r/agathachristie

We talk a lot about the changes made to Christie's text in adaptations that annoy us, and there are many to complain about, but I was curious to hear what changes are made when adapting Christie's work that you have liked? In the interest of keeping the discussion pretty wide ranging, I don't mean that you have to think it improved on Christie's text, just that you liked it, even if you prefer the book (or other adaptations). Though perhaps things that are 'guilty pleasures' (like my love for Sue Grafton's 1983 adaptation of *Sparkling Cyanide*) aren't really within the topic as I see it, just because that could be a fun discussion all on it's own.

My choices:

*Five Litte Pigs (Agatha Christie's Poirot, 2003)*

I watched this again the other night and *really* liked it. I have *zero* concerns with the addition of homosexuality to the plot, overt in one character and alluded to in another. I think it actually fits within the story perfectly (they are a very "Bloomsbury" group of people after all), and Toby Stephens is outstanding playing a man so trapped in the closet and having lost the love of his life that he's turned vile. I actually think that if Agatha had been born later and a story like this was written in, say, 1972 rather than 1942, she may even have made this choice herself. Like a lot of gay men, I'm not always keen on the shoehorning in of gay characters into newer adaptations; it can feel so forced and patronising. But here it just *works*. On the All About Agatha podcast they also say that it could almost be read into the novel, and even makes better sense than the novel, but it's been so long since I've read it, I couldn't say. The depiction of intense love between boys or girls up until they leave school is also a very realistic thing when you look into British history of that time (see for example *Brideshead Revisited* or *Miss Pym Disposes* where these types of friendships being normalised are talked about as part of the culture of Britain (and Germany) of the time). I think Kevin Elyot understood that.

*Nemesis (Miss Marple, 1987)*

I was shocked on a re-read of *Nemesis* recently that this scene was *not* in it. It's where Professor Wanstead goes to interview the mother of Nora Brent, played by Liz Fraser, and it is a wonderful character piece that feels like Christie *could* have written it. It's heartbreaking to see this woman trying (and failing) to hide her alcoholism, and how much pain her daughter's disappearance has put her through. I love that scene and am so glad it's there. On another note, I really don't mind them adding her nephew into this episode either. I think it's a good choice, because the audience needs someone for Miss Marple to talk her ideas out to. In the book it's so much in her head. All up, I just really enjoy this adaptation and think it's one of the best of the Joan Hickson episodes. There's a line at the end where Miss Marple is talking to the murderer that gives me chills in a great way. >!"You returned her to fairyland and now... she's safe now from any unsuitable princes. Sleeping Beauty lies in the ruins and flower grow 'round her" and then "No Miss Bradbury-Scott! She's a rotted corpse and there is no one to kiss her awake!"!<

*Murder on the Orient Express (Agatha Christie's Poirot, 2010)*

This is a controversial one, and I will say that while I love the first two adaptations above, this one I'm much more hot and cold on, but I do think it does some really interesting things, plus we already have the superior 70s version, so I feel fine with this. I don't like the opening two scenes (the soldier's suicide and the stoning - in 1930s Istanbul no less!), but I found the angle they decided to tackle this story from really worth watching. I think they realised that this probably has the best-known solution of any of Christie's stories and you get the sense from almost the beginning that Poirot knows the solution and is fed up with the stories he's hearing. The choice to change it to be more about him grappling with his faith and his morals I find adds a very interesting dimension to this story that makes it worth rewatching too. There's no clinking champagne glasses and winking in this one, just despair at what is a horrible situation and no real possibility of a happy ending. I liked this take a lot. If it had been the only adaptation of this story, maybe I'd be less charitable, but this does appeal to me. And Greta Ohlssen standing up and begging him: "Monsieur, she was *five years old*!" brings a lump to my throat just to think of it.

So, how about you? I'd love to hear!

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

>!how on earth did Gerda and Blunt arrange for Amberiotis to have a toothache and set up an appointment with Morley on that same day?!<

This doesn't even have a weak explaining, it has zero explanation.

1. Towards Zero
2. Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?
3. The Man in the Brown Suit
4. The Moving Finger
5. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
6. The Mysterious Affair at Styles
7. The Secret of Chimneys
8. The Seven Dials Mystery
9. The Sittaford Mystery
10. Hickory Dickory Dock
11. Lord Edgware Dies
12. Mrs. McGinty’s Dead
13. Murder Is Easy
14. Ordeal by Innocence
15. Sad Cypress
16. The A.B.C. Murders
17. A Murder Is Announced
18. And Then There Were None
19. Appointment With Death
20. Cards on the Table
21. Crooked House
22. Dead Man’s Folly
23. Five Little Pigs

I’m asking this with genuine interest. But please no spoilers

I’m a big Agatha Christie fan and a big fan of both Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple and I’m just wondering are the Poirot continuation novels worth investing in?

