Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (Agatha Christie Signature Edition) [Paperback]

Agatha Christie (Author)

Book Description

Series: Agatha Christie Signature Edition | Publication Date: December 3, 2001

When a man plunges down a cliff, two adventurous young friends decide to find his killer! While playing an erratic round of golf, Bobby Jones slices his ball over the edge of a cliff. His ball is lost, but on the rocks below he finds the crumpled body of a dying man. With his final breath the man opens his eyes and says, 'Why didn't they ask Evans?' Haunted by these words, Bobby and his vivacious companion, Frankie, set out to solve a mystery that will bring them into mortal danger!

Editorial Reviews

Review

'A story that tickles and tantalizes but never exhausts the readers' patience or ingenuity.' Times Literary Supplement 'Thoroughly entertaining in a not too solemn way.' Books

About the Author

Agatha Christie was born in Torquay in 1890 and became, quite simply, the best-selling novelist in history. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, written towards the end of the First World War, introduced us to Hercule Poirot, who was to become the most popular detