I remember both novels well but don't really remember those short story collections and I've read them twice, lol. Last time was over 10 yrs ago. I would say I like Towards Zero better than Murder Is Easy, as well.
Yees! My favorite duo! agatha & vlog ♡ Murder is Easy was the first book by Agatha that I discovered the murderer before the ending. At first I thought the book was silly, but later I got really into it. The plot is interesting and the characters are fun (in a dramatic way but still fun lol).
Hi Mara, I love Hugh Fraser as a narrator. He does wonderful voices and is just wonderful. I read my first Agatha Christie on audio last year. Murder in the clouds and it was narrated by Fraser. I’m so glad you’re going back to this project. I think murder is easy was one of my favorites. Great Vlog. Aloha
Oooh I might check out Murder Is Easy just for the village vibes? I'm reading Endless Night now, which I know isn't your fave but I saw so many people say it was a fave so I thought I'd check it out (and it was on sale lol). Excited for your updated ranking!!! I'm seriously under-read w/ Christie and need to pick up a few new recs!
@@bookslikewhoa I do remember you once said you didn’t like three act tragedy - but when I read it again I felt it was improved by the presence of Mr Satterthwaite who seemed to push Poirot aside somewhat which in my view is okay. Like Agatha, I get sick of Hercule sometimes!
I've got Parker Pyne downloaded and I'm excited to read it. I really want to read Murder is Easy and Towards Zero, because I love Superintendent Battle, I'm just waiting for the ebooks to go on sale.
Apparently Miss Marple got shoehorned into the story when the televised adaptation series was running. And Luke was played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Just a little Christie adjacent trivia for you!
I have actually read all four of these in the last year. I agree that my favorite is Towards Zero. For some reason I do have a soft spot for the Harley Quinn short stories and have read them several times over the years.
As someone who has read 1 (one) Christie but who is definitely going to read more, this was so interesting! not sure if I should read a few more before I watch your upcoming ranking video, but I'm excited to get to it! :D
I keep thinking I should get back I go Christie as I find her writing really enjoyable, but I struggle with remembering which ones I have read and also having seen most of the plots in the long Poirot series on TV! I think I should give up looking for a new story and just enjoy the ride. Thanks for an great video, I really enjoy your vlogs.
I wonder if the Harley Quinn books are about Christie's own breakdown about this time, like she had an amnesia episode and considered suicide. Sounds interesting.
I have to admit when I came across a Christie as a younger person, I just read it. Now that I'm interested in audiobooks, I do the same but obviously I listen. My favorite narrator/actor is Hugh Fraser. How about you ?
I’m currently reading my way through Christie for the first time and I really love mysterious mr quin and I’m not sure why ? I just was swept up in the dreamy vibe
Does this mean we may get an updated ranking of all Christie novels?! I'm curious if Cards on the Table is still at your number one spot or if the cards have fallen off the table LOL :)
“Murder is Easy” does have a different feel than much of Christie. I feel like it was one of Christie’s experiments. …maybe? She didn’t write serial killers often and I think ABC works because the other characters are aware of the crimes and their responses build the tension. “Murder is Easy” seems odd, to me, because the side characters are all “meh.” I have all the facsimile editions except the tiny number of Christie books I really don’t like-including the Harley Quinn collection. I think readers either love Quinn or almost actively dislike him. I definitely dislike him. I’ve never spoken with a Christie who was in the middle. I do really like “Towards Zero” and Parker Pine just makes me smile.
The problem that I have is that I think I've forgotten them and then as soon as I start re-reading them, I remember everything! But with that said, I'm not the kind of reader who only enjoys mysteries because of guessing who did it anyway, I enjoy the ride as much as the destination :D
I feel you on that - before doing my more detailed reviews, I'd often forget the details of books and get to enjoy them as if I'd never read them before 😹
I skipped the spoilers, because I’ve read all of Christie’s novels and short stories now and want to reread both those books fresh so will come back to it when I’ve done so. The books I’ve reread so far I had so little recollection of, even the ones I remember liking quite a lot. I have good memories of really loving Towards Zero, and like you (although I’m now hazy on the details) I absolutely loved the set up of Murder is Easy but don’t remember whether I liked the conclusion or not. I like both the short story collections, but both are far from regular Agatha fare! I would love it if Mr Quin was a hallucination, that would be a fun reading of the stories. Great video, I look forward to your reranking. Currently struggling to rank my top 10 even so I have a lot of respect for a full ranking! 🙂
@@bookslikewhoa please look up and give your valuable feedback would love to hear from you. I have read Mary Roberts Rinehart was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie. I have read only one book so far The Circular Staircase is a mystery novel by writer Mary Roberts Rinehart and loved it.