Are they enjoyable?

I mean, I’m not I’m not expecting them to be on Christie’s level because for me no one in crime fiction can spin a yarn quite as well as the queen of crime herself, but I’m just wondering again without spoilers if they are something that people would recommend or are they just better to be avoided?

I’ve recently been rewatching some of this ITV Agatha Christie’s Poirot and Marple Adaptations and it got me thinking which novels would have be easiest to introduce a different Christie Detective without Severely changing the main plot. I know a lot of the Marple episodes where they used books not originally containing Miss Marple, Do you Think they just picked the wrong books to adapt for her or do you think such an exercise is impossible.

I made my personal Top 10 and a Top 10 that I think would have been Completely impossible to change without severely altering the plot.

1. The Pale Horse - For me this is a fairly neutral story and could easily of been made to contain any of Christie’s Detectives. But I say Miss Marple is the Best Fit as it’s a mystery built on rumour, fear and investigation and has strong village parallels which is definitely Miss Marple’s area of expertise. This is also one on my list that ITV did adapt fairly well with Miss Marple added in my opinion.
2. Mrs McGinty’s Dead - While it’s a Poirot book and enjoyable as it is I personally feel with the village setting and the village psychology Miss Marple would be able to use makes it easy to see her fitting seamlessly into this novel. Also the idea of Miss Marple and Mrs Oliver meeting is something that has always been an interesting what if.
3. Sad Cypress - This one to me is heavy on emotion and relationships and motive and I could see this being made into a Tommy and Tuppence Story with minimal changes especially if led by Tuppence as Tuppence is more grounded than Poirot, is very good at reading tension and relationships and most importantly she has a strong emotional intelligence that I think would work well here. She would use this to emphasize with Elinor, Question assumptions and notice when things don’t fit right emotionally.
4. Towards Zero - This is a Christie Novel that feels like many of her detectives could have fitted in here fairly well, without breaking the plot. This book is designed around murder feeling inevitable. But If I had to choose I’d put Poirot into this one although Miss Marple is also a great option too. If this was a Poirot I would work because he would focus on the structure of the inevitability of the crime and the psychology behind it. Something that Poirot is best at and he’s also a detective who can remove himself and see the bigger pattern within. If Poirot was in this book it would be more about the philosophical case of why murder happens at all.
5. Ordeal By Innocence - This is another one where any thoughtful detective could easily fit in to the plot as there is no real central detective and it is built on the truth emerging slowly. It involves family secrets, long buried truths and crucially everyone is lying to themselves as much as to others. For me Miss Marple is the best fit as she thrives in this sort of case. It was also adapted by ITV for the Marple series.
6. Crooked House - For me a detective swap in this one is easy to do as long as the tone stays dark. I’d put Poirot into this one as the detective needs to mostly be an observer. And this book is at its all about the family and psychology which plays to Poirot’s strengths.
7. The Moving Finger - This is gossip driven and village based so having Miss Marple in this makes sense although she’s barely involved in the book. I’d pick Superintendent Battle as a good fit her as this case is driven by poison pen letters, paranoia and escalating tension. Battle observes Quietly, letting people reveal themselves and he’s not an overly dramatic character which works well here.
8. A Murder Is Announced - This book has a strong cast of characters and a strong core structure and I think Poirot would fit well as an interesting alternative to Miss Marple. Poirot would definitely approach this case more formally and analytically and where the story may lose so of its warmth, it would gain a sharper tone and feel.

As For the Top 10 that I could never see working

1. The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd - Quite simply it is built entirely around Poirot’s Order and Method and the twist for me breaks if Poirot is replaced by any other Christie Detective.
2. Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case - This one is obvious it’s tied so intrinsically to the character of Poirot and bring his arc full circle and it breaks without him as the plot is entirely dependent on Poirot’s moral Philosophy.
3. Death On The Nile - This to me wouldn’t work with another detective as the social dynamics revolve around Poirot’s presence and his character’s reputation shapes the behavior of other characters.
4. Evil Under The Sun - This is another story that I think without Poirot it falls apart. Poirot’s observational quirkes and order and method are what drives the solution.
5. The Murder At The Vicarage - This one it’s entirely based on Miss Marple’s world view.
6. Nemesis – this is another one that relies on Miss Marple to work because it relies on her keen moral judgment and intuition.
7. Sleeping

Murder - Sleeping

1. murder relies on Miss Marple’s understanding of human nature and her ability to interpret memories of the past to lead the solution.

