Crooked House

Product Information

Surrounding Alison are various eclectic and intriguing supporting characters, some of which may be friend, some foe, all eminently enthralling and elegantly drawn. The relationship between Paul and Alison is definitely gripping and as it developed over the course of the novel I was jumping between wanting Alison to tell him everything and wanting her to tell him nothing. Some more peripheral characters, such as Kay and Aunt Polly I would have liked to know more about – of the rest they are all wonderfully puzzling – little conundrums that solve themselves over the course of the reading experience.

Shimada’s brilliant sequel to The Tokyo Zodiac Murderswill thrill fans of golden age puzzle mysteries… The tension rises as one impossibility follows another before an effective and dramatic reveal. Shimada combines fantastic crimes with a logical and fair solution likely to stump even the most astute readers.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review Crooked House is actually quite dark for an Agatha Christie tale. Everyone in the household is a suspect, has a motive, and the opportunity. Suspicion naturally falls upon the elderly man's young and beautiful widow who is, supposedly, enamoured with the tutor. But that would be fat too easy a solution...... Alison didn’t want to explain why she didn’t want to go, she didn’t want Paul to go without her and have things said, and so she decided that she had to be brave. She told herself that she could cope, that the past would have been forgotten, that nobody would recognise her. Council leader, Roger Lees, said the manner in which the situation was managed following the fire was "completely unacceptable". There is a peculiar set of characters, who all seem to have a reason for the victim to be dead but as soon as you think you have spotted the culprit they give you a reason to think they are innocent.Josephine killed her grandfather because he wouldn't pay for her ballet lessons; she then revelled in all the attention she received afterwards and planned her own assault with the marble doorstop as a way of diverting attention. She poisoned Nanny for encouraging Magda to send her to Switzerland, and also because Nanny called her a "silly little girl". She also included threats against Magda if her mother seriously considered sending her away. Miss de Haviland had discovered Josephine's notebook hidden in a dog kennel, and committed the murder-suicide car crash as she did not want Josephine to suffer in a prison or asylum if and when the police learned she was the murderer. Oddly enough, I know from her notebooks that Dame Agatha didn't have a specific murderer in mind when she began this novel. She had the premise of the extended family in their mansion, whose patriarch has died, but she debated among several suspects. I must say, if she'd chosen anyone else I would be giving this fewer stars--I felt it almost as a physical blow when she revealed the truth, then immediately thought that no other ending would have done half so well. Mining beneath the building caused one side of the building to begin sinking until one end was four feet lower than the other, creating the beloved leaning appearance. The building was later turned into a pub in the 1830s.

One of my very favorite things about Agatha Christie is that when she said anyone could be a murderer under the right circumstances, she *meant* it. One would think that when you read a mystery, you should suspect everyone, but for most authors it just isn't true--if you read a "cozy" author, you can bet it won't be one of the charming young lovers, or the trusty Watson-like friend, or dear old Granny, or the kindly priest, etc. With Dame Agatha, it could be any of those, or everybody, or nobody (oh yes! I can think of at least one example of a suicide disguised as murder). It could be the person with the perfect alibi or the one with no apparent motive (but there really is a motive). This is why I think of Dame Agatha as absolutely ruthless in her fiction, however genteel she was in life, and Crooked House is Exhibit A! She was particularly proud of this novel, and rightly so.Higgins, Charlotte (15 May 2011). "Cannes 2011: Neil LaBute turns his macabre hand to Agatha Christie". The Guardian. London. But this is not a romantic drama , it is a mystery and it delivers satisfactorily on the mystery end. The novel was adapted for BBC Radio 4 in four weekly 30-minute episodes which began broadcasting on 29 February 2008. It starred Rory Kinnear (Charles Hayward), Anna Maxwell Martin (Sophia Leonides), and Phil Davis (Chief Insp. Taverner). The radio play was dramatised by Joy Wilkinson and directed by Sam Hoyle. It was subsequently issued on CD. This version removed the character of Eustace. I must have looked slightly startled, for she seemed amused, and explained by elaborating the quotation. ' 'And they all lived together in a little crooked house.' That's us. Not really such a little house either. But definitely crooked - running to gables and half-timbering!'

What results is a building that is rather dizzying to look at but comes complete with a fascinating history. Don’t let the gravity defying appearance fool you, this store is a popular tourist attraction with visitors travelling far and wide to take a peek inside. Christie often stayed at Abney Hall in Cheshire, which was owned by her brother-in-law, James Watts. She based at least two of her stories on the hall: the short story The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding, and the novel After the Funeral. Abney Hall became Agatha's greatest inspiration for country-house life, with all the servants and grandeur which have been woven into her plots. Se supone que la autora considera "La casa torcida" como su mejor novela. De todo lo que he leído, para mi, hasta el momento, es de las más flojas. No hay un detective sagaz que indaga hasta el final. Hay un asesinato, pero tampoco es algo extraordinario. Hay un lío con la familia. No acabas de entender muy bien qué pasa. El que se supone que tiene que investigar va bastante más perdido que tu. The character of Alison is well developed and realistic, as are most of the other peripheral personae.

I thoroughly enjoyed this rather twisty tale about Alison, a young woman who maintains a low profile, keeps herself to herself and is a survivor, literally. This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. ( February 2019) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)