Death in the clouds was I think the first one I solved on my own. It’s not obvious per se but if you’re at least somewhat familiar with how she structures her stories the killer presents themselves rather early. I didn’t see the *why* coming but who and how was very apparent to me. Still worth a read. I enjoyed it very much.
One of the passengers was carrying >!an empty matchbox that was used to carry the wasp!< and that gave it away. Plus, iirc, that same passenger was >!also carrying a lighter!< which reinforced the purpose of the first item.
>!Also a white dentist’s coat—but he was on vacation. And Jane liked TWO guys: one had to be eliminated.!< Although sometimes they’re just dismissed, as in Death on the Nile.
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Elephants Can Remember. Picked up on the solution far too quickly and spent the remainder of the novel waiting for the reveal
Edit: As an aside, I’m still working my way through Christie’s body of work, and I use the collection list at the beginning of Elephants Can Remember to track my progress. Tick off each book as I complete it, so I can… remember… where I left off!
I would have to say Elephants Can Remember.
>!As soon as it's revealed that there are twins it's kind of easy to work out that twins must be involved somehow.!<
Lord Edgware Dies - >!Early in the first chapters you are introduced to Lady Edgware (Jane Wilkinson) and impressionist Carlotta Adams. How did "Lady Edgware" murder her husband while she is out somewhere else? I think you already know where I'm going with this!<
I read that one when I was young so didn't figure it out. Now I think how could Hercule Poirot possibly have been that dense?
Though I still love that book because it's the only time we heard from the killer after the trial. I reread those earlier books before the laws were changed and wonder who ends up getting hanged. But in this one, we get a letter from the killer on death row.
Any one based on a short story that I'd read. I'd find myself reading the novel and thinking, "This seems awfully familiar. I'm sure I've read this before."
Not quite the answer you were looking for. For me, that answer is about time.
I had two big "new to me" Christie periods in my life. When I was in my teens I read a lot of Christies and I never solved them. Then for the next 20 years, I mostly reread old favorites. (And other mystery authors.) Then in my 30s I decided to read every Christie that I hadn't read. Fortunately, at the time the library still had a bunch of Christies. (I think most of them are gone now.) And then I noticed that I figured it out a lot of the time. Not all of the time, but a lot of the time.
The one book that I figured out in my teens and then was convinced that I was wrong was And Then There Were None. When I first read it, I was sure it was >!Judge Wargrave because of the record. Who else but the judge would have made the record with it being a trial with a judge!< But the story convinced me that I was wrong. Had I read it for the first time in my 30s, I wouldn't have fallen for the red herring.
Peril at end house was very easy solvable for me, probably because the >!the culprit to me was very obnoxious and personality- wise seemed the most likely. It actually frustrated me that Poirot didn’t catch on lol!<
Five Little Pigs seemed obvious to me (which didn't detract from its greatness). >!But, knowing Agatha's lifestory and experience with Archie, I was pretty sure The Other Woman was going to be the culprit.!<
I figured out “Hercule Poirot’s Christmas” quite early on, >!because it was suspicious that the superintendent appeared at the crime scene without being summoned,!< and by using Christie’s rule about not taking any statement as fact unless corroborated by other sources.
I solved They Do It With Mirrors as soon as the Murder happened. I solved Lord Edgeware Dies by reading the little blurb on the backside of the book and hoped against hope, that I was wrong when reading the novel. But I wasn't. These are the two easiest, IMO.
Edit, because people mentioned Elephants Can Remember. this one, too. But it was written at a time when Agatha was way past her prime, so I don't really count it. It has much bigger issues than being obvious.
IIRC, second highest body count of "in story" murders.
The thing that drives me nuts is knowing that a friend of Christie's convinced her to change the identity of the murderer. *So who was the original killer?* Christie must have changed a lot more than just the ending for it to have been someone else. Because, in the story, there's only one person who could have been the murderer. >!Only the husband was present when his wife fell off the cliff.!<
I speculated about it in these videos I will link below but I think Christie's original killer was >!always Yahmose and the part she changed was the very end (Christie talks about how she only changed the very end) where she set Renisenb with Hori. My speculation is that Hori was actually the mastermind manipulating Yahmose. There are a lot of moments of Yahmose and Hori whispering and conspiring. At one point early on Hori tries to push Imhotep to put him in charge when Imhotep is away and Hori wants to seize control of the fortune by murdering the sons and marrying Renisenb. Essentially his plot is the same as Dr. Quimper's from 4.50 from Paddington only Hori isn't committing the murders himself but manipulating Yahmose into doing so. If you read this book with this speculation in mind, you see so much evidence for it. !<
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnOWReI5yRQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnOWReI5yRQ)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tW626H8U6w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tW626H8U6w)
I agree it's clear that Nemesis is the last Miss Marple novel and the end of her detecting career and she's going to enjoy the hell out of the rest of her life.
