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Loading... Crooked House (1949)by Agatha Christie
![]() Books Read in 2019 (68) Books Read in 2018 (175) » 12 more Books Read in 2022 (297) Books Read in 2020 (544) Books Read in 2016 (2,294) British Mystery (90) Which house? (34) Best Family Stories (207) Books About Murder (192) Detective Stories (160) Agatha Christie (18) No current Talk conversations about this book. Readable, but definitely not Agatha Christie's best work. ( ![]() A top-notch detective story by an author who is very good at detective stories! The titular Crooked House is an oddly-designed house holding the multi-generational family of Aristide Leonides, an immigrant to England from Greece who built his restaurant into a web of businesses that were never illegal, but definitely a bit crooked. His two grown sons and their families, as well as the sister of his deceased wife live in the house with him, along with his much younger second wife and a handsome tutor for his son Philip's younger children. Before the action of the novel, Aristide has died after the insulin his wife injected into him was replaced with eserine (from his eye drops). Our narrator, Charles, enters the scene as the fiancĂ©e of Sophia, Philip's oldest child, who he met overseas during the war. Sophia refuses to marry him until the question of who killed her grandfather is settled, since any hint of impropriety could hurt his prospects. Lucky for Charles, his dad is a big wig at Scotland Yard, and he gets sent to the Leonides home with our old friend Chief Inspector Taverner to see what he can learn about the family. Everyone suspects Brenda, the young wife, who had been having an affair with the handsome tutor, but, oddly, everyone in the family had their own reasons why they may want their beloved patriarch to be killed, and they all kind of suspect each other too. Christie leads us through a mountain of twists and turns and red herrings, wrapping things up with an unsuspected and very satisfyingly dark ending that proves that anyone in this crooked family really could be capable of murder. This was Christie's 49th book, published in 1949, and is frequently put in her top ten by critics and fans. I have to say that I am in agreement there. Charles Hayward investigates the murder of his fiancee's grandfather as she refuses to marry him while she is still a possible suspect. A stand-alone novel where my little grey cells failed me completely. I guess I never added this book when I read it years ago. With some mystery novels, eventually you forget whodunnit. You can reread and it'll be fresh because it wasn't that memorable the first time around. This is not that book. You'll remember. This book was solid. Great quirky characters and a fine plot line. The reason for the murder was mind blowing and troubling for me. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Publisher SeriesIs contained inThe Nursery Rhyme Murders: Crooked House / Hickory Dickory Dock / A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie Crooked House | The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories | The Under Dog and Other Stories by Agatha Christie The Fourth Man / The Murder of Roger Ackroyd / SOS / Crooked House / Strange Jest by Agatha Christie Murder at the Manor: The Seven Dials Mystery / Crooked House / Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie Has the adaptation
Fiction.
Mystery.
Historical Fiction.
HTML: "Writing Crooked House was pure pleasure and I feel justified in my belief that it is one of my best." â??Agatha Christie Described by the queen of mystery herself as one of her favorites of her published work, Crooked House is a classic Agatha Christie thriller revolving around a devastating family mystery. The Leonides are one big happy family living in a sprawling, ramshackle mansion. That is until the head of the household, Aristide, is murdered with a fatal barbiturate injection. Suspicion naturally falls on the old man's young widow, fifty years his junior. But the murderer has reckoned without the tenacity of Charles Hayward, fiancĂ© of the late millionaire's granddaughter. No library descriptions found. |
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![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.912Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1901-1945LC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
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