Today, we will be reviewing Agatha Christie’s The A.B.C. Murders. Letters to Hercule Poirot and multiple murders leads to a unique mystery. Keep reading for a short summary of the novel and to see if you should add this to your reading list!
The A.B.C. Murders: Summary
Arthur Hastings returns from South America and meets up with Hercule Poirot who shows him a letter he received. Signed “A.B.C.”, the letter says that a crime will be committed soon in alphabetical order. The murder takes place and Poirot receives two more letters.
The third letter misspells Poirot’s address which delays the mail and the murder happens before Poirot receives the mail. To gather information, Poirot creates a “legion” that is comprised of relatives of the deceased.
The case makes some progress as some new information is gathered. During the day of each murder, a man selling stockings was scene at the scene of the crime. A tip gives the police a suspect. Poirot tries to make sense of the clues and the reason for the letters being sent to him instead if the police as well as the incorrectly written address. Can he solve the murder before another murder is committed?
They Love The A.B.C Murders
The novel was loved by critics upon its release. They declared it Christie’s best book yet and one critic claimed it was better than The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. It does make me wonder if they critiqued her books on their plot twists or Christie’s writing?
On another note, Poirot is first introduced as a retired detective yet he went on to solve dozens of murders. Did Christie know it was going to pan out like that? One would imagine not or she would have made him younger. Plus, she didn’t beyond getting her first novel published.
The A.B.C. Murders is yet another great Christie novel that has more twists and turns than a maze. You may try to guess who the murderer is but Christie usually is able to trick most readers. All of the clues are presented to us so it is out fault in the end but the journey was fun as always.
Conclusion
This may be the novel that may have established Poirot as one of the world’s greatest detectives. He won’t ever compare to Sherlock Holmes but Christie and Poirot have sold way more books so that is a win for him. I am glad that we have dozens of Poirot novels and even more Christie novels to look forward to. Happy reading!