This has to be amongst one of Agatha Christie’s best books. The plot leaves you guessing till the very end. the best thing about a Christie novel is the lucid langauge and pace of her book. This one is no exception.
Built around the idea of a perfect murder Agatha Christie puts forth an elaborate but almost perfect plan for it to be performed. The build up is brisk as usual and ensures against the reader losing interest at any stage. The setting is a romantically described island which is cut off from the mainland due to a storm. A series of unexplainable murders, all keeping in synch with a seemingly harmless children’s nursery rhyme, then grips the inhabitants and takes them all to their death over the next two days. the best part about the plot is the pace it gathers as we move along. Agatha Christie’s skillful style really makes one wonder how dangerous she could have been if she had ever contemplated turning murder into a real life art somewhere along the same lines as she has with her writing. She truly is the empress of murder fiction.
It has always intrigued me as to what fascination does Agatha Christie have with children’s poems. A number of her books have had a poem at the centre.
As regards this book, it certainly is one which will make for an interesting evening of reading.