How can one be in London and not read an Agatha Christie mystery?  Her play, “The Mousetrap” continues to be performed nightly in the West End as it has since 1952, interrupted only by the COVID lockdown, but up and running again.  Her 66 books have been translated into every imaginable language and she remains the best selling ficton writer of all time with more than 2 billion copies sold.  Named the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award and named the best crime writer by the Crime Writers Association, her books have lost none of their appeal.  “The Death of Roger Ackroyd” was named the best mystery of all time by this same group.

I had the pleasure of finally obtaining a library card from our nearby Kensington/Chelsea branch of the London Library, and this was the first book I checked out during this visit.  I chose it from a shelf-full of Christies because a web site had named it the fifth best of Christie’s books and I had read the first four. I was not disappointed.

The book is a departure from her usual ‘closed room’ murder where all the suspects are clearly identified and have motive and opportunity.  In this charming novel, we travel all over southern England from Andover to Bexhill to Churston to Doncaster as four murders of individuals whose last names parallel the alphabetical order of their towns confound Scotland Yard and even our Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot.  The latter is forewarned in each instance with a letter indicating the town and date of the upcoming murder so he has a special motive to solve the crime, which he does so in his inimitable style.

I won’t ruin the surprise ending and dare you to figure it out in advance.  This book was a fast-paced and pleasant distraction from the daily disasters in the news.  Nearly 100 years old, it retains a freshness and spirit that is admirable.  Dame Agatha remains a force.