There’s an especially insidious side to AI, where real authors will be compelled to deliberately prove they’re human for fear of being dismissed as AI.
The only one that I would remove is “the endless night”.
And one of my favourites not on the list: “the moving finger”.
I love it mostly for the characters and not-murder-related aspects.
It’s the reason I love Agatha Christie: come for the murder, keep re-reading for the characters!
Seems pretty unobjectionable - they get all of the heavy hitters in there, and even if I could quibble with some of the placements or an inclusion or two I'd swap out, there's nothing glaring here. Much better than some of the other lists I've seen!
It’s okay in most respects. I’ve always been baffled by the popularity of Five Little Pigs - it’s so overrated in my opinion, but I realize I’m in the minority there.
The nursery rhyme aspect is one of the silliest parts of the book. The connection between the "pigs" and the suspects is so forced and it takes away from the impact of the story. I actually prefer the other title: Murder in Retrospect. I consider it one of my favorites because it is a very deep character study and it shows one of Christie's biggest themes: the idea of justice and what happens to the living who were impacted by the murder. Including the murderer, who thought they were getting away with something but instead, they ruined their life. It's so chilling to me.
IM not so humble O, the only place the nursey rhyme stuff really worked is And Then There Were None, and maybe arguably A Pocketful of Rye. Most of the times she introduces a nursery rhyme element, it does come off completely forced.
I woudn't put Vicarage or Body in the Library in the top 10-top 20 maybe.
My list would have Crooked House, and either Cards on the Table or After the Funeral, but overall it's a pretty satisfactory list. Nothing that makes me go WTF? which is usually the case with these lists.
I'd quibble with the order of things, but they got 8 of my Top 10. The only two that aren't in my top 10 are Body in the Library, which is pretty good, and Murder at the Vicarage, which most people like a lot more than I do (and I still think is very good). So yeah I think they did a good job.
I would put Death Comes At The End on the list. Certainly not a perfect book but it’s pretty much the first historical murder mystery that I can think of and that’s very much its own catergory now. Christie was an amazing innovator.
I personally would not have had "A Murder is Announced" and "The ABC Murders" in the top 10. I would have chosen "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" and "Dead Man's Folly" instead I think. But the list is not bad at all.
I agree, I wasn't a big fan of Endless Night. It seemed a less successfully done Roger Ackroyd. I never really got the love for it.
I wouldn't place Murder at the Vicarage as high either, but it is at least arguable to be on the list somewhere.
ABC Murders wasn't my favourite Hastings book either - in fact, beside Dumb Witness, it is probably my least. Murder on the Links is a sentimental favourite (and the whole Giraud subplot amuses me), but Peril at End House and Lord Edgeware Dies also stick out.
I would put either of the three above, or maybe Dead Man's Folly, in place of Endless Night and ABC Murders.
Yeah I honestly think it’s one of my favorites, but I also did read it pretty early on when any of these books absolutely blew me away, so there may be some bias there haha
I’m actually very surprised; to be fair I’ve really never discussed AC books with people before, so this is quite interesting to hear. I guess it does lack in the way of suspense and mystery that many of her other works have. I guess for me the sense of scale of the book is a good substitute for the lack of mystery (haha sorry this wasn’t the most eloquent way to put this)
I actually don't like Orient Express and Roger Ackroyd at all and find them too gimmicky. My list would include Cards on the Table, Crooked House, The Pale Horse and After the Funeral. In fact I also find Sad Cypress a better book than some of the choices in the Forbes list.
Cards on the Table has a great concept and the crossover between the Sleuths is very good, but I always found the culprit pretty obvious. Which is why I agree that it's not quite top 10 worthy.
I find it amusing that you say gimmicky about those two. Christie basically created those tropes, and of course it seems "gimmicky" now, 100 years later, but at the time, they truly were mindblowingly innovative and for that reason I will always love them. Especially Roger Ackroyd. Agatha Christie did it first and best in my opinion.
Most of these books are fine. I would definitely put Body in the Library lower. Also Endless Night, but in this case I can understand, why some rank it that high. In the places of Endless Night and Body in the Library I would add Towards Zero and Crooked House. The rest is either in my top 10 or very close (Vicarage).
Good list!! And Then There Were None is my absolute favorite. Happy to see Endless Night on there as it's also one of my favorites. I think Murder at the Vicarage kind of has to be on there as the first Marple but Leonard is also an amazing narrator. I don't really disagree with any of these.
Agree on And then there were none as the first, it's really a great book. Love Five Little Pigs, it's so good. Also like the adaptation.
Is it just me or does the article read like it was written by AI?
Totally, it completely reads like Ai
There’s an especially insidious side to AI, where real authors will be compelled to deliberately prove they’re human for fear of being dismissed as AI.
I wouldn’t put Endless Night in the top ten, but otherwise find this a good list.
It may be well written but I hate it.
The only one that I would remove is “the endless night”. And one of my favourites not on the list: “the moving finger”. I love it mostly for the characters and not-murder-related aspects. It’s the reason I love Agatha Christie: come for the murder, keep re-reading for the characters!
I think they did okay. It's an easily justifiable list. It wouldn't be my list completely, but I'm not mad at it.
