Review : Towards Zero by Agatha Christie

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What is the connection between a failed suicide attempt, a wrongful accusation of theft against a schoolgirl, and the romantic life of a famous tennis player? To the casual observer, apparently nothing. But when a houseparty gathers at Gull’s Point, the seaside home of an elderly widow, earlier events come to a dramatic head. It’s all part of a carefully paid plan — for murder…

Review:

Dear Readers,

I enjoy Agatha Christie’s books, I however cannot consider myself an expert in her works, mostly because I stopped reading her voraciously years ago, but also because when I sat down and thought about it, I really have not read all that many, just some of the most famous. I think I watched more than I have read. I also have to note that I preferred the stories where Hercule Poirot was the main investigator as opposed to Ms. Marple.

This book was a book club pick and when I saw the description I was very interested.  Neither Poirot, nor Ms. Marple appear in this book (although the Poirot’s name is mentioned once in passing). Someone else entirely investigates the murder (Superintendent Battle). Apparently she wrote several stories with him as a main investigator, but I have never read any of those stories before and presumably this is the best one.

I quite liked it.  Another unusual aspect of this story is that the murder take place probably in the middle of the book. So, the reader gets to know what happened right before from “first hand experience” so to speak. Rather than following a detailed investigation, we get to observe the potential murderers in action when they all come for a visit to the house of an elderly widow and presumably readers have more chance to figure out their motives after the widow does end up dead.

I think that what I liked the most here is trying (and failing) to figure out the psychological reasons for what unfolded in front of the readers’ eyes. I mean I actually guessed the murderer’s identity correctly – a certain thing that this person decided to do was just too strange, too off to not be suspicious of that person almost from the beginning, but I did not guess the motive at all and neither did I guess “the whole plan” so to speak.

There were a couple of things that I did not like. Mostly because I thought that those events/ people became a part of the main plot just to make sure the end will be tied in the neat bow. I can actually point to those events since even blurb kindly mentions them.

“What is the connection between a failed suicide attempt, a wrongful accusation of theft against a schoolgirl, and the romantic life of a famous tennis player?” Normally there would be absolutely no connection between those events and the fact that the author actually connected those events  together felt like a stretch. Having said that, I do feel that psychological motivations for what the “alleged killer” did were spot on and the story is very much worth reading because of that.

Also, I think I will remember the ending for quite some time because I think that for me this came out as much darker than what the author intended. I am not going to reveal the murderer under a spoiler cut, but will still mark it as a SPOILER just in case since it is somewhat of the spoilerish revelation:

One more thing, I put in the hardcover cover because that is what I have read. For once I did not buy Kindle version because a lot of reviews said it was riddled with mistakes and I passed the book to the younger members of the family who enjoy Agatha Christie a lot.

Grade: B

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