For some reason, this has turned into my year of read-alongs as well as knit alongs. I started out in January with the Read Christie 2024 challenge. This challenge is pretty much what you would expect from the name – read Agatha Christie books throughout the year. This challenge has been going in one form or another for a while now. This year the theme is exploring her progression as a writer through the decades. I have been keeping up so far, though not 100% sure I will continue on to the end of the year.

The first book was The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which I loaned out and have not gotten back.

This challenge is kind of fun for me, as my maternal grandmother loved mysteries, and had Agatha Christie books stashed everywhere in her house. So I read them a lot growing up.

One things that has been a bit shocking in rereading them is that these novels include some pretty objectional terms and attitudes. Quite a bit of it has been edited out, but there is still some left, where it is integral to the plot. They are products of a different time, which is something to be aware of if you plan to read any of her work. Here is my summary of each book in the read-along list order and with my general thoughts on them.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles was Christie’s first detective novel. It’s a country house murder mystery, with a kind of convoluted plot. It is written from Captain Hastings’ perspective, and right from the start, bumbling Hastings assists the brilliant but quirky Poirot in uncovering the murderer and accomplice. This book establishes a lot of the plot devices that feature in Christy’s books. This was a fun one and felt very familiar to me. If you like a lot of misdirects and red herrings while you’re trying to guess the murderer, you will like this one.

The Secret Adversary introduces another couple of Christie’s storylines, Tommy and Tuppence. This is a postwar spy thriller, involving the two fairly clueless ‘bright young things’. You will find Tommy and Tuppence either highly annoying or charming. It is again convoluted, with excitement, adventure, and a little romance right up until the end.

The Mystery of the Blue Train is kind of a weird one. This book was written under contractual obligation during a year when Christie was going through some pretty severe personal difficulties, and it shows. Poirot seems tired and sad, as do many of the other characters. The mystery features a murder victim on a train, as does the later and much better Murder on the Orient Express. This is not one of her better books.

The Murder at the Vicarage is the first novel to feature Miss Marple, sharp-eyed elderly lady detective. Miss Marple’s detecting ability derives from her knowing pretty much everything that goes on in her home town, either from direct observation or from the gossip network, and from knowing human nature perhaps too well. My main impression of this book is the wild and rampant ageism. As an aging lady myself (ahem) this bothered me a lot. However, Miss Marple is proved right, as you kind of know she will, and all is right in St. Mary Mead again. And the whippersnappers are given their comeuppance!

The ABC Murders bring us back to Poirot, who is dealing with a serial killer, even before that term was coined. I don’t want to give too much away, as this one has a pretty interesting plot device. Poirot is back in better form, and this is a much more energetic novel and engaging novel than the Mystery of the Blue Train.

And finally, this month’s selection And Then There Were None. This is one of her famous secluded house party mysteries where houseguests are picked off one at a time. Christie creates a really engaging mystery with tension rising and characters cracking under the stress in very different ways. I liked this as it was a real psychological thriller, and the social environment of the party, which takes place on an island so the possibility of escape is removed for the length of the story. Highly recommend.

So that’s my journey with Agatha Christie so far this year. I’ve also been reading mysteries from a contemporary of hers, Margery Allingham, which I will write about in the near future.

Have you read any Christie books? Did you like them or no? Discuss!