Murder is Easy and the other similar one sounds good. Gonna take a pass on Mr. Quinn though. Despite my deep love for Batman's version-which was created for the animated series, BTW and it is an excellent series. Best Joker -Mark Hamil and Best Batman/Bruce Wayne-Kevin Conroy (yes, he does both parts well)
Thx for reviewing Murder Is Easy. It was such a brilliant plot!!! But yes just poorly resolved and SPOILED by the silly romance … bleh! I actually rated it low in my reading journal but was SO SAD to do so! One instance where I’d forgive a scriptwriter for altering it. (The serial deaths are great though….😘). Also, I asked my husband to bring me an Agatha Christie to read while I was in the hospital - and he brought me Parker pine investigates. I groaned inwardly thinking it would be so. dull. but I actually thoroughly enjoyed every page! For many of the precise reasons you gave. Good fun!
There was a known thing about older boys in English boarding schools doing WHAT 🙉 ok I didn’t know that and I don’t want to investigate…I guess that’s just part of reading books written in a different time
I agree with you about "Murder is Easy." The idea (and even the resolution) was intriguing but it wasn't executed very well. There was something dull and even careless about the narrative here. Also, the romantic element grated on me. Interesting note: I found an old edition of this book at the library and the name of the old woman in the first chapter is "Fullerton " instead of "Pinkerton. "
Towards Zero withheld crucial information until near the end (and this is information that should realistically have come up way earlier), otherwise the solution would have been easier to swallow for me.
I am not a fan of Mr Quin and Parker Pyne. I liked Murder is Easy but just way too farfetched for me. Who would have waited this long to get even with someone. So I like your ranking.
@@marcevan1141 I read it for the first time last year too and agree most of it was engrossing. Love the opening and the explanation of what Towards Zero means.
@@kwalton7690 It's a funny thing about my experience reading Agatha Christie. I read many of her books when I was very young (around age 12) and I was absolutely crazy about them. Now I go back and reread them when I want to escape after some heavier reading. (There are also some I missed as a kid and just recently got to and some I still have yet to read). I still really enjoy reading them; chapter by chapter they're a lot of fun. However, I have noticed that many of the endings (the solutions) are not quite as satisfying as I want them to be. My ideal mystery is one where all of the clues were there all along, albeit cleverly disguised so that the reader's attention is diverted away from them. With Christie, it's often the case that while some of the clues are cleverly planted throughout the narrative, there are also some facts that are frantically introduced last-minute and there are times when the detective falls back on too much conjecture. Also, like Mara, I really don't like when she sticks melodrama into the mix (which she only intermittently does). The melodrama is the worst thing about the Poirot television series (those poorly staged action climaxes that feel so tacked on and feel so antithetical to Christie's style at its best).
@@marcevan1141 I get it. I actually tried watching Poirot TV series and just COULD NOT. Very few great Christie adaptations. I find listening to the audiobooks (especially with Hugh Frasier narrating) always make even the so-sos fun. Great audiobook versions are Murder of Roger Ackroyd, the ABC Murders, Cards on the Table, Five Little Pigs, and Appointment with Death.
You said you listened to these on audio book? For the Harley Quin book, (by the way there are more stories then just that book,) did they have the letter from Agatha Christie that explained the character and why she does the stories. They were not commissioned, she wrote them for fun, when she felt like it. Also, he is an actual magical character, Harley Quin, (spelled differently than the comic book character, (they had to spell it differently because it was copyrighted to Agatha Christie,) is actually The Harlequin, he is always associated with love and death, that is what the motivation always is, and that is why he always shows up, because that is his territory. She said in the letter in the beginning of my book, that she loved the spiritual aspect of the legendary character and wanted to create another character to bring that out, and that was Mr. Satterthwaite. I actually think he is sweet. Also, the prevention of suicide was because it happened right after her problems with Archie and her disappearance. I hope that makes sense. It is one of my issues with audio books they, most of the time, don't have anything from the beginning of the book, no dedication or in this case a letter. She also wrote a letter about Mr. Parker Pyne too. And several of the stories have explanations by Agatha at the beginning of the book.
