policemen don't do any actual work in Christie's books,he is just an onlooker.The action centres around Luke Fitzwilliam,a retired policeman who encounters an old lady in a railway carriage.She wants to report a series of murders,but is soon dead herself.
The detective work,thereafter,is not of the highest quality.A love story develops.At the end,there is a violent confrontation,in a rather suprising revelation of the identity of the culprit.
Fairly interesting,and works well as a rather thrilling TV movie,too.
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"Murder is Easy" confused me a bit since I recall this being a Miss Marple television episode. So when I started reading about Luke Fitzwilliam and there was no sign of Miss Marple anywhere I was not pleased. But the
I love me some Christie. She is getting me through some bad times right now. I plan on reading the rest of her backlist and didn't realize until after the fact I grabbed up the Superintendent Battle series (this is number 4) and am reading out of order now. I will correct that later."Murder is Easy" confused me a bit since I recall this being a Miss Marple television episode. So when I started reading about Luke Fitzwilliam and there was no sign of Miss Marple anywhere I was not pleased. But the story grabbed me and I found myself rushing to finish it.
Luke is back in England after being a policeman out East. He ends up talking to an elderly woman named Lavinia Pinkerton who proceeds to tell Luke that she is going to Scotland Yard to report someone she thinks is a serial killer in her village. Luke though he doesn't say it to Ms. Pinkerton's face thinks that she may be imagining things. However, the names that Lavina provides him stick in his head, especially a man she said would be the next victim, Dr. John Humbleby. Luke puts the whole thing out of his mind until he reads how Ms. Pinkerton was killed by a hit and run driver. And when he then reads later that Dr. Humbleby is dead as well he decides to dig deeper into Wychwood under Ashe.
Due to a connection that Luke has, he is able to pretend to be a cousin of a woman named Bridget Conway that lives there and is to be married soon to Gordon Whitfield.
I honestly liked how Luke goes about investigating whether a potential killer is on the loose in Whychwood under Ashe. He pretends to be there to investigate some potential witchcraft/death ceremonies that I don't know how in the world anyone bought that. I would have been all:
"You sit on a throne of lies!"
Luke ends up getting a lot of gossip and feelings and starts to think that Lavina was right that there is something darker going on with one of the residents. Of course Christie throws in some some random I hate you, but I love you story-line between Luke and Bridget and it doesn't quite work because I honestly don't even get why either one of them is attracted to each other.
So we have Luke trying to figure out who killed previous residents and also barely able to contain his loathing for Bridget's ridiculous fiancee.
I loved the writing in this book. The atmosphere that Christie evokes in the village is creepy as anything. I maybe turned on more lights while reading this book. I just felt like someone was reading over my shoulder and had a very sharp knife ready to stab me with it.
The flow in the book is a bit off though. I think that's because we have Luke running around and then we go to Bridget for a bit and then back to Luke. And we get a quick appearance by Battle who does nothing really in this book.
The ending and reveal of the villain was creepy and very well done. If I were Luke and Bridget I would have thrown some holy water at the murderer, they were one of the most memorable villains in one of Christie's books for me.
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Luke Fitzwilliam returns from Malaya a retired policeman who meets an elderly woman on the train who during their conversation states someone is murdering people in her village. He is skeptical. Then she us r
Murder is Easy is once again a good mystery with the requisite red herrings. The twist at the end I did not see coming. I have come to the conclusion I would be a lousy detective. It is odd this novel is attached to the Superintendent Battle series as he features only in the last few pages.Luke Fitzwilliam returns from Malaya a retired policeman who meets an elderly woman on the train who during their conversation states someone is murdering people in her village. He is skeptical. Then she us run over by a car and he decides to investigate. Quite a few murders in the village with a boy falling off a ladder, a drowned man and all appearing accidental.
His friends cousin Bridget is engaged to Lord Whitfield a pompous media tycoon. He pretends to be related to Bridget and stays at their mansion while investigating the murders. There is a far fetched love interest. What is it with Agatha that people fall for instantly in love!
Lots of suspects a crazy antique dealer, a supercilious Doctor, a lawyer and a few others. The murderer elderly woman's friend Miss Waynflete who is very helpful. What I liked about this story was the clues are there to the insane murderer and they escaped me. Making it an enjoyable read.
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Well written mystery novel with hints of those rural folk horror just creeping in.
