APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH
UK publication: 1938 (Collins)
US publication: 1938 (Dodd, Mead)
Detective: Hercule Poirot
Genre: Novel
Plot
summary and comments: Poirot is a member of a party of tourists on an excursion to Petra in Trans-Jordan when one of their number is killed, and he is asked to help with the investigation. The party includes the Boynton family, a large American brood touring the Middle East and consisting of old Mrs. Boynton (fat, grotesque, and cruel), her four children, and the wife of one of them; as well as a French psychiatrist, a young Englishwoman medical student, and Lady Westholme, a redoubtable British Member of Parliament. It is Mrs. Boynton who is murdered. The atmosphere of the Holy Land sights is well conveyed. Christie adapted the novel into a play, produced in 1945.
::READERS REVIEWS::
"This was my first Agatha Christie book, and I got it only after I realised that Hercule Poirot was the hero! Poirot has been the subject of a series of well acted TV programmes, each of which portrays one book. The actor who plays Poirot is superb and inspired me to read the books, hence my choice to buy "Appointment With Death". My previous preference for Mystery books has been P.D.James, who is also excellent (Her book "A Taste For Death" kept me hooked from start to finish!)
The book added to the TV version/image of Poirot but Agatha Christie's writing really makes you feel as though you were there. As I was reading about their trip to Jerusalem, I found myself feeling the heat and the pent up frustrations of the characters. I also came to intensely dislike the murder victim and I am sorry to report that I thought the mother should have been murdered years before!!"
"APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH is a perfect example of Agatha Christie's work; exotic locale, cast of interesting and varied characters, and, of course, MURDER. There are other Christie books that are more exciting or more clever than this, but she is in top form here. Characterizations have a bit more psychological depth here than in her other books; the monstrous mother and the near-psychotic daughter, in particular, stand out as memorable creations.
Read the book and the play; Christie adapted the novel for the stage herself, and made two changes: she removed Poirot, and changed the identity of the murderer. Typical of Christie, both versions of the story work equally well."
"i thought this book was one of christie's best books right along 'and then there were none' and 'murder on the orient express'. it was almost the end before i figured out who was the killer and i can usually figure out who did it. again i say this was a very good book and i recommend it to everyone"
"This is one of those mysteries where the murdered person is so loathsome that even if you don't approve of the murder, you DO cheer when it happens. The plot is tight and complex, the characters are excellent, and the ending will surprise, shock, and satisfy you."
::YOUR OPINION::
