Murders from A-Z: A Book Review of Agatha Christie's "The ABC Murders"

Original 1936 cover

Imagine that an insane man begins a trek to commit 26 murders. The victim's last name begins with a certain letter, as does the name of the city they live in, such as "Betty Barnard in Bexhill." Detectives hurry to apprehend this man before he commits more murders. This actually happens in Agatha Chrisite's mystery fiction The ABC Murders.
 The main characters are Hercule Poirot (a famous character in Agatha Christie's books) and his friend Capt. Hastings (who narrates much of the novel). The end left me surprised and astonished, as Agatha Christie has a knack for doing that.

SUMMARY

   Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (that's "air-kewl pwa-ro") receives a letter from the mysterious ABC. It warns of an impending murder in Andover. He tells the authorities, but none of them quite take it seriously.

   When a Mrs. Ascher is murdered in Andover, then they certainly get serious about the whole thing! Poirot and a friend, Captain Hastings, investigate the murder scene. All they find of much value is an ABC Railway guide which has no fingerprints.

   Poirot gets another letter, this time signaling a murder to occur in Bexhill-on-Sea. It appears that the mysterious murderer has a crazed mania with the organization of the alphabet. Poirot, Hastings, the police, and a psychologist work together, but they can't seem to nab the crook.

   Finally, after a third murder in Churston, the relatives and friends of the victims join forces with Poirot to unravel the mystery.

   Let me tell you that the end will leave you utterly, amazingly, and in all other senses, surprised!

CONTENT

   The ABC Murders is, as the title implies, a murder mystery. This has a substantial amount of violence. The murders include hitting the head, strangling, and stabbing. There are also a few scenes in the book where blood is either mentioned or described. As in other Agatha Christie murder mysteries, she does not hold back details such as the look on the victim’s face. 

   One of the victims had a boyfriend, but as she is dead, there are no sensual moments there. Also, one of the victims clearly was fond of his secretary and his wife was fatally ill (as well as "out of it" most of the time), but he is loyal to his wife. He treats his secretary more like a daughter than anything. Once or twice, Poirot teases Hastings about admiring a beautiful girl or wanting to stay with a girl (this is a minor part of the book).

   There is some language in the novel, including a few uses G**, d***, and h***.

   While the mystery itself is enough to draw a reader into the story, there are also insights into human character (specifically that of an insane person). While I think there are both good and bad sides to psychology, The ABC Murders provided some interesting ideas, whether I agreed with them or not.

   This mystery book is certainly not appropriate for children. Teens will likely be able to handle it, but any younger and you might want an adult to pre-read the book. I personally very much enjoyed it, and it is always fun to try to figure out the mystery as you read the novel.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Number of pages: 256 (first edition)

Author of book: Agatha Christie

Published in: 1936

Primary audience: Teens, adults