Agatha Christie's Best Solo Mystery Books
Murders, Closed Locations, and a Small Group of Suspects
Aug 7, 2009
Agatha Christie is a master of the mystery genre, with the culprit always being the least likely suspect and red herrings galore. Many of her stories are set in a typical English cozy mystery setting, a small village or large family where everyone has something to hide. But many of her stories are set in the Middle East or Egypt, featuring familiar English characters and behavior set against the glamour of an exotic locale. She also liked to utilize closed locations, a place such as an island or train where a murder occurs and one of a small group of people must have done it.
With her over-eighty novels and short story collections, she created some of literature’s most popular detectives. But some of her best work didn’t feature the familiar sleuthing of Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple. Her solo novels may not have familiar characters, but they do have the familiar Christie tropes of a closed group of suspects, red herrings, and the least likely person being the murderer.
And Then There Were None (1939)
One of Christie’s most popular mysteries, this murder mystery has been filmed multiple times. Ten people receive an invitation from an unknown host to visit a small private island. Upon arriving, instead of a host they find a record accusing each one of them of getting away with murder. After this unnerving welcome, the guests begin to be murdered themselves, each in a manner following the children’s rhyme “Ten Little Indians.” The murderer must be one of them, but the list of suspects gets shorter and shorter as the murders pile up.
Death Comes As the End (1945)
Several of Agatha Christie’s mystery books takes place in the Middle East, but this is the only one that actually takes place in ancient Egypt. It was no doubt inspired by Christie’s love for archeology and ancient cultures. The wealthy farmer-priest Imhotep takes a new concubine, Nofret, and his children immediately dislike her. Nofret realizes this, but after getting Imhotep to disinherit his children she is found murdered. This plot utilizes a Christie favorite, a murder in a big family and everyone is a suspect, but by setting it in ancient Egypt she was able to give it a vastly different ambiance from the usual Christie mystery.
Crooked House (1949)
Christie herself has said that this was one of her favorite mystery books. When a wealthy patriarch is murdered, his entire family, who all live with him in his “little crooked house,” is suspected. But Aristide Leonides was loved by his family and generous to them, and no one had a real motive for murder. Everyone is hoping that it was his young second wife, not because they really believe she did it but because then the crime could be blamed on an outsider. But she as well as everyone else has an alibi for his poisoning. There are a few more disturbing occurrences before the family discovers the motive and the murderer.
Ordeal By Innocence (1958)
Another Christie favorite, this book also features a family in which everyone is suspected of killing a parent. When Mrs. Argyll was murdered, everyone suspected her disturbed son Jacko who was quickly tried and executed. Two years later, however, a scientist just returning from Antarctica explains that he was the alibi Jacko claimed he had and that this son couldn’t possibly have murdered his mother. But the family quickly realizes that this means that the killer is still amongst them. There’s one more murder before the family discovers who really killed Mrs. Argyll.
The Continuing Appeal of the Agatha Christie Mystery Books
Many of Agatha Christie's mystery books, such as Crooked House and Ordeal by Innocence, are "cozy mysteries," murder mysteries set in small, cozy village settings where a handful of people are suspects. But she also wrote many other types of mysteries, such as espionage thrillers and murders in retrospect. A great factor in Agatha Christie's widespread appeal is her talent for writing different kinds of mystery books to satisfy a wide audience.
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