Customer Reviews

Death in the Clouds

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The mid 1930s were some of the best years of the so-called "Golden Age of Detective Fiction" in Britain. Most practitioners belonged to the Detection Club, they reviewed and promoted one another's books publically and privately they shared and re-worked one another's ideas. An example of this literary cross-fertilization may be seen when Freeman Wills Crofts' "The 12.30 From Croydon", 1934, and "Agatha Christie's "Death In the Clouds", 1935, are compared. Both books begin with a passenger plane flight across the English Channel. In the former novel, a passenger is found to be dead at the end of Chapter One when the plane touches down in Paris. In the latter, a passenger is found to be dead at the end of Chapter One when a plane touches down in London. Thereafter, and indeed in the titling of the two books, each writer develops the idea differently.

Agatha Christie devises a whodunit puzzle. Characters are displayed in terms of how they appear physically, in their dialogue, by reputation or hearsay. Clues and significant red herrings are tossed about so that the murderer might mislead everybody else, and the writer might mislead the reader. Just how misleading appearances might be, is cleverly contrived at one point in this book when a jury at an inquest into the passenger's death return a unanimous verdict of murder at the hands of another passenger, namely Hercule Poirot.

Agatha Christie, who lived to become the world's best-selling author, presents her puzzle in immensely readable but unsophisticated prose. The two dimensional characters are somehow easy to keep in mind as you strive to guess the murderer's identity and, of course, there is Hercule Poirot to unerringly point the finger. He can also voice a note of compassion with his oft repeated, "Ah, yes, life can be terribly cruel".

"Death In the Clouds" is recommended for reading during prolonged international flights or sleepless nights as an escape from stressful reality. Don't begin it, however, if you need a full night's sleep. It is possible you will want to keep reading through to the last page.

A murder on an aircraft? Right, and within just a few feet of detective Hercule Poirot! I haven't read many books by Christie, but I knew this was going to be a good one...
And it was. It goes through a female passenger being murdered on a aircraft from Le Pinet, under everyone's noses unnoticed. Poirot is air-sick on the plane and is called upon the investigation. The mystery unfolds page by page, introducing new characters--suspects-- chapter by chapter. There were many varius suspects, and they never narrow down. There was a bit of a twist in the last few chapters of the story, well, for Poirot and another in the last chapter for the readers, yet it makes sense and draws in a nice ending. This is a definite page turner and a great read when you think you're bored, because with Christie's mysteries, you never know what's going to happen.

This book (also published as "Death in the Air") is vintage Christie because of the way she has a murder committed in a roomful (in this case planeful) of people and yet no one can see this audacious murder being committed. Unfortunately for our killer, Hercule Poirot happens to be on board this flight from Paris to London!

The murder takes place during the serving of lunch and the victim is discovered to be a notorious blackmailer travelling under an assumed name. There is a melodramatic discovering of a poisoned dart containing a deadly South African snake venom nearby as well as a blow-pipe like the ones used by South American Indian tribes. But the astute Poirot utilizes his innate sense of order and method to wade through the many red herrings and unmasks the murderer through the evidence provided by luggage and pocket contents.

This mystery is notable for its well-defined characters. We become privvy to the lives of many of the passengers and learn to what extent they have been touched by the victim. A simple case of many with motive and opportunity, but only one will be unveiled by the master detective Poirot.

This is a light and fun read which enables you to match wits with Poirot and try to discover "whodunit" before he does.

Madame Giselle, a rather unlikeable woman, is apparently shot with a poison dart from a blowpipe. This happens in plain sight of thirteen passengers on a plane flying from France to England. How did the killer produce a blowpipe, place it to his/her lips, and shoot a poison dart across a crowded passenger compartment without being noticed? Where did the wasp come from? How could Hercule Poirot, the greatest detective of all times (if you don't believe it just ask him), sleep through a murder committed right under his nose?