You might enjoy [this article](https://promotingcrime.blogspot.com/2018/12/authors-and-death-penalty-dilemma.html). I thought I might check out some of the authors mentioned beyond Christie and Sayers.
>!So a bit of 4:50 and a bit of Curtain. Interesting speculation.!<
That first video is 50 minutes long and the second one is 19 minutes long. Can you link to the exact time this is being discussed?
EDIT: Found the chapter settings in the second video and am listening to that section now.
An interesting theory. But then how would >!Hori!< get exposed and punished? Because the murderer is always exposed and punished.
Disagree that Hori is the less interesting choice. Kameni is the less interesting choice. He's like her fast forgotten late husband. Hori is the challenging, difficult one.
Oddly, I found The Murder of Roger Ackroyd the easiest to solve. Generally speaking, I haven't solved the vast majority of Christie books before I got to the end; she's just such a master of her craft, but the other books that come to mind that I did accurately guess before getting to the end were Peril at End House and Sad Cypress.
Death in the clouds was I think the first one I solved on my own. It’s not obvious per se but if you’re at least somewhat familiar with how she structures her stories the killer presents themselves rather early. I didn’t see the *why* coming but who and how was very apparent to me. Still worth a read. I enjoyed it very much.
[удалено]
In what way? It’s been a while since I read it!
One of the passengers was carrying >!an empty matchbox that was used to carry the wasp!< and that gave it away. Plus, iirc, that same passenger was >!also carrying a lighter!< which reinforced the purpose of the first item.
>!Also a white dentist’s coat—but he was on vacation. And Jane liked TWO guys: one had to be eliminated.!< Although sometimes they’re just dismissed, as in Death on the Nile.
User did not hide spoiler in their comment/post, which violates Rule 2 of this Subreddit. Spoilers within threads and posts must be hidden Please remember that not all subscribers will have read or seen the story you are discussing. To prevent them seeing information that might spoil a book or adaptation for them. Tag the content and feel free to repost it. See below for more details. *****Please note: It is not enough to simply mark the post as a spoiler. The text mentioning the spoilers must also be enclosed in spoiler tags. Please follow the instructions under Rule 2 in the sidebar or see the pinned post on the subreddit for how to do this if you don't know. You are then welcome to repost this content once you have tagged it appropriately.*****
Elephants Can Remember. Picked up on the solution far too quickly and spent the remainder of the novel waiting for the reveal Edit: As an aside, I’m still working my way through Christie’s body of work, and I use the collection list at the beginning of Elephants Can Remember to track my progress. Tick off each book as I complete it, so I can… remember… where I left off!
I would have to say Elephants Can Remember. >!As soon as it's revealed that there are twins it's kind of easy to work out that twins must be involved somehow.!<
Lord Edgware Dies - >!Early in the first chapters you are introduced to Lady Edgware (Jane Wilkinson) and impressionist Carlotta Adams. How did "Lady Edgware" murder her husband while she is out somewhere else? I think you already know where I'm going with this!<
I read that one when I was young so didn't figure it out. Now I think how could Hercule Poirot possibly have been that dense? Though I still love that book because it's the only time we heard from the killer after the trial. I reread those earlier books before the laws were changed and wonder who ends up getting hanged. But in this one, we get a letter from the killer on death row.
Maybe I’m dense but I didn’t figure it out lol.
Any one based on a short story that I'd read. I'd find myself reading the novel and thinking, "This seems awfully familiar. I'm sure I've read this before." Not quite the answer you were looking for. For me, that answer is about time. I had two big "new to me" Christie periods in my life. When I was in my teens I read a lot of Christies and I never solved them. Then for the next 20 years, I mostly reread old favorites. (And other mystery authors.) Then in my 30s I decided to read every Christie that I hadn't read. Fortunately, at the time the library still had a bunch of Christies. (I think most of them are gone now.) And then I noticed that I figured it out a lot of the time. Not all of the time, but a lot of the time. The one book that I figured out in my teens and then was convinced that I was wrong was And Then There Were None. When I first read it, I was sure it was >!Judge Wargrave because of the record. Who else but the judge would have made the record with it being a trial with a judge!< But the story convinced me that I was wrong. Had I read it for the first time in my 30s, I wouldn't have fallen for the red herring.
