DEATH IN THE CLOUDS
US title: DEATH IN THE AIR
UK publication: 1935 (Collins)
US publication: 1935 (Dodd, Mead)
Detective: Hercule Poirot
Genre: Novel
Plot summary and comments: Murder is committed on a passenger airplane, during a regular flight from Paris to London. Poirot is one of the passengers, and the murderer can only be one of the 10 other passengers in the rear compartment, or one of the stewards. The murder is only realized just before landing, and Poirot investigates the crime in London and Paris, working with Inspector Japp as well as M. Fournier of the Surete. Madame Giselle (the murdered passenger) has only a minor puncture wound on her throat, and the actual cause of death is one of the puzzles. The other passengers include an aristocrat, an ex-chorus girl, two whitecollar workers with romantic interests, a doctor, a businessman, two French archaeologists, and the crime novelist Daniel Clancy, suspected by Japp.
::READERS REVIEWS::
"Murder committed on board an airplane! Agatha Christie was certainly fond of unusual plot twists - murders committed on luxury trains, during card games, killers who killed in alphabetical order, but this one takes the cake! An old woman is mysteriously killed by a poisoned dart and suspicion naturally falls on her fellow passengers. Of course, Poirot who was on board, is called upon to find the guilty party. I found the way he meticulously traces the victim's life and tries to find linkages between her and the passengers interesting, it's much more realistic than detectives who are able to miraculously solve crimes seated in their armchairs! I also found the characters in the book very interesting, particularly that of Jane Grey. The twist at the end is fairly unexpected and the story is resolved in a satisfying way. A nice touch is the addition of a little romance that lightens up the proceedings. A very good read!"
"Madame Giselle, a rather unlikeable woman, is apparently shot with a poison dart from a blowpipe. This happens in plain sight of thirteen passengers on a plane flying from France to England. How did the killer produce a blowpipe, place it to his/her lips, and shoot a poison dart across a crowded passenger compartment without being noticed? Where did the wasp come from? How could Hercule Poirot, the greatest detective of all times (if you don't believe it just ask him), sleep through a murder committed right under his nose?
Obviously it couldn't have happened that way. But if not, how did it happen? And who did it? Almost everyone on board has a motive to kill Madame Giselle, and almost eveyone on board does a little lying before the mystery is solved. Poirot sorts through the clues, unmasks the liars, and eventually figures out not only whodunnit, but also howdunnit and whydunnit. "
"This was my very first Agatha Christie book, so naturally, I was interested to know how she writes. It had a slow start, but once a women was found dead the story begins to unfold. It's interesting to read about the curious detective, Hercule Poirot, and his views on the case, which are extremly different from those of the police. His method of finding the killer is exactly opposite of what Inspecter Japp thinks: All people on the plane are guilty until proven inocent. Aided by his friends Jane Grey, the hairdresser, and Norman Gale, the dentist, and a colorful cast of characters, this book is definitly a must for mystery lovers!"
::YOUR OPINION::
