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SEVEN DEADLY SINS
by Agatha Christie
HarperCollins, September 2004
1168 pages
$25.00
ISBN: 0007171147

Seven full-length Agatha Christie tales are pulled together into one attractive volume to illustrate the SEVEN DEADLY SINS with a very short introduction by her grandson, Mathew Prichard.

The books have largely been selected with the motive in mind, in some instances this might be something it may be best to reflect on after reading them rather than before. They are an excellent assortment of favourite and lesser-known tales, a Marple here, a Poirot there, and a little something different too.

Pride -- The ABC Murders: An increasingly desperate Poirot has difficulty in identifying a killer who seems to choose random victims with the sole motive of outsmarting Poirot who hares around England trying to catch him in the act.

Envy -- A Murder is Announced: Someone has placed an advert in the Chipping Cleghorn Gazette announcing a murder at Little Paddocks. Is it for a real or just an unusual invitation to a murder game? A classic country village murder featuring Miss Marple sparkles with daffy humour as the bodies start to pile up.

Sloth -- Sparkling Cyanide: Was post-influenza depression a good enough reason for beautiful, brainless young heiress Rosemary Barton to kill herself? Almost a year on, the people who knew her best reflect on her death and, perhaps, how it has served them. Her widower George is persuaded it might have been murder.

Lust - Evil Under the Sun: Hercule Poirot, on holiday at the Jolly Roger Hotel on Smugglers Island, can't help but notice the sexual allure of actress Arlena Stewart and the men who respond to it. But when she is found dead face down on the beach he needs all his ingenuity to break the alibi of the chief suspects.

Gluttony -- At Bertram's Hotel: A bit of stretch to tie this one in to Gluttony perhaps, and possibly a lesser-quality tale as Miss Marple untangles the odd events at Bertram's Hotel on her trips into London.

Avarice -- Endless Night: A memorable, dark and atmospheric novel providing a real contrast in tone to most of the others in this collection. Ne'er-do-well Mike Rogers tells of his obsession to acquire Gipsy's Acre and build a house there designed by the ailing architect Santonix. When he meets a rich American things start going his way but the gipsy curses and bad omens begin too.

Wrath -- Five Little Pigs: Sixteen years previously, in something of a cause celebre, Caroline Crale was convicted of murdering her husband the artist Amyas Crale because of his outrageous philandering. Her daughter, a child at the time, has remained convinced of her innocence and challenges Hercule Poirot to investigate whether one of the other guests at their home that day can be proved to be the real murderer.

SEVEN DEADLY SINS makes for a very good introduction to, or more probably re-acquaintance with, the works of Agatha Christie.

Reviewed by Bridget Bolton, September 2004

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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