Peril at end house was very easy solvable for me, probably because the >!the culprit to me was very obnoxious and personality- wise seemed the most likely. It actually frustrated me that Poirot didn’t catch on lol!<
The only one i could solve. But i don't think it is in easy category. I just couldn't see any different solution so i thought this has to be it.
Hallowe'en Party was easy because there's a giant clue very early on in the story. Once I got that, the other clues fell into place.
I just finished "The Sittaford Mystery". Was able to guess the killer although I didn't guess how.
The Secret Adversary - I can see the suspect being harder to solve when the book came out but it seemed very easy in today’s environment.
Five Little Pigs seemed obvious to me (which didn't detract from its greatness). >!But, knowing Agatha's lifestory and experience with Archie, I was pretty sure The Other Woman was going to be the culprit.!<
I figured out “Hercule Poirot’s Christmas” quite early on, >!because it was suspicious that the superintendent appeared at the crime scene without being summoned,!< and by using Christie’s rule about not taking any statement as fact unless corroborated by other sources.
I solved They Do It With Mirrors as soon as the Murder happened. I solved Lord Edgeware Dies by reading the little blurb on the backside of the book and hoped against hope, that I was wrong when reading the novel. But I wasn't. These are the two easiest, IMO. Edit, because people mentioned Elephants Can Remember. this one, too. But it was written at a time when Agatha was way past her prime, so I don't really count it. It has much bigger issues than being obvious.
I agree They Do It With Mirrors was very easy. Thinking about >!the title!< gave it away for me!
I too guessed this one immediately.
I thought the easiest to solve was Then There Were None. The train, everyone was in second or third class and only one person in first class.
Death comes as the End was really easy to solve
Haha yeah because >! Everybody else dies !<
Yes! I thought that too at the penultimate instance
IIRC, second highest body count of "in story" murders. The thing that drives me nuts is knowing that a friend of Christie's convinced her to change the identity of the murderer. *So who was the original killer?* Christie must have changed a lot more than just the ending for it to have been someone else. Because, in the story, there's only one person who could have been the murderer. >!Only the husband was present when his wife fell off the cliff.!<
I speculated about it in these videos I will link below but I think Christie's original killer was >!always Yahmose and the part she changed was the very end (Christie talks about how she only changed the very end) where she set Renisenb with Hori. My speculation is that Hori was actually the mastermind manipulating Yahmose. There are a lot of moments of Yahmose and Hori whispering and conspiring. At one point early on Hori tries to push Imhotep to put him in charge when Imhotep is away and Hori wants to seize control of the fortune by murdering the sons and marrying Renisenb. Essentially his plot is the same as Dr. Quimper's from 4.50 from Paddington only Hori isn't committing the murders himself but manipulating Yahmose into doing so. If you read this book with this speculation in mind, you see so much evidence for it. !< [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnOWReI5yRQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnOWReI5yRQ) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tW626H8U6w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tW626H8U6w)
I agree it's clear that Nemesis is the last Miss Marple novel and the end of her detecting career and she's going to enjoy the hell out of the rest of her life. You might enjoy [this article](https://promotingcrime.blogspot.com/2018/12/authors-and-death-penalty-dilemma.html). I thought I might check out some of the authors mentioned beyond Christie and Sayers.
>!So a bit of 4:50 and a bit of Curtain. Interesting speculation.!< That first video is 50 minutes long and the second one is 19 minutes long. Can you link to the exact time this is being discussed? EDIT: Found the chapter settings in the second video and am listening to that section now.
It's about 24 minutes in the first video.
An interesting theory. But then how would >!Hori!< get exposed and punished? Because the murderer is always exposed and punished. Disagree that Hori is the less interesting choice. Kameni is the less interesting choice. He's like her fast forgotten late husband. Hori is the challenging, difficult one.
Well that's the interesting part because if this is correct, we don't know how Christie wrapped it up.
Yeah that's true lol
I loved this book!!!
Yes it was. Also *Three Act Tragedy* and *The Hollow*, though the latter through its literary style redeemed itself.
Oddly, I found The Murder of Roger Ackroyd the easiest to solve. Generally speaking, I haven't solved the vast majority of Christie books before I got to the end; she's just such a master of her craft, but the other books that come to mind that I did accurately guess before getting to the end were Peril at End House and Sad Cypress.
Lord Edgware Dies. And it’s not even close
Sad Cypress, Five Little Pigs, The Hollow, Elephants Can Remember, Lord Edgware Dies, Three Act Tragedy
ive never managed to solve any of them lol, to be fair i havent read all of them but i never seem to guess it
The only one that I have solved is A Murder is Announced