Obviously it couldn't have happened that way. But if not, how did it happen? And who did it? Almost everyone on board has a motive to kill Madame Giselle, and almost eveyone on board does a little lying before the mystery is solved. Poirot sorts through the clues, unmasks the liars, and eventually figures out not only whodunnit, but also howdunnit and whydunnit.

I don't gamble, but I wouldn't be gambling if I wagered that you, the reader, will not unravel the mystery. I thought I had finally solved one ahead of Poirot when Christie artfully pulled the rug out from under me. Curses, foiled again!

This was my very first Agatha Christie book, so naturally, I was interested to know how she writes. It had a slow start, but once a women was found dead the story begins to unfold. It's interesting to read about the curious detective, Hercule Poirot, and his views on the case, which are extremly different from those of the police. His method of finding the killer is exactly opposite of what Inspecter Japp thinks: All people on the plane are guilty until proven inocent. Aided by his friends Jane Grey, the hairdresser, and Norman Gale, the dentist, and a colorful cast of characters, this book is definitly a must for mystery lovers!

This classic Hercule Poirot novel carries a certain unique trait. As few other Agatha Christie novels, with its surprising ending it not only manages to have all the puzzle pieces falling into right place, but shifts the complete story upside down. (Something similar to "Death on the Nile") This leaves the reader wonder "How could I not see this coming?" The feat is all the more impressive, since Dame Agatha this time plays a real fair game and offers almost all necessary clues to solve the crime, although scattering them properly throughout the plot. Especially the later two-thirds of the book or so are also a very pleasurable read, too. And although the story dates back to 1934, the characters are so lively that the story could well happen today. So - find out for yourself whether you can guess who killed the wealthy usury woman from Paris aboard a plane...

Death in the Clouds shows Christie's fascination for transport in its aeroplane setting, as well as her ability to concoct an unusual murder in a humorous vein-the ingenious solution ably reached by her famous Belgian sleuth, M. Hercule Poirot.

The murder is that of one Mme. Giselle, a Parisian moneylender-"a woman who enjoyed power; [who] had power ... [of] the type of hard-headed Frenchwoman who would never allow sentiment to affect her business interests; but [who] had the reputation of carrying on her profession with scrupulous honesty". As such, she is one of Christie's power-hungry women: like Mrs. Boynton or Mrs. Doyle, the sort of woman who is usually murdered. And the murder here is, as Inspector Japp, a "bit too sensational to be true. I mean, blowpipes and poisoned darts in an aeroplane-well, it insults one's intelligence." And Christie, committing her murder with "native" (although she really means "extremely foreign") darts tipped with the venom of the African boomslang snake, is satirising those writers-such as Edgar Wallace-who concoct sensationally silly murders-"the crudest detective story dodge coming out trumps!" At the same time as she parodies, she also sets a most intriguing puzzle, for "the manner of the crime was one of unparalleled audacity. In the full view of ten ... witnesses, the murderer had placed a blowpipe to his lips and sent the fatal dart on its murderous course through the air and no one had observed the act. It seemed frankly incredible, but there was the evidence of the blowpipe, of the dart found on the floor, of the mark on the deceased's neck and of the medical evidence to show that, incredible or not, it had happened." A John Dickson Carr crime!

The detection in the case is ably done-straight-forward and solid, "proceed[ing] a step at a time, with order and method", and carried out on both sides of the Channel by the French and British police, Hercule Poirot intervening, and assisted by two not-too-bright young things, Jane Grey and Norman Gale, both passengers on the plane, whose romance is well done (although we can do without their list of likes and dislikes). The three clues in the case are excellent, their meaning well hidden despite Poirot's stressing their importance, and the solution is an ingenious Chestertonian flourish.

Although this is not the best of the Poirot novels, it is an ingenious little puzzle, well-characterised, and amusing. By the standards of most other authors, it would rank as a masterpiece; with Christie, it is only a "good" novel.

