The Murder on the Links is the second of my 23 books in 2023. It was the perfect bit of holiday reading, so I couldn’t pass it up after finishing the more serious Case Against the Sexual Revolution. A delightful Agatha Christie, this one turned out to be an unlikely origin story for one particular character.
Plot summary
I won’t got too much into the plot, so as not to spoil the mystery for you. The book is set in France, where Captain Hastings and Poirot are called on to solved to mysterious death of a wealth man. This appears to be the second book in the Poirot series, so we meet Captain Hastings in his ‘early days’ with the detective. I have never read the earlier books, so it was fun to meet the characters as Agatha Christie was still developing them. It is, in a way, an origin story for a side character who has always interested me by their absence from other books.
The Murder on the Links is on par reading
I very much enjoyed this story. It kept me guessing, but it was light enough to buzz through in summer holiday mode. There was a slightly different air to this book compared to later Christies. Naturally enough, I think she shifted her style over the years. As this is the first time I’ve read an earlier work, I noticed it but I probably wouldn’t have if I went from start to finish through the series.
If there is a downside to this book, it would be that I can’t think of much to say about it. I certainly enjoyed it and will read it again. However, it missed some of the truly compelling, slightly creepy and properly surprising elements I’ve come to expect. While a good read, I think it’s safe to say that Christie really got her hand in later in her writing career.
For a fluffy summer read, look no further. But if you want Christie at her best, might I suggest The Murder of Roger Ackroyd?
[…] wrote earlier about the second book from this esteemed author. Interestingly, I found it paled in comparison to her later work. But it […]