Please ignore my comment if you don't want to answer my question 🙈 But may I ask how exactly the older boys were being predatory towards the young ones in the English boarding school? Edit: Second Question, may I also ask how one of the characters in the second book was queer coded? 😅
Umm... trying to put this delicately... basically, as a form of hazing, the older boys were allowed to SA the younger boys 😬 Re:queer coding, he was characterized as very camp and a couple of the lines read to me like he was insinuating a romantic interest in the male lead
your video made me remember I havent read towards zero, so I just finished it on audio. Agatha is ALWAYS great on audio but besides that towards zero fell flat for me. I listened to parker payne and mr quin last year, enjoyed them more than towards zero.
Old school like whoa! Started following you for all of the Christie content so this has me in my feels!
PS everyone- just found out David Suchet is doing a tour of Britain to discuss his years as Poirot. I might go see him in Cambridge! 💕💕
I have been on an Agatha Christie kick these days!
I remember both novels well but don't really remember those short story collections and I've read them twice, lol. Last time was over 10 yrs ago.
I would say I like Towards Zero better than Murder Is Easy, as well.
Yees! My favorite duo! agatha & vlog ♡
Murder is Easy was the first book by Agatha that I discovered the murderer before the ending.
At first I thought the book was silly, but later I got really into it. The plot is interesting and the characters are fun (in a dramatic way but still fun lol).
Hi Mara, I love Hugh Fraser as a narrator. He does wonderful voices and is just wonderful. I read my first Agatha Christie on audio last year. Murder in the clouds and it was narrated by Fraser. I’m so glad you’re going back to this project. I think murder is easy was one of my favorites. Great Vlog. Aloha
Yes, Hugh Fraser is so wonderful!
Oooh I might check out Murder Is Easy just for the village vibes? I'm reading Endless Night now, which I know isn't your fave but I saw so many people say it was a fave so I thought I'd check it out (and it was on sale lol). Excited for your updated ranking!!! I'm seriously under-read w/ Christie and need to pick up a few new recs!
Endless Night is my Fav Christie! Enjoy it!
it's a good book. High body count!! Everyone is getting picked off.
LOVE Endless Night- just finished it!! I think it’s riveting. The twist works SUPER well….. 💕
@@gwp5066 I do like those high body counts!!
It's a good one! It's just too melodramatic for my tastes :D But I think you will enjoy it. And Murder is Easy is a fun one- great setting/tone!
My next Christie read is going to be Sad Cypress, love love love the movie with David Suchet.
I REALLY enjoyed Mr Satterthwaite in Three Act Tragedy though. Did you?
I liked him, but that one is not a personal favorite
@@bookslikewhoa I do remember you once said you didn’t like three act tragedy - but when I read it again I felt it was improved by the presence of Mr Satterthwaite who seemed to push Poirot aside somewhat which in my view is okay. Like Agatha, I get sick of Hercule sometimes!
I read Death on the Nile after seeing your video on travel reads. Loved it 🥰
Yay! I'm so glad you liked it!
I've got Parker Pyne downloaded and I'm excited to read it. I really want to read Murder is Easy and Towards Zero, because I love Superintendent Battle, I'm just waiting for the ebooks to go on sale.
I think you will enjoy Battle in Towards Zero in particular! We get a nice glimpse at his personal life
Apparently Miss Marple got shoehorned into the story when the televised adaptation series was running. And Luke was played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Just a little Christie adjacent trivia for you!
Referring to Murder Is Easy in this comment.
Yes !!!
Toward zero had an adaptation as well .
@@christineb2797 Thought that one sounded familiar, too...
I think they like to throw Marple into a lot of those standalones when they do an adaptation 😹
I have actually read all four of these in the last year. I agree that my favorite is Towards Zero. For some reason I do have a soft spot for the Harley Quinn short stories and have read them several times over the years.
As someone who has read 1 (one) Christie but who is definitely going to read more, this was so interesting! not sure if I should read a few more before I watch your upcoming ranking video, but I'm excited to get to it! :D
I keep thinking I should get back I go Christie as I find her writing really enjoyable, but I struggle with remembering which ones I have read and also having seen most of the plots in the long Poirot series on TV! I think I should give up looking for a new story and just enjoy the ride.
Thanks for an great video, I really enjoy your vlogs.
I'm glad you enjoyed!
