The ABC Murders

☆☆☆☆☆

 

Reasons for the Poirot Score

The plot is one of Christie’s great innovative plots. In order to carry this off she had to solve some difficult narrative problems which she does in an imaginative and engaging manner. If the correct solution is reached the reader can be pretty certain that it is correct, but to reach it requires an act of insight on the reader’s part. There is a lot of humour throughout, some interesting discussion of detective fiction, good page-turning endings to many chapters and the race to prevent the fourth murder is fast paced and exciting. Altogether one of the top drawer Christie whodunnits.

 

Click here for full review (spoilers ahead)

 

Trivia

Dedication

TO JAMES WATTS: ONE OF MY MOST SYMPATHETIC READERS

James Watts was Christie’s brother-in-law: the husband of her elder sister Margaret (Madge; Punkie). He contributed to the plot of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (see Trivia for that novel)

 

Churston, Devon

Churston, in Devon, the place of the third murder, has now been subsumed, together with the neighbouring village of Galmpton, into the village of Churston Ferrers.

The station (see photo) was originally built in 1861 (and called Brixham Road until 1868). It was acquired by one of the major railway companies, The Great Western Railway company (GWR), in 1882. In the 1930’s it was still owned by GWR and was part of the main rail networks – hence its featuring in the ABC Railway Guide. The rail system was nationalised in 1948 (becoming British Railways). However, in the decimation of the British rail system that took place in the 1960s, the railway line (track) from Paignton to Kingswear (that includes Churston) was closed. Fortunately a group of enthusiasts formed a company, The Dart Valley Light Railway Company, now the Dartmouth Steam Railway, that saved the track and stations from destruction. The company runs a steam-hauled railway during the summer. (See: http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/c/churston/index.shtml)

 

The station next to Churston in the direction of Kingswear is Greenway Halt close to the house (Greenway) that Christie bought in 1938, two years after the publication of The ABC Murders. The house is now owned by The National Trust and is open for much of the year to the public. It has much Christie memorabilia (see http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/greenway/). As a girl Christie lived in Torquay about five miles north of Churston (see map).

 

 

Captain Hastings O.B.E

In the ‘foreword’ by Captain Hastings we learn that he has been awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire). This is a national award two ‘rungs’ below a Knighthood.

 

Women called Grey   …

Thora Grey is the third Miss Grey to make an appearance in the Christie’s novels published by 1936. They are all attractive women in their twenties, and single. The two previous Miss Grey’s are in Death in the Clouds and The Mystery of the Blue Train.

 

And men called Strange

A character called Strange provides an alibi for Cust for the second murder. There is a more significant character in Three Act Tragedy called Sir Bartholomew Strange.