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Some of the Agatha Christie books I've read over the past year

4.50 From Paddington

Postern of Fate

The Double Clue

Murder on the Orient Express

By The Pricking of my Thumbs

The Last Seance

And Then There Were None

The Mysterious Mr Quinn

13 For Luck

Three Act Tragedy

The Secret Adversary

Average Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤

#Agatha Christie #books #reviews #recommendations #my opinion #4.50 From Paddington #Postern of Fate #The Double Clue #Murder on the Orient Express #By The Pricking of my Thumbs #The Last Seance #And Then There Were None #The Mysterious Mr Quinn #13 For Luck #Three Act Tragedy #The Secret Adversary #crime #mystery

The final Tommy and Tuppence book and the last Christie I read in 2025. Also the last book she wrote, though a couple earlier works were published after it.

This was a slightly frustrating read but not an unenjoyable one. From my understanding, Christie was dealing with declining mental faculties (potentially dementia) in her later years and I think it'd evident that was the case from this book. Tommy and Tuppence are older in this one, having retired and moved away from London to a quaint little town, and much of their banter comes back to not being able to remember things properly.

I've seen a few reviews that call this Christie's worst book, and I disagree (that's The Big Four and I will die on that hill), but it isn't the easiest or most fun. The most frustrating thing about it is the way characters talk in circles and sometimes forget threads of information they should be asking about. At one point someone is killed in Tommy and Tuppence's garden and Tuppence has a close call herself, and then later when their dog starts barking at a particular bush they're like "wonder whats got into him" and joke about someone causing mischief by hiding in their garden and digging up the dog's bones. And of course they all go out to see and end up being shot at because the dog is the only sensible character in the scene lmao.

All that being said, I didn't dislike this one - the two oldies are unraveling a 60 year old potential murder about a spy, which meant there was good cause to bring back a lot of old Tommy and Tuppence characters from their previous adventures. As a final novel in their series, it works really well and is quite a lovely send off. And as the last thing written in a career spanning 50 odd years, it's not a bad book.

#booklr #postern of fate #agatha christie #brigid speaks #read in 2025 #book update

Currently reading Postern Of Fate: A Tommy&Tuppence Mystery by Agatha Christie and MY LORD. These two idiots walked in and thought they would be my comfort couple and you know what? They were right. I love them so much and I would die for them.

#its true #they're so iconic #and the plot is EATING #per usual #postern of fate #tommy and tuppence #agatha christie

Book #74 of 2024:

Postern of Fate by Agatha Christie (Tommy and Tuppence #5)

This 1973 title was the 74th and final novel that author Agatha Christie ever wrote, in addition to the last in her sequence of Tommy and Tuppence adventure stories. (Unlike for her better-known detective series, she did not set aside any additional installments for posthumous publication.) I won’t speculate about the writer’s declining mental faculties at this stage of her life as I’ve seen other reviewers do, but I will say that this book is easily the worst of its lot and a bit of a sour note to end on.

Among its stronger qualities: our married protagonists have continued to age, and are now moving into a new home in their 70s. Their banter back and forth is as affectionate as ever, and their instincts as retired spies / investigators remain relatively sharp. I also love their dog, whose perspective in a few key scenes is a fun change of pace for the narrative.

The premise is both absurd and poorly developed, however. In examining the books that the previous owners have left behind in the library, Tuppence discovers a secret message in one of them: underlined letters that spell out, “Mary Jordan did not die naturally. It was one of us. I think I know which one.” She eventually learns that the woman in question was a spy during World War I, and that the boy who owned the book perished soon afterwards himself.

Two former intelligence agents happening to uncover a relevant plot at their doorstep is as silly as those times when Poirot or Marple stumbles across a fresh murder whilst on holiday, and the actual investigation here mostly consists of asking older folks in the community what they remember from long ago (and receiving contradictory information in reply). The couple’s own contacts in the business, meanwhile, are justifiably convinced that the Beresfords know more than they’re letting on about the affair and have moved into this particular address specifically to pursue the case further.

Yet it’s not entirely clear what that pursuit entails. They’re not seeking to identify the killer — nor do they, in the end — and the clues that they find are largely other things that have been left sitting in the house for decades, suggesting that no one cares any longer or has ever bothered to cover their tracks. Nevertheless, someone in the present day is apparently trying to stop or even kill the heroes for looking into the matter, though their motivation isn’t explained and their traps are so ineffective it’s a wonder that they’re noticed at all.

Anyway. Nice to check in on Tommy and his missus one last time, but their best days are firmly behind them at this point.

This volume: ★★☆☆☆

Overall series: ★★★☆☆

Volumes ranked: 1 > 3 > 4 > 2 > 5

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#Postern of Fate #Agatha Christie #Tommy and Tuppence #booklr #bookblr #books #media log 2k24 #media log

Tuppence came down the stairs slowly, shaking her head. Hannibal came up to her hopefully, wagging his tail and wriggling in hopes of favours to come.

“No, Hannibal,” said Tuppence. “You’ve had a walk. You’ve had your morning walk.”

Hannibal intimated that she was quite mistaken, he hadn’t had a walk.

“You are one of the worst liars among dogs I have ever known,” said Tuppence. “You’ve been for a walk with Father.”

Hannibal made his second attempt, which was to endeavour to show by various attitudes that any dog would have a second walk if only he had an owner who could see things in that light.

From Postern Of Fate by Agatha Christie

#agatha christie #postern of fate #tommy and tuppence #book