Still a good 4 star read.
December 2018 Review - A quaint village, horrific deaths, odd locals! It's the village I grew up in! But seriously a great read, I really enjoy the Christie stand alone books more and more!
November 2021 Review - A much darker novel then I recall, murders galore but who can be killing the residents of Wychwood-Under-Ashe?Well written mystery novel with hints of those rural folk horror just creeping in.
Still a good 4 star read.
December 2018 Review - A quaint village, horrific deaths, odd locals! It's the village I grew up in! But seriously a great read, I really enjoy the Christie stand alone books more and more!
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In fact, I would argue that the setup for this mystery is Christie's most brilliant and engaging. An encounter with a seemingly crazy old lady on a train becomes much more significant when it turns out her suspicions may be founded. I was really disappointed, however.
The first disappointment came with the characters. Unlike a lot of Christie's more well-crafted works (Death on the Nile springs to mi
I hate to be so harsh with an Agatha Christie novel. They are usually so good. So tightly plotted.In fact, I would argue that the setup for this mystery is Christie's most brilliant and engaging. An encounter with a seemingly crazy old lady on a train becomes much more significant when it turns out her suspicions may be founded. I was really disappointed, however.
The first disappointment came with the characters. Unlike a lot of Christie's more well-crafted works (Death on the Nile springs to mind), none of the characters in this novel were particularly engaging. I found that I didn't really care about any of them.
-Dr. Thomas, Mr. Abbot and Mr. Ellsworthy all bled into one very uninteresting person. Except for Ellsworthy's rather tacked-on occult connections, they were indistinguishable.
-Though Wayneflete is kind of a confidante to Luke (and ultimately the murderer), I found her to be a very dull character.
-Lord Whitfield was so pompous that he became a caricature instead of an actual character.
-Rose Humbleby could have been a very interesting character. I enjoyed what little we were given of her. Unfortunately, she was used as a plot device, relaying information.
If I'm missing other secondary characters, it's because I didn't find them memorable and forgot about them.
Adding to this, I didn't even like Luke or Bridget. Luke was about as sharp as a volleyball. I was constantly frustrated with his inability to see what was right under his nose as well as his determination to blame people just because he wasn't fond of them. Prime examples of this are his judging both Whitfield and Ellsworthy.
I didn't like Bridget for the most part because I felt that she was a bit of a Mary Sue. Christie tried too hard to make her look cool and smart.
I found both to be incredibly rude and selfish to Lord Whitfield. I don't care if he's arrogant, it didn't excuse their behaviour or Luke's flippant attitude with him about it. The romance itself was unbelievably cheesy and unrealistic. It happened too fast and made me roll my eyes every time it was brought up.
On top of the lack of good characters, I also figured out who the murderer was long before anyone else did. Once Whitfield started bragging about Providence, you knew that it couldn't have been him. And the only other person it could have been was Miss Waynflete. The fact that Luke couldn't figure it out makes me question his abilities to perform as a police officer.
I give it two stars because I liked the setup and Agatha Christie is an excellent writer.
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This is not the top of the Agatha Christie heap, but it is a solid mystery. I enjoyed the way that Luke kept referring to his dear old Aunt Mildred, who is clearly in the vein of Jane Marple. This one also provides an easy comparison to Towards Zero, another Battle book with some
This is designated as a Superintendent Battle book, although he doesn't appear until 85%, and he doesn't solve the case at all. It's better to think of it as a stand along, with Luke Fitzwilliam as the main investigator.This is not the top of the Agatha Christie heap, but it is a solid mystery. I enjoyed the way that Luke kept referring to his dear old Aunt Mildred, who is clearly in the vein of Jane Marple. This one also provides an easy comparison to Towards Zero, another Battle book with some of the same themes.
On reread, I am knocking this down a star.
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Something to know before jumping straight into Christie's works: She's written like a million different books so don't expect great characterisation or an emotional read - just follow the story for the murder mystery. That's what she does best.
At first I wasn't too impressed. Our main character seemed a little too proud of himself and there wasn't anything I could Here we are: I have finally read a book written by Agatha Christie. And I loved it. Now I understand why she is the Queen of Murder.
Something to know before jumping straight into Christie's works: She's written like a million different books so don't expect great characterisation or an emotional read - just follow the story for the murder mystery. That's what she does best.
