Book One: The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

I have been reading Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels for quite a long time now but it wasn't until the Goodreads website that I uncovered their order.  Dumb I know.  I mean, I obviously knew they were written in some sort of sequence but the stories do not build on each other, only the characters ages increase and they sometimes reference older stories.  You can really grab any one of the shelf and not be lost.  

I love these books.  I love the main character Poirot. I just think he's great.  And I also love how I can never figure these books out.  For some reason, I never know who the murderer is until the very end.  That Agatha, never predictable! 

With that being said, this book did drag on just a tiny bit.  I only say that because they are such short novels, this one was just over 200 pages, and usually they go so quickly.  I loved the book and the story, I love the way she writes, I love the suspense and the description of the scenery. She writes just enough to paint the walls and leaves you to fill in the room.  I love the way I picture Poirot's Study and she doesn't ever try to take that from me.  

In this book the plot can be easily derived from the title but it has a GREAT twist! There is a murderer on the loose who is killing people in alphabetical order, first initials A.A. then B.B. and so on. Poirot is involved via a letter from the murderer identifying him as the adversary and challenging Poirot to catch him and stop him from continuing to kill. 

The story is great.  

What I also love about these books is the description, or lack there of, of the crime.  Agatha doesn't go into gory gruesome details, which I appreciate. If you are looking for something disturbing crime wise, read Patricia Cornwell, those are rough!  Granted, I may be more sensitive to that stuff or more inclined to empathize or identify with the victim and their family than most but I just hate suffering so those graphic details deter me from that type of novel.  Thank you, Agatha for good old fashioned crime stories without all of the misery and suffering!

In conclusion, its a great book. Not my favorite Agatha but definitely glad I read it.  I would give it 4/5 stars and recommend it! 

If you read it, let me know what you thought!