REVIEW: Crooked House

 Crooked House
Author: Agatha Christie

Crooked House first published in a shortened version in Cosmopolitan Magazine in 1948. It first appeared as a book in both the UK and US in 1949.

Until now, I never read this particular Christie novel before. I've had an old, used paperback copy for years, but never actually read it.  I always gravitated more towards her most famous detectives -- Poirot and Miss Marple -- and tended to skip the lesser known characters like Tommy & Tuppence or books that were one-offs without an established main character sleuth. 

Now that I'm reading through all of Christie's mystery writings in publication order, I'm not skipping anything! Along the way I have found a couple of the books I didn't really like, and I did mark one DNF (did-not-finish) part way through (Death Comes as the End) as I didn't like the ancient Egypt setting/plot/story line. I went back later and finished the audio book, but I didn't like the story at all.  But.....given the number of books and stories Agatha Christie wrote, I was bound to find a few that weren't for me. And, I'm giving myself permission to stop reading if I'm not enjoying the story, even when the author is Agatha Christie. That wasn't a problem with Crooked House. I loved this story!

My copy of this book was an old paperback [Pocket Books, 1984, 223 pages] with slightly weird cover art and an odd silver color. I couldn't even find this exact matching edition on Goodreads! I read along in my book while listening to the audio book [HarperCollins, 2012, 5 hrs 45 minutes, narrated by Hugh Fraser]. 

The basics: Charles Hayward returns from WWII and goes to see his fiance, Sophia Leonides. They haven't seen each other for a long time, but have kept in touch through letters. He arrives in England only to discover that Sophia's grandfather has just died. And, she confides in Charles that she thinks someone killed him. Turns out...she's right. Who killed the old man by replacing his insulin with eye drops?  

Adaptations: 

Radio Play: In 2008, BBC Radio 4 adapted this story. It broadcast in 4 episodes. The entire production runs 1 hr, 46 minutes. There are some minor changes and one minor character is removed from the story, but the play sticks pretty closely to the original book. I enjoyed this full-cast presentation! 

Movie: In 2017, a film version starring Glenn Close was released. I knew I was going to be reading all of Christie's mysteries in publication order, so waited until now to watch this film! I finished reading the book first, of course. The minute I finished reading, I immediately started the movie!! I waited years!!! It made excellent watching for a relaxed Friday night! The casting for this movie was perfect. I thought Josephine looked a bit young. She's 12 in the book, but appeared much younger in the movie. Glenn Close was soooo good in her part! This movie was worth the wait. There were some changes here and there, but it worked. :)  Loved it! 

I found no other adaptations of this book. 

The reveal at the end of this book caught me by surprise. I had guessed at the identity of the killer, but was totally wrong! And the surprises didn't stop there. When the audio book ended, I envisioned Agatha Christie sitting at her desk putting the final spin on her story......and smiling. Perfect ending!! 

As I read my way through all of Christie's mysteries, I'm finding I am actually enjoying her stories that don't include any of her most famous characters. The one-offs are actually really good! I'm sad that I let these books languish on my shelf for way too long just because Poirot or Miss Marple wasn't in them! 

I really liked this story! Agatha Christie really excelled at writing stories about wealthy families that are experts at hiding really toxic relationships, bad money and business decisions, misplaced loyalties, and warped behavior. Great book!  I'm glad I finally read it!!

And.....when I closed my old, tattered paperback for the last time.....it went straight to the recycle bin.  

After getting more than halfway through my Christie reading challenge, I noticed today that my Christie bookshelf has gone from completely full and fully double-stacked with some books on another shelf because there just wasn't enough room....to two single stacks of paperbacks and a two hardback short story collections. The shelf now has enough room for me to include all of my non-fiction Christie related books as well, and several of the Detection Club books. I have made progress!!

I sorted all the books I have left and found there are only two that I am missing. I don't have a copy of Mrs. McGinty's Dead or The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side. All the rest --  on my shelf! So reading should be smooth sailing going forward. 26 books to go!!  

Moving on!