If you have ever searched the Internet for recommendations about detective books, your chances of coming across Agatha Christie’s works are pretty high.
Over her lifetime, Christie wrote 66 novels and 14 short 💟story collections. While the latter has some great works available in different compilations, the novels helped the author become a household name worldwide. Her evergreen works are based on the exploits of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.
While all her works are well-celebrated worldwide, let’s take a look at her top 10 works of all time.
is one of the best novels featuring Hercule Poirot. The main plot revolves around a series of murders. While the killings appear to be random, there’s a pattern—all the victims had alliterative names. While the plot is enjoyable, the unique blend of first—and third-person storytelling always drew my attention.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, with a name like that, doesn’t make any attempt to hide the plot from readers. What begins as a tragic suicide soon turns into a game of blackmail and murder. Every murder mystery has a plot twist, but very few works of literature match this masterpiece. While you might try to guess who the murderer might be, the ending will leave you astonished, to say the least. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd has also been adapted to a serialized version under the title “Who Killed Ackroyd.”
is one of Agatha Christie’s most decorated works and takes Poirot on a wild ride across Europe. What begins as a luxurious train ride starting at Istanbul comes to a halt due to snowfall. A murder is discovered on the train amidst all the chaos, but there are no apparent suspects. The murder is even more interesting as the victim, Samuel Ratchett, had feared for his own life and tried to hire Poirot for protection. While the Belgian does refuse at first, Ratchett’s murder forces the Belgian detective to use his grey cells to figure out the truth.
has always felt very different from other works of Agatha Christie. First, there are a lot more murders, and they appear to happen in bizarre fashions. The plot is set on an island where Mr and Mrs Owen invite eight people. However, the hosts are nowhere to be found, and soon, one murder starts happening after the next. While you might find the murders disturbing at fi♛rst, the end leaves you wondering w💙hether all the actions of the killer were justified or not.
Like Murder on the Orient Express, is very well-celebrated, with a movie adaptation released in 2022. As good as the Gal Gadot-starring movie, reading the book is much more intense. As the young couple of Linnet and Simon, about to get married, starts a cruise on the Nile, they’re confronted by Jacqueline, who has a bad history with both. As the cruise begins, Linnet narrowly escapes death from a boulder before the killer eventually gets to her. What starts as a happy and picturesque ride on the river Nile soon turns out to be a race between the killer and Poirot. Like most works of Agatha Christie, the ending will leave you thinking, “Oh, I didn’t see that coming.”
introduces you to a strange character like Mrs. Boynton, whose death actually feels satisfying to some extent. In fact, Poirot even overhears Raymond telling his sister about how their stepmother needs to be killed. While Mrs Boynton’s death might not affect you much, it encourages Poirot to solve the case in 24 hours even though it’s not clear whether there’s a murder.
is one of Christie’s lesser-known works since it does not feature Poirot or Marple. The central plot might appear simple, but there are many twists and turns to expect as a reader. I also like the narrative style of Charles, who is tasked with discovering more about Aristide Leonides’ murder. The suspect appears to be someone inside the family, but the obvious candidate might not be the killer.
is arguably my favorite Marple story, which revolve⛄s around the murders of two teenage girls. It all begins when the body of the first victim is discovered by a maid at Gossington Hall. As Miss Marple starts investigating the first case, reports of another missing girl come up, who turns out to be the second victim. What unravels from there on showcases the depths some might go to fulfill their wishes.
Usually, after they happen, but in this case, the killing is announced in a local newspaper before it happens. Despite all the preparations made by Miss Blacklock, a murder does happen at ൲Little Paddocks, just like it was🌃 announced in the newspaper. As Miss Marple starts her investigation, it appears Miss Blacklock could have been the killer. What soon begins as a case of mysterious murder turns out to be a game of stolen identities and absolute chaos.
There aren’t many works of Agatha Christie where a dead case is reinvestigated. In , Hercule Poirot takes up an old case involving Carla Lemarchant, whose mother had been sentenced to prison for killing her husband, Amyas. Poirot soon discovers that there were five other people present at the Crales on the day of the murder. Five Little Pigs is a testament that the most obvious truth might not be accurate. Despite Caroline’s confessions, it soon turns out that the killer was someone else.
Published: Aug 3, 2024 10:09 am