At first I wasn't too impressed. Our main character seemed a little too proud of himself and there wasn't anything I could find myself getting attached to. I personally really enjoy emotional reads so this was a little bit of a disappointment for me to begin with.
As the story progresses, Christie develops only the points needed for her mystery. Many characters in this story are completely obsolete and are treated as so. I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that instead of going into pointless details when certain characters converse, Christie shortened the situation to "Here the conversation became technical." This saves a whole lot of time (although it does mean that you are left with a feeling of detachment from the characters, but I didn't mind too much).
I must admit, I did not work out who the murderer was. I picked up a few points here and there and was on almost the right track, but Christie still completely wowed me with her "murderer reveal", I suppose I can call it.
The story picks up momentum in about the last third of the book, at which point I decided to give up on any other plans I had for today because I just simply had to carry on reading to find out what would happen.
By the end of the book, I was completely accustomed to Christie's writing style and now I can see that although it's different from what I'm used to in more modern books, it is still superb.
Although I'm not in any particular hurry, I'm quite sure that I'll pick up another Agatha Christie sometime soon - it was wonderful to read for hours on end and be completely absorbed in a good old-fashioned mystery.
I would recommend this book to anyone. In fact, I've already given the book to my mum for her to read it too. ...more
"No one human being knows the full truth about another human being. Not even one's nearest and dearest."
The first thing that came to mind upon starting this novel was how similar it was to one of Christie's Marple stories - meeting someone on a train journey who tells you there is a killer at large, only to hear that that same person died on her way to Scotland Yard... It is a good spring board for a plethora of plot developments, so I didn't mind it. This novel however wasn't one of my favo
3.5*"No one human being knows the full truth about another human being. Not even one's nearest and dearest."
The first thing that came to mind upon starting this novel was how similar it was to one of Christie's Marple stories - meeting someone on a train journey who tells you there is a killer at large, only to hear that that same person died on her way to Scotland Yard... It is a good spring board for a plethora of plot developments, so I didn't mind it. This novel however wasn't one of my favourites of our Agatha.
The premise of a retired policeman going on a crazy chase for a possible prolific murderer in a 'quiet' English village was a good one. Luke Fitzwilliam however kind of annoyed me. He often made conjectures that weren't logical. In fact, he didn't really behave like a professional investigator. Additionally, the main plot was so wide that anything could have been theorised, and is in a way. I know that usually everyone in a Christie book looks suspect, but here, it was nearly aimless. As for the end, it veered into a pretty nasty denouement.
Having said all this, I still whizzed through it. I did like the allusions to Marple-like characters for instance. So a good read - just not a stellar one.
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This is another brilliantly plotted story by the author, and we as readers are misled for quite a long time. The convincing portrayal of a sensitive man, feeling some higher force is exacting retribution and revenge for him in excellently done, as the murders pile up. On my own part when I was a young man I actually knew someone like this, who seemed to rejoice in tragedies befalling others "He/she wronged me and is now being punished...that's the way it should be," this guy would say even then,
This is another brilliantly plotted story by the author, and we as readers are misled for quite a long time. The convincing portrayal of a sensitive man, feeling some higher force is exacting retribution and revenge for him in excellently done, as the murders pile up. On my own part when I was a young man I actually knew someone like this, who seemed to rejoice in tragedies befalling others "He/she wronged me and is now being punished...that's the way it should be," this guy would say even then, making him look guilty or responsible for bad things happening to others. Hence Christie I think is psychologically spot-on here; and the irony is that such people practically can not hurt a fly... ...more
Never trust an unhappy woman!
Agatha Christie opens Murder Is Easy with a couple of crackingly good chapters. She continues the story by introducing the reader to some wonderful, and sometimes eccentric, characters. I had no trouble working who WASN'T the killer, but the identity of the murderer had me A chance conversation on a train leads retired policeman Luke Fitzwilliam to the quaint old English village of Wychwood-under-Ash. The village population has been decreasing, but are all of the deaths really by natural causes ?