I wonder if the Harley Quinn books are about Christie's own breakdown about this time, like she had an amnesia episode and considered suicide. Sounds interesting.
I have to admit when I came across a Christie as a younger person, I just read it. Now that I'm interested in audiobooks, I do the same but obviously I listen. My favorite narrator/actor is Hugh Fraser. How about you ?
Hugh Fraser is the king 👑
I’m currently reading my way through Christie for the first time and I really love mysterious mr quin and I’m not sure why ? I just was swept up in the dreamy vibe
Does this mean we may get an updated ranking of all Christie novels?! I'm curious if Cards on the Table is still at your number one spot or if the cards have fallen off the table LOL :)
Haha, yes we will! I think that will be towards the end of the year
“Murder is Easy” does have a different feel than much of Christie. I feel like it was one of Christie’s experiments. …maybe? She didn’t write serial killers often and I think ABC works because the other characters are aware of the crimes and their responses build the tension. “Murder is Easy” seems odd, to me, because the side characters are all “meh.”
I have all the facsimile editions except the tiny number of Christie books I really don’t like-including the Harley Quinn collection. I think readers either love Quinn or almost actively dislike him. I definitely dislike him. I’ve never spoken with a Christie who was in the middle.
I do really like “Towards Zero” and Parker Pine just makes me smile.
It might be time for you to do a segment on “High Body Counts in Agatha Christie” 😆😆
The problem that I have is that I think I've forgotten them and then as soon as I start re-reading them, I remember everything! But with that said, I'm not the kind of reader who only enjoys mysteries because of guessing who did it anyway, I enjoy the ride as much as the destination :D
I feel you on that - before doing my more detailed reviews, I'd often forget the details of books and get to enjoy them as if I'd never read them before 😹
@@bookslikewhoa There's a lot of joy to be had there!
I skipped the spoilers, because I’ve read all of Christie’s novels and short stories now and want to reread both those books fresh so will come back to it when I’ve done so. The books I’ve reread so far I had so little recollection of, even the ones I remember liking quite a lot. I have good memories of really loving Towards Zero, and like you (although I’m now hazy on the details) I absolutely loved the set up of Murder is Easy but don’t remember whether I liked the conclusion or not. I like both the short story collections, but both are far from regular Agatha fare! I would love it if Mr Quin was a hallucination, that would be a fun reading of the stories. Great video, I look forward to your reranking. Currently struggling to rank my top 10 even so I have a lot of respect for a full ranking! 🙂
Oh yeah, I would love it if Quin was a hallucination! It would be an interesting twist
Hugh Fraser is the best.
You didn’t talk about how Murder Is Easy has the BEST random murder weapon in any Christie book! 🐱
I too love Christie books. Lately I got introduce to books by Mary Roberts Rinehart! What is your opinion on her books?Lots of Love to you from India!
I haven't read from her - I'll have to look it up!
@@bookslikewhoa please look up and give your valuable feedback would love to hear from you. I have read Mary Roberts Rinehart was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie. I have read only one book so far The Circular Staircase is a mystery novel by writer Mary Roberts Rinehart and loved it.
Murder is Easy and the other similar one sounds good. Gonna take a pass on Mr. Quinn though. Despite my deep love for Batman's version-which was created for the animated series, BTW and it is an excellent series. Best Joker -Mark Hamil and Best Batman/Bruce Wayne-Kevin Conroy (yes, he does both parts well)
Thx for reviewing Murder Is Easy. It was such a brilliant plot!!! But yes just poorly resolved and SPOILED by the silly romance … bleh! I actually rated it low in my reading journal but was SO SAD to do so! One instance where I’d forgive a scriptwriter for altering it. (The serial deaths are great though….😘). Also, I asked my husband to bring me an Agatha Christie to read while I was in the hospital - and he brought me Parker pine investigates. I groaned inwardly thinking it would be so. dull. but I actually thoroughly enjoyed every page! For many of the precise reasons you gave. Good fun!
