REVIEW: Sparkling Cyanide (Remembered Death)

 Sparkling Cyanide (Remembered Death)
Author: Agatha Christie

This book was published in the United States in 1945 as Remembered Death and released in the UK that same year as Sparkling Cyanide. I prefer the British title as it just has that Christie ring to it. :) 

This is the final appearance of Colonel Race. 

I read my old paperback copy from 1975 while listening to an audio book (HarperAudio 2012, 6 hrs 30 minutes, narrated by Hugh Fraser).  

This is my first reading of this book. I always stuck with the more famous Poirot and Marple stories, and left the less famous characters to languish on my book shelf. There is one thing my reading challenge to enjoy all of Christie's writing in publication order is teaching me -- some of the mysteries involving the lesser known characters are actually very, very good! 

And now.... on to the story. 

It dawned on me as I read this story just how many Christie mysteries involve unfaithful husbands, "the other woman," and unhappy marriages. This story is another such tale. I wonder if Christie's masterful depictions of the emotions involved were pulled from her own life? Her first husband, Colonel Archibald Christie, left her in 1928 (after 14 years of marriage) for another woman. Christie had a mental breakdown of sorts and actually disappeared for 10 days. They divorced and Agatha's ex-husband married the woman he left her for. I'm very glad she channeled those emotions into writing rather than poisoning her husband's lover.  Makes you wonder if she thought about it!!  She literally had the know how, and real knowledge of medicines, poisons and venom to do someone in if she had ever wanted to. It's a good thing she wrote books instead! 

The plot of Sparkling Cyanide is close to an earlier Poirot short story, Yellow Iris. Christie really didn't recycle the entire plot, just the basics of the murder. The identity of the killer and the investigation are quite a bit different. 

I am finding that I enjoy the stories she wrote that aren't focused on one investigator. Colonel Race is in the story and he does interview suspects, but several characters assist with the investigation. Definitely a group effort.  

While reading and listening to this story, I found myself picking a killer and then changing my mind several times. In the end, my guesses were totally wrong. Great ending! 

Adaptations:  

This story has been adapted several times (but none are very faithful to the book):

Made for TV Movie - 1983: I watched some clips from this television movie adaptation and read a bit about the basic plot. The movie has significant changes in plot and characters, and some of the casting choices seemed odd to me. I didn't watch this one. I couldn't find it online for free, and didn't want to pay $10 to buy what looks like a bad 1980s version of the story that I won't watch again. I will watch this if it pops back up on one of the streaming services I have. 

Movie - 2003: This movie adaptation also makes significant changes to the characters and basic story. An elderly couple who are spies investigate the murder of a soccer club manager's wife. My first thought was that it sounded like they made it a Tommy and Tuppence story rather than Colonel Race. I watched this adaptation on BritBox. Enjoyable, but some of the changes were a bit odd. 

BBC Radio drama - BBC Radio 4 released an audio drama in 2012. The audio runs 1 hr 24 minutes. Wonderful quality as usual. Full cast and sound effects. The drama sticks relatively close to the book, with changes made to condense the plot for time. Very enjoyable listen! And, it keeps Colonel Race in the story! 

Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie - This French television show changes the setting to France and adapts to having all French characters, but the basic plot sticks pretty much to the original. I actually found this episode on Kanopy through my local library. The series is renamed as Agatha Christie's Criminal Games in the US. I had assumed this show would not be available to me, but Kanopy even has English subtitles! I discovered I can access the show through my library while searching for the 1983 movie. I never did find the movie, but now I can go back and watch the French adaptations I missed! :) Yay! The Sparkling Cyanide episode is 1 hr 33 minutes long (Season 1 of Agatha Christie's Criminal Games, Episode 1), and although it makes sweeping changes to the story, it is very entertaining! It's set in the 1950's. A film star dies after sipping poisoned champagne. Loved it! Very colorful and campy! 

Chimunizu-kan no himitsu - A 2006 Japanese graphic novel includes adapatations of Sparkling Cyanide, The Secret of Chimneys and Towards Zero. 

Well, goodbye Colonel Race - thank you for the 5 lovely  mysteries! 

I enjoyed this story. I'm beginning to get over my dislike of Christie's lesser known characters. It's too bad I just started to enjoy Colonel Race and this book is his last appearance. 

I'm wondering why this book was adapted to film twice, and both times they mangled Christie's plot? Why adapt a story that is excellent the way it is....and completely mess with the way the author wrote it? Just write a similar story with a different title altogether and leave the classic mystery alone! The 2003 movie wasn't bad. I really enjoyed it, but it wasn't the same story. It's not ok to take a Christie novel, fundamentally change everything about it, but still plonk her book title onto the film (just my honest opinion).  

On to the next!  The Hollow -- a Poirot Mystery! I look forward to a Poirot investigation after reading 3 books in a row without Poirot or Marple. :)