I certainly never saw it coming nor did I ever see the clues for what they were.ĭefinitely my favorite of all the Agatha Christie mysteries. At Sophia's behest, Charles is the one to investigate and solve the murder for until he accomplishes the task, Sophia will not marry Charles. All had alibis as well as the opportunity and motive for wanting the mean old man dead.Ĭharles Hayward (the son of a Scotland Yard detective) is engaged to marry aristide's granddaughter, Sophia Leonides. Living with him in the old mansion were: his two sons & their wives, his three grandchildren, his first wife's sister, his young and beautiful second wife, and his grandchildren's tutor. Fully aware of his familys' shortcomings, he spoke the truth as he saw it, no matter whom he upset. He wasn't a very nice man, yet he was a very rich man who took care of his family. "Writing 'Crooked House' was pure pleasure and I feel justified in my belief that this is one of my best." Agatha Christie.Īristide Leonides is dead of poisoning. Since it was snowing all day today (in the middle of April?) I thought this would make a nice addition to my “stay apart” library. Plus it endures well and comes a few years before that first book I was talking about.
It is a stand alone which is one of Miss Christie’s better efforts. This is a rather fun outing without the regular detectives. Josephine, the precocious daughter and Edith, the grandfather’s unmarried sister-in-law are here along with a near-do-well son and his wife and a few others.No alibis of course, and toss in a rewritten will and the result is turmoil, back-biting and, of course, moe than one murder. Larry Brown, tutor for the children, and perhaps the younger wife’s lover, hangs about the place. There is a large compliment of suspects including grandfather’s much younger wife who stands to inherit a huge fortune. When Sophia’s grandfather is discovered to have been ingeniously poisoned, Charles Haywood is on the case, doing what his father might have done in similar circumstances. The book is set after WWII and it involves a woman who had worked for the Foreign Office (think spy) and the son of a Police Inspector. The Crooked House of the title refers more to the people living in the vast estate rather than the building itself.
Whatever you do, do not read a 1954 book by William March unless you do it after reading this review.
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