The answers never are what you think they will be.
Ordeal By Innocence
by Agatha Christie
Genre: Murder Mystery
About: Jack Argyle was a wicked man, or so his family thought. Always getting into trouble, always lying... When the police pin him for the violent murder of his mother he was quick to give an alibi, but nobody believed him. Two years later, dead in prison, his alibi is suddenly proven to be true. But if Jack didn't kill his mother, it means someone in his family has been getting away with the murder ever since...
The Good
I loved the atmosphere in this book. It's my first time reading an Agatha Christie and I was swept away by the intrigue so effortlessly created. Her characters are fantastic, both in dialogue and description, you know them almost instantly and the way their relationships are weaved through the narrative was very clever. Everyone feels like a plausible suspect. Christie has impeccable timing as each time I worked out a theory, she was there to put a spotlight on my suspect as though to wink at me and say 'nice try'.
I also thought the sense of humour was very fitting. Reminiscent in ways to a Jane Austen as Christie seems to satirise 'polite society', in particular its twisted views on justice. There are also quite a few sexist comments littered throughout that, for me, landed really well to show the picture I think Christie wanted to make of her characters and the time they were living in.
The Bad
It was sometimes a little clunky with repetition. Lots of 'that that' and 'had had' as well as repetition of ideas, different character coming to the same conclusions independently to lead us down the same track. Perhaps this reads smoother when it's Poirot or Marple's investigation alone we're following, as here we have Calgary, Philip and Huish all doing their detective work.
And although the ending is satisfying on the mystery front, it felt a little rushed after so much build up with the final note being far cheesier and (to me) altogether unnecessary considering the complexity of the novel overall. It just didn't need to be quite so cosy with the end.
The Somewhat Iffy
Not a read I would recommend for anyone who is adopted or has adopted children. The emphasis on blood being the true tie between a parent and child is not something I personally believe and it might not be what Christie believed either, but is nonetheless stressed in a way that could read awkward for some.
Overall
This was a great murder mystery. Rather than being full of twists and turns, though it does have those too, it relies mostly on the atmosphere and nagging intrigue both the reader and many of the characters have to find out the truth.
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