Sparkling Cyanide SPOILERS!!! I have very clearly said that SOME people would not notice where they were sitting. The whole point is that in the book the people sat down in the wrong places. Some of the people at the table probably notcied and said nothing, thinking it was of no importance.
My most unbelievable Agatha Christie novel that I have read so far is the Big Four, it's just for Poirot having a poison dart in a cigarette and stuff like that it's like Poirot is some athlete even though it does make Poirot seem even cooler.
For me it has to be Curtain. SPOILER I simply can't believe that the man who "doesn't approve of murder" ends his life by committing one. Yes, yes, so the man was a perfectly odious, rotten sort of fellow, who managed to play on people's feelings and incite them to commit murder. But a. that reduces the self-responsibility from people (they were incited. Not really their fault...) and b. For Poirot to kill?! It's absolutely shocking. Couldn't he find any other way? Plant drugs on him and get him arrested on a trumped up charge, if need be, but to kill? And what sort of message does that give to the public when Poirot, a private man, takes the law into his own hands by making himself judge and executer. True he punished himself - but he knew he was going to die soon enough, anyways.
SEMI SPOILER ALERT!!!I would have to agree with tudes...Death in the Clouds - even though I loved it, was hard to believe that no one in that plane would notice the "change" of flight attendant. HC's Christmas was also, again a great story, but the string and bladder set up just wouldn't work out that perfectly. Still loved the stories though.
Read at your own risk . . .WILL contain some spoilers about the murderer:
Even more hard to believe is how Jane Grey wouldn't have noticed the "change" of flight attendant, not noticing Norman Gale as he passed by her as he came out of the washroom. She didn't even notice the back of Norman's head! Well, Jane was deep in thought, just as everyone else. Maybe Chapter 1 of the book not only served in introducing the characters but to show how everyone was focused on everything else and not on their own surroundings. STILL, the execution of this crime took a lot of risk-taking. And what if Norman Gale passed through the gangway and a passenger seeing this "steward" in a white coat accosted him, wanting to purchase a snack or had a question in mind? Just one look at the face would have given everything away. Again, what a big risk the murderer took. Maybe if Christie slimmed the list of suspects down maybe the conclusion would have been a bit more believable.
The plot device of masquerading as a servant and not noticing or giving much thought to one was also used in the short story Yellow Iris, also used in Sparkling Cyanide, I think -- a fleshed out version of the short story. Christie pulls this device twice in "Clouds" -- first with Gale, secondly with Anne Morisot, aka Countess Horbury's maid.
The brother wasn't at the funeral. And the nieces and nephews had never seen Cora. Except for the nearly blind butler, only Helen and Maude could have recognised Cora, and Helen at least realised, that something was wrong.
BUT if the brother was at the funeral, would he have noticed that this Cora wasn't really his sister? And how long has it been since he had last seen his sister?
I don't like books with imposters - somehow it seems unbelievable. That said, I'll agree with "After the funeral" and "Murder in Mesopotamia". Aside from the imposter aspect, I find it hard to believe in elaborate time-dependent plots, especially those which are dependent on the victim's actions - so "Murder in Mesopotamia" and "A murder is announced" are problematic for me. I really like these two (unlike Tommy) but I can't really believe that the first murder in each one came off.
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I simply can't believe that the man who "doesn't approve of murder" ends his life by committing one. Yes, yes, so the man was a perfectly odious, rotten sort of fellow, who managed to play on people's feelings and incite them to commit murder. But a. that reduces the self-responsibility from people (they were incited. Not really their fault...) and b. For Poirot to kill?! It's absolutely shocking. Couldn't he find any other way? Plant drugs on him and get him arrested on a trumped up charge, if need be, but to kill? And what sort of message does that give to the public when Poirot, a private man, takes the law into his own hands by making himself judge and executer. True he punished himself - but he knew he was going to die soon enough, anyways.
Read at your own risk . . .WILL contain some spoilers about the murderer:
The plot device of masquerading as a servant and not noticing or giving much thought to one was also used in the short story Yellow Iris, also used in Sparkling Cyanide, I think -- a fleshed out version of the short story. Christie pulls this device twice in "Clouds" -- first with Gale, secondly with Anne Morisot, aka Countess Horbury's maid.
There have been a few really but it doesn't spoil my enjoyment, Cards On The Table, Death In The Clouds, Body In The Library to name a few.
I love A Murder is Announced.