Yes, Parker Pyne I think is a nice variant on what Christie does! Not my favorite, but it's nice to round out the kinds of short stories in her oeuvre
This is so weird but towards zero and murder is easy are two that I also forgot. Hmmmmmmmmmm
There was a known thing about older boys in English boarding schools doing WHAT 🙉 ok I didn’t know that and I don’t want to investigate…I guess that’s just part of reading books written in a different time
Yes, I do NOT recommend looking it up 😅
I agree with you about "Murder is Easy." The idea (and even the resolution) was intriguing but it wasn't executed very well. There was something dull and even careless about the narrative here. Also, the romantic element grated on me. Interesting note: I found an old edition of this book at the library and the name of the old woman in the first chapter is "Fullerton " instead of "Pinkerton. "
Towards Zero withheld crucial information until near the end (and this is information that should realistically have come up way earlier), otherwise the solution would have been easier to swallow for me.
I am not a fan of Mr Quin and Parker Pyne. I liked Murder is Easy but just way too farfetched for me. Who would have waited this long to get even with someone. So I like your ranking.
I really liked Toward Zero but that ending (specifically the last paragraph)...yuck. Will give Parker Pynes a read though.
Yeah... I think I just don't vibe with the melodrama of the ending :/ But otherwise a good one!
Yes,. I read Towards Zero last year. I thought it was a very engrossing story but I really didn't buy the ending.
@@marcevan1141 I read it for the first time last year too and agree most of it was engrossing. Love the opening and the explanation of what Towards Zero means.
@@kwalton7690 It's a funny thing about my experience reading Agatha Christie. I read many of her books when I was very young (around age 12) and I was absolutely crazy about them. Now I go back and reread them when I want to escape after some heavier reading. (There are also some I missed as a kid and just recently got to and some I still have yet to read). I still really enjoy reading them; chapter by chapter they're a lot of fun. However, I have noticed that many of the endings (the solutions) are not quite as satisfying as I want them to be. My ideal mystery is one where all of the clues were there all along, albeit cleverly disguised so that the reader's attention is diverted away from them. With Christie, it's often the case that while some of the clues are cleverly planted throughout the narrative, there are also some facts that are frantically introduced last-minute and there are times when the detective falls back on too much conjecture. Also, like Mara, I really don't like when she sticks melodrama into the mix (which she only intermittently does). The melodrama is the worst thing about the Poirot television series (those poorly staged action climaxes that feel so tacked on and feel so antithetical to Christie's style at its best).
@@marcevan1141 I get it. I actually tried watching Poirot TV series and just COULD NOT. Very few great Christie adaptations. I find listening to the audiobooks (especially with Hugh Frasier narrating) always make even the so-sos fun. Great audiobook versions are Murder of Roger Ackroyd, the ABC Murders, Cards on the Table, Five Little Pigs, and Appointment with Death.
You said you listened to these on audio book? For the Harley Quin book, (by the way there are more stories then just that book,) did they have the letter from Agatha Christie that explained the character and why she does the stories. They were not commissioned, she wrote them for fun, when she felt like it. Also, he is an actual magical character, Harley Quin, (spelled differently than the comic book character, (they had to spell it differently because it was copyrighted to Agatha Christie,) is actually The Harlequin, he is always associated with love and death, that is what the motivation always is, and that is why he always shows up, because that is his territory. She said in the letter in the beginning of my book, that she loved the spiritual aspect of the legendary character and wanted to create another character to bring that out, and that was Mr. Satterthwaite. I actually think he is sweet. Also, the prevention of suicide was because it happened right after her problems with Archie and her disappearance. I hope that makes sense. It is one of my issues with audio books they, most of the time, don't have anything from the beginning of the book, no dedication or in this case a letter. She also wrote a letter about Mr. Parker Pyne too. And several of the stories have explanations by Agatha at the beginning of the book.
I was watching your ranking all 63 Christie books video the other day, and wondered - I could be wrong - was Ordeal by Innocence not on your list?
Oh, I have no idea at this point 😹 But just checked my spreadsheet for the new video and it is on there so 👍
Hmmmmmm 🤔
Please ignore my comment if you don't want to answer my question 🙈 But may I ask how exactly the older boys were being predatory towards the young ones in the English boarding school?
Edit: Second Question, may I also ask how one of the characters in the second book was queer coded? 😅
Umm... trying to put this delicately... basically, as a form of hazing, the older boys were allowed to SA the younger boys 😬
Re:queer coding, he was characterized as very camp and a couple of the lines read to me like he was insinuating a romantic interest in the male lead
your video made me remember I havent read towards zero, so I just finished it on audio. Agatha is ALWAYS great on audio but besides that towards zero fell flat for me. I listened to parker payne and mr quin last year, enjoyed them more than towards zero.