Do you remember how I had vowed to slowly make my way through all of Agatha Christie’s books by reading at least one per month? Yeah, that went out the window in recent months. So, I decided to pick one up in June. How did I decide? I went on Spotify and found the first audiobook that was in English. I also don’t think I’ve ever read this one before. If I have, it didn’t leave enough of an impression on me. As long as I didn’t need to know anything about golf then I knew I was going to alright.
It was already going badly for Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Death on the Nile thanks to Covid. Then there were the seemingly endless controversies that plagued the cast. Clearly, somebody was trying to tell him not to bother. I mean somebody other than me. After the dull and forgettable Murder on the Orient Express, I wasn’t exactly counting down the days for this to be released. It doesn’t help that I think this Christie book is overrated. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great book and I do think the twist is cool. I just don’t think it’s one of her top 5. It might be popular but that doesn’t always mean something is good. So, the thought of Branagh attaching his fake moustache for this wasn’t exactly keeping me going through lockdown.
It’s been a while since I got the chance to read an Agatha Christie novel, so I definitely wanted to fit one into January. Thankfully, things are still quiet at work which means I was able to listen to his as an audiobook. I’ve come to the realisation that, even though I love David Suchet as Poroit, I’m not a fan of him as a narrator. I much prefer Hugh Fraser. He just has a much more relaxed and comforting demeanour. He makes the hours just tick by.
I’m getting back into the swing of things with Agatha Christie now. I’m back to reading at least one book a month, which is what I’d planned out for the year. Of course, restricting myself to what I can read has made it difficult to keep this up, so I’ve not read as much Christie this year as I’d have wanted. Still, I’ve managed to read quite a few in recent months, which has got me back on track. It’s always a pleasure to fit another Agatha story into my monthly reads, so hopefully, I’ll manage another before the end of November.
I’ve been feeling dreadful all week, so I haven’t been reading much at night. In order to keep on top of my reading, I managed to sneak in an audiobook at work. As I’ve been feeling rotten, I decided it was only right that I treat myself to an Agatha Christie. I’ve not been reading her as regularly lately, so I’m diving back in with 2 Agatha books this month. Starting with this one. It’s one of the ones that I always tend to forget about but not because I dislike it. It’s just not one of those books that I automatically think of when I have an urge to read some Agatha.
I didn’t finish my previous read, Strange Weather In Tokyo, until Saturday and I was busy for most of Sunday. So, I knew that I needed to pick a quick read for today’s review. I always read less during the week because of work, so I decided to listen to an Agatha Christie audiobook instead. On days when I don’t have to do much writing, I find it easy enough to listen to books as I work. If I’m doing any kind of copywriting, it becomes trickier. Nobody wants me to start typing out Poriot’s speech about who the murderer is. Well, nobody who would be browsing our website anyway. This is a book that I’ve been meaning to include on my big Agatha reread because I love the concept. It’s classic Christie and classic Poirot. With work being so stressful at the moment, it’s been great to be able to shut everything else out and just listen instead.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Agatha Christie is a sure-fire way to cure your bookish blues. After taking a long time to read Monsters, I knew that I had to do something drastic to get me back into reading. On Sunday I stuck on the audiobook version of this novel and didn’t turn it off until the end. I listened as I took my week’s Instagram photos and went about my general weekend business. It’s always glorious listening to a Christie audiobook. Not that it isn’t glorious reading it yourself but there’s something about an audiobook that just enhances the cosiness. Regardless of the reason, as soon as I was finished, I felt much better about life and reading. I’m renewed and ready to get a few more books off my TBR this month.
How could I not read this during my Agatha Christie month? After all, it’s 100 years since it was first published. 100 years and Agatha Christie is still an important part of the literary canon. The fact that this year sees the release of another adaptation of Death on the Nile only proves that. As a writer, she is so often dismissed as being a writer of cosy crime but she has continually shown her longevity. It’s ridiculous to think that people still underestimate her but that’s always been the problem with the literary canon. And I understand that there are more than a few unsavoury moments that haven’t aged particularly well over the years but she’s not alone there.
Agatha Christie and trains go together like Hercule Poirot and a well-groomed moustache. She bloody loved them. More importantly, she bloody loved to see them feature in her murder mysteries. Nowadays, train travel doesn’t have the same romantic appeal as it may once have done. Although, it’s been about 8 months since I was last on a train so there might actually be some romanticism there right now. My morning commute was nothing very interesting but, now that it’s been taken away from me, I do miss it a bit. So, I thought I’d indulge in some train travel during my Christie month. This has never been one of my favourite Christie stories so I’m never that keen to revisit it. It was definitely time for a reread.
October is over halfway through and I’ve just finished my third Agatha Christie book of the month. I was hoping to be a bit further ahead at this point but the last couple of weeks haven’t been good for reading. I’m on holiday now and I’m planning on getting as much done as possible. Even if I don’t get any other Christie books read before Halloween (even though I definitely will have to read And Then There Were None for my book club), I have achieved the one thing I wanted. I’ve reread Death on the Nile before Kenny B brings his film out. You can see why it was the second in this latest series of adaptations. It’s one of the first murder mysteries that most people think of when they think of the Queen of Crime. You can definitely see why. As murders go, this is pretty memorable.
Yipee ki-yay, motherbooker 