A Pocket Full Of Rye - Agatha Christie

Image Courtesy : Amazon

Rex Fortescue, a wealthy business man, dies suddenly in office after drinking a cup of tea. A good quantity of Rye was found in his office coat. Inspector Neele arrives at the place to investigate the crime. After few days, Rex Fortescue’s second wife, Adele , who is the prime suspect for the murder of her husband, is also found dead. On the same day, Gladys Martin, the parlours maid, is also found dead. Miss Marple feels that she has some responsibility to identify who the killer is as she is the one who had trained Gladys in the duties of a house. Did Miss Marple succeed in finding the murderer?

Like any other christie novel, this one strikes a cord with the readers and it is simply unputdownable. She plays fair with the readers by taking us through the process of solving the mystery. The solution to the murder mystery is quite convincing.

Many of the characters in this book lack depth. Like her other books, (say 5 little pigs, Appointment with death etc), Christie did not spend considerable time in bringing the personality of various suspects of the house to the readers. As a result, I could neither sympathize nor empathize with any of the characters as I don't know much about them.

Overall, its a very good read.

Rating : 3.5/5

Comments

Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier

Image Courtesy : Amazon “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again”. The opening lines of Rebecca set the tone and mood for the rest of the book. Our unnamed protagonist, who works as a companion to Mrs Van Dee Hooper happens to chance Mr Maxim De Winter (a widower and who is almost twice the age of the protagonist) in a hotel. The acquaintance leads to couple of dates and eventually both of them fall in love with each other. Once, they marry, Maxim takes Mrs. De Winter to Manderley. Mrs. De Winter finds it difficult to adjust to the new house. Mrs. Denver, the devoted housekeeper of Rebecca (Maxim's first wife), still runs the house. She couldn’t resist anyone taking up raking up Rebecca’s place. Mrs. De Winter continues to think herself as inferior to Rebecca and strongly believes that Maxim is still in love with Rebecca. Mrs. Denvers uses this opportunity to persuade Mrs. De Winter to commit suicide. Slowly, it is revealed that Rebecca did not die of accident. ...

After the funeral by Agatha Christie

Image Courtesy : Amazon Richard Abernethie, a wealthy man, dies at home. All the relatives of Richard gather together to discuss the will during which, Richard’s sister, Cora says Richard is actually murdered. Cora is found dead the next day. Mr Entwhistle, the family solicitor, calls up Poirot and requests him to investigate both the murders. Poirot, as usual, using his little grey cells resolves the murderer. A typical Christie - Poirot murder mystery would be like, a murder is committed and there are 4 to 5 primary suspects. Each suspect has a motive to commit the murder and each of them has something to hide from the investigators. At the end, Poirot dramatically reveals the murderer (who generally is the least suspect) by gathering all the participants in a room. After the funeral follows the exact typical, tried and tested formula of Agatha. Christie’s love for dysfu...

Tell me your dreams by Sidney Sheldon

Its difficult to write about this book because it would lead me to give away too much of the plot which might be detrimental to those who have not read this work. So, hence my little thoughts around this book here. Ashley Patterson , a software engineer, feels that she is being stalked by an unknown person. One day, she finds that some strange writings on the mirror and asks for police protection. Strangely, the police person who came fo r protection is found dead. Who has killed him? Is anyone following Ashley Patterson? It is a classic example of how a thriller has to be written. The book is slick and brilliantly edited to sustain the narration. There are no additional words/lines/pages written that deviates/distracts the readers from the plot. The book also touches upon various problems a women undergo in her personal and professional life. Another important theme that resonates in the book is how a childhood trauma can shape the minds of youth and how the inner t...

Read along

Search This Blog