3. Cards

On The Table - The

1. entire premise of this is to have four suspected murderers alongside for slueths. This case relies solely on psychology, which is definitely Poirot’s domain. There’s also no conventional clues in this case not in the usual sense. So again it place to Poirot’s strengths. The solution also relies on Poirot’s understanding of how to read each suspects personalities, interpret their behavior and really only works because of his understanding of the criminal min

d.

PLEASE USE SPOILER TAGS!!! I just want to know y’all’s experience and make sure to avoid spoilers myself. I still have a lot more Christie to read.

I just finished The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. A booktoker said >!The Silent Patient!< was just a worse version of it.

That effectively gave it away for me, and I enjoyed the book a little less. I gave it a 7.5/10 as a result. I think it’s very well done, I can appreciate how it subverted expectations and started a new trope. And I love how sociopathic the seemingly mundane killer must be underneath it all. There were times I doubted I was right. Other times it seemed painfully obvious. She did a very good job of putting all the clues right under the reader’s nose.

asking to avoid or at least beware. this is my biggest pet peeve in christie's work lol, i want them to be there since the beginning!

At first, I'm reading a french version so maybe it's just a translation error. On the chapter V, the herb of death, everybody is poisonned and Sylvia Keene, a young lady, die. The fact is they're poisonned when eating a duck. Mrs. Bantry said everybody became ill, but she also said Mr Curle was vegan. Why was he eating duck ?!! Please tell me if it's just a translation error, I don't understand.

I already knew the twist/solution of TMOOE before I read it, but I had Death on the Nile spoiled as well and still managed to enjoy it much more than this one.

The resolution was pretty implausible but acceptable. What really bothered me was how static the rest of the plot was. The beginning was solid and intriguing, but it just felt like absolutely nothing actually happened after the murder. Poirot painstakingly interviews everyone and searches their compartments and that’s it. I realise that’s a necessary part of most mysteries, but take DotN as a comparison. There are similar interviews and searches, but they sometimes get off the boat and check out the scenery, there are things the characters do that Poirot notices, there are other murders. Things happen. In Orient Express, Poirot and Bouc just sit around and interrogate the passengers. I started to get really impatient with the middle third. Its static nature really impacted the atmosphere as well. You forget about the snow outside when the vast majority of the book is people sitting in the dining car talking about the alibis.

I find it a bit odd that people consider this one of AC’s best. It’s not horrible or anything, but I did find it kind of disappointing. It was just nowhere near as gripping as And Then There Were Now and Death on the Nile (the other two I’ve read recently). Might try Five Little Pigs next. I wanna read Roger Ackroyd, but I already know the twist so it’s hard to work up the enthusiasm.

I’m a recent fan and reader of some of Agatha Christie‘s books and happy to have found this sub Reddit. I just finished sleeping murder-I’m not really reading these in any kind of sequence. My library happened to have this one and previous to that I finished moving finger, so no real sequence or anything.

Sleeping Murder is such a great story! It kept me page turning for the entire story, really no part of it dragged. I did a little digging and it was published (posthumously) in the mid 70s after Agatha passed but confirmed my suspicions that it was written long before that, based on some language/culture cues I picked up on.

Anyways, I felt like it was her finest hour! Such a great story!! Of course “And Then There Were None” is excellent and others but this one was a gem! Any other fans rate this one highly too?!

I really enjoyed reading it—I can’t help but love the pairing of Ariadne Oliver and Poirot.

I’ll admit it has some repetition, so it’s not a top-tier novel, but for me it’s a solid 3/5.

It’s a fun, laid-back read. What are your thoughts on this novel?

This is the first book where I guessed the murderer correctly and even very early. I have read over 30 Christie books, I think over time it's easy to guess.

Have any of you guessed and which ones? Any book recommendations?

Moreover, I thought the way murder was done in MIM was very convoluted and lot of things had to go right to not notice.

I just finished reading Hallowe'en Party and I found the rhythm very tight, making it an incredibly easy and fast-paced read. While it is interesting from certain perspectives, it felt a bit predictable in others and the ending was honestly a letdown for me as it felt too rushed and lacked those satisfying twists I usually expect from Christie. It's a decent mystery but it definitely doesn't have those "jaw-dropping" moments that make her best work stand out.

What you think about it?

This is one of my lasts Poirot books left and i was wondering how good it is. I like the premise, i just want to know what you guys think. I hope it has a good plot twist as always.

No spoilers please.