Murder committed on board an airplane! Agatha Christie was certainly fond of unusual plot twists - murders committed on luxury trains, during card games, killers who killed in alphabetical order, but this one takes the cake! An old woman is mysteriously killed by a poisoned dart and suspicion naturally falls on her fellow passengers. Of course, Poirot who was on board, is called upon to find the guilty party. I found the way he meticulously traces the victim's life and tries to find linkages between her and the passengers interesting, it's much more realistic than detectives who are able to miraculously solve crimes seated in their armchairs! I also found the characters in the book very interesting, particularly that of Jane Grey. The twist at the end is fairly unexpected and the story is resolved in a satisfying way. A nice touch is the addition of a little romance that lightens up the proceedings. A very good read!

Death in the Clouds is an old Agatha Christie novel. It was first published in London in 1935. The novel is short and ingenious as it asks readers to match their little grey cells in with Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. This book is a sealed-room mystery in which there are a limited number of suspects due to the confined space in which the foul dead is done!
The Plot: Hercule Poirot is on an international flight from Paris to London. There are eleven passengers aboard "The Prometheus" airplane. There are also two stewards aboard who serve the passengers. During the flight, a murder occurs when
Madame Giselle a French woman who is a moneylender is found dead in her seat. A wasp is blamed for the death but a poisoned a dart coated with snake venom from South America is discovered by the observant Monsieur Poirot. Whodnit?
Among the suspects are:
a, Daniel Clancy-a mystery novel author who owns a blowpipe. His blowpipe is not on the plane.
b. Mary Grey- A lovely young miss who works at a hairdresser shop in London.
c. Armaund Dupot and his son Jean-Archaeologists. Jean is smitten with Mary Grey.
d. Norman Gale-A young London dentist who is in love with Mary Grey.
e. Lady Cicely Horbury-A cocaine snuffing rich woman who wants to divorce her husband.
f. Venetia Anne Carr-A horsy looking woman who is love with Lady Cicely's husban.
g. James Ryder- A London businessman.
h. Dr. James Whistler-A Harley Street physician with a roving eye.
Along the way we meet with Scotland Yard's Detective Japp. Poirot also deals with the French police in their investigation of the crime. During the course of the novel another murder occurs through the swallowing of prussic acid.
This is a fine Agatha Christie novel which will not disappoint her fans. It is also a good introduction to Poirot for those who have never read a mystery by the Queen of Crime!

"Death in the Clouds" may be unique among Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot mysteries in that the famous Belgian sleuth finds himself a suspect in a murder. It is vexing to be a suspect but also to have had a murder happen within feet of you and remain oblivious to it. Such is the case with this fast-paced Christie thriller, a classic closed-room mystery, since someone onboard the "Prometheus" must be the killer.

On the afternoon flight from Paris to Croydon, Madame Giselle, a moneylender, is discovered dead. The cause of death almost too farfetched to believe - a poisoned dart shot from a blowpipe. Yet no passenger or steward saw anything unusual, Poirot among them. So when he finds himself the suspect, Poirot examines every possible offshot. Could such a farfetched crime actually happen or is the blowpipe, discovered in Poirot's seat, a blind? Who stands to profit from Madame Giselle's death? (As it turns out, quite a number of the plane's passengers.) Poirot enlists the help of two fellow passengers, Jane Grey and Norman Gale, to unravel the lies and mysteries shrouding this murder. With four possible suspects but no real evidence, Poirot must order his grey cells more than ever to solve the twist of this case.

As with any good Christie mystery, there is a unique twist at the end. Yet those who are familiar with other Christie novels may suspect or figure out what the twist is here. At times the novel is a little predictable, but the queen of mystery always manages to throw readers off track, if only through holding back things Poirot discovers that readers may have missed. "Death in the Clouds" is an enjoyable mystery featuring a large cast of likable characters with conflicting stories that are a pleasure to unravel.