Agatha Christie opens Murder Is Easy with a couple of crackingly good chapters. She continues the story by introducing the reader to some wonderful, and sometimes eccentric, characters. I had no trouble working who WASN'T the killer, but the identity of the murderer had me fooled as usual. I found Murder Is Easy a nice diversion from the Poirot novels I usually read. While most of the story is rather old fashioned (well, it was written in 1939) some of the ideas were certianly ahead of their time. ...more
Luke Fitzwilliam is on the train to London, having just returned from a tour of duty as a police officer in Asia. On the train he meets Lavina Fullerton rom the town of Wychwood under Ashe. In the course of their conversation she tells him that she suspects there have been a number of murders in Wychwood and, because she feels the local policeman isn't up to the task, she is going to present her case before Scotland Yard. The next day, Luke discovers that Lavina has been hit and killed in a hit - and - run. Later he reads that a Dr Humbleby of Wychwood has died of septicemia. He finds this odd because Lavina had indicated that she felt the good Doctor would be the next person to die. Using his good friend Jimmy Lorimer to set things up, Luke heads down to Wychwood to investigate, staying with Jimmy's cousin, the lovely Bridget Conway.
So that is the crux of the story. Luke rolls through various suspects; the lawyer, the doctor, a strange off-putting owner of an antique store, etc as he tries to ascertain whether murders have indeed been committed and, if so, who are the main suspects. Bridget, engaged to a newpaper man, a man much older than her, assists him. There is definite friction between the two, Luke and Bridget that is. Call it sexual tension if you'd like.
It's an excellent story and was not ruined at all even though I'd seen the TV adaptation. Christie creates such great characters and wonderful personal interactions between them as you delve further into the mystery, that the mystery, while the major component, is made richer by the characters themselves. There are many suspects, possible motives and as the story progresses, increased tension. The great Superintendent Battle in fact only arrives on the scene late in the story so the main characters remain Luke and Bridget. The story flows so nicely and is so entertaining, a joy to read. (4 stars)
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Agatha Christie is the best-selling author of all time. She wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in Romance. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and a billion in t
Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.Agatha Christie is the best-selling author of all time. She wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in Romance. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, she remains the most-translated individual author, having been translated into at least 103 languages. She is the creator of two of the most enduring figures in crime literature-Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple-and author of The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theatre.
Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born in Torquay, Devon, England, U.K., as the youngest of three. The Millers had two other children: Margaret Frary Miller (1879–1950), called Madge, who was eleven years Agatha's senior, and Louis Montant Miller (1880–1929), called Monty, ten years older than Agatha.
Before marrying and starting a family in London, she had served in a Devon hospital during the First World War, tending to troops coming back from the trenches. During the First World War, she worked at a hospital as a nurse; later working at a hospital pharmacy, a job that influenced her work, as many of the murders in her books are carried out with poison. During the Second World War, she worked as a pharmacy assistant at University College Hospital, London, acquiring a good knowledge of poisons which feature in many of her novels.
Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, came out in 1920. During her first marriage, Agatha published six novels, a collection of short stories, and a number of short stories in magazines.
In late 1926, Agatha's husband, Archie, revealed that he was in love with another woman, Nancy Neele, and wanted a divorce. On 8 December 1926 the couple quarreled, and Archie Christie left their house, Styles, in Sunningdale, Berkshire, to spend the weekend with his mistress at Godalming, Surrey. That same evening Agatha disappeared from her home, leaving behind a letter for her secretary saying that she was going to Yorkshire. Her disappearance caused an outcry from the public, many of whom were admirers of her novels. Despite a massive manhunt, she was not found for eleven days.
In 1930, Christie married archaeologist Max Mallowan (Sir Max from 1968) after joining him in an archaeological dig. Their marriage was especially happy in the early years and remained so until Christie's death in 1976.
Christie frequently used familiar settings for her stories. Christie's travels with Mallowan contributed background to several of her novels set in the Middle East. Other novels (such as And Then There Were None) were set in and around Torquay, where she was born. Christie's 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express was written in the Hotel Pera Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, the southern terminus of the railway. The hotel maintains Christie's room as a memorial to the author. The Greenway Estate in Devon, acquired by the couple as a summer residence in 1938, is now in the care of the National Trust.
Christie often stayed at Abney Hall in Cheshire, which was owned by her brother-in-law, James Watts. She based at least two of her stories on the hall: the short story The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding, and the novel After the Funeral. Abney Hall became Agatha's greatest inspiration for country-house life, with all the servants and grandeur which have been woven into her plots.
To honour her many literary works, she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1956 New Year Honours. The next year, she became the President of the Detection Club.
Wikipedia entry for Agatha Christie
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