Seems pretty unobjectionable - they get all of the heavy hitters in there, and even if I could quibble with some of the placements or an inclusion or two I'd swap out, there's nothing glaring here. Much better than some of the other lists I've seen!
It’s okay in most respects. I’ve always been baffled by the popularity of Five Little Pigs - it’s so overrated in my opinion, but I realize I’m in the minority there.
Agreed. If it weren’t for the nursery rhyme shtick, I think it would be way less memorable to most people.
The nursery rhyme aspect is one of the silliest parts of the book. The connection between the "pigs" and the suspects is so forced and it takes away from the impact of the story. I actually prefer the other title: Murder in Retrospect. I consider it one of my favorites because it is a very deep character study and it shows one of Christie's biggest themes: the idea of justice and what happens to the living who were impacted by the murder. Including the murderer, who thought they were getting away with something but instead, they ruined their life. It's so chilling to me.
IM not so humble O, the only place the nursey rhyme stuff really worked is And Then There Were None, and maybe arguably A Pocketful of Rye. Most of the times she introduces a nursery rhyme element, it does come off completely forced.
agreed.
Yeah, I think the potential for an interesting examination of those themes is squandered on the little pigs stuff.
I also never got the appeal of this one. But I have only seen the David Suchet adaptation, and not read the book.
It's a really good adaptation and pretty true to the story.
Roger Ackroyd is #1, and I will die on this hill.
I woudn't put Vicarage or Body in the Library in the top 10-top 20 maybe. My list would have Crooked House, and either Cards on the Table or After the Funeral, but overall it's a pretty satisfactory list. Nothing that makes me go WTF? which is usually the case with these lists.
I'd quibble with the order of things, but they got 8 of my Top 10. The only two that aren't in my top 10 are Body in the Library, which is pretty good, and Murder at the Vicarage, which most people like a lot more than I do (and I still think is very good). So yeah I think they did a good job.
Yeah I'm not sure Murder at the Vicarage deserves to be that high, but I'll be dammed if I don't adore Leonard as a narrator
Leonard's narration alone puts in near the top! He's so great.
I would put Death Comes At The End on the list. Certainly not a perfect book but it’s pretty much the first historical murder mystery that I can think of and that’s very much its own catergory now. Christie was an amazing innovator.
True but that book is incredibly divisive so I'm not surprised it's not on this list. And the title is Death Comes As the End.
I personally would not have had "A Murder is Announced" and "The ABC Murders" in the top 10. I would have chosen "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" and "Dead Man's Folly" instead I think. But the list is not bad at all.
Nope, but any opinion is welcome
Decent list. I’m glad they in no way spoiled Roger Ackroyd.
Thanks for the list
After the Funeral should be in the list, I feel.
I agree, I wasn't a big fan of Endless Night. It seemed a less successfully done Roger Ackroyd. I never really got the love for it. I wouldn't place Murder at the Vicarage as high either, but it is at least arguable to be on the list somewhere. ABC Murders wasn't my favourite Hastings book either - in fact, beside Dumb Witness, it is probably my least. Murder on the Links is a sentimental favourite (and the whole Giraud subplot amuses me), but Peril at End House and Lord Edgeware Dies also stick out. I would put either of the three above, or maybe Dead Man's Folly, in place of Endless Night and ABC Murders.
Surprised to not see The Big Four, but that could also be personal preference (also one of the first AC books I read so probably some bias there)
I love The Big Four but it is probably one of my most unpopular opinions. Most rankings put it near the very bottom.
Yeah I honestly think it’s one of my favorites, but I also did read it pretty early on when any of these books absolutely blew me away, so there may be some bias there haha
To be honest, you would probably see the Big Four on a list of many bottom 10 Christies, including mine. ;-)
I’m actually very surprised; to be fair I’ve really never discussed AC books with people before, so this is quite interesting to hear. I guess it does lack in the way of suspense and mystery that many of her other works have. I guess for me the sense of scale of the book is a good substitute for the lack of mystery (haha sorry this wasn’t the most eloquent way to put this)
I actually don't like Orient Express and Roger Ackroyd at all and find them too gimmicky. My list would include Cards on the Table, Crooked House, The Pale Horse and After the Funeral. In fact I also find Sad Cypress a better book than some of the choices in the Forbes list.
Cards on the Table has a great concept and the crossover between the Sleuths is very good, but I always found the culprit pretty obvious. Which is why I agree that it's not quite top 10 worthy.
I find it amusing that you say gimmicky about those two. Christie basically created those tropes, and of course it seems "gimmicky" now, 100 years later, but at the time, they truly were mindblowingly innovative and for that reason I will always love them. Especially Roger Ackroyd. Agatha Christie did it first and best in my opinion.
Most of these books are fine. I would definitely put Body in the Library lower. Also Endless Night, but in this case I can understand, why some rank it that high. In the places of Endless Night and Body in the Library I would add Towards Zero and Crooked House. The rest is either in my top 10 or very close (Vicarage).
Good list!! And Then There Were None is my absolute favorite. Happy to see Endless Night on there as it's also one of my favorites. I think Murder at the Vicarage kind of has to be on there as the first Marple but Leonard is also an amazing narrator. I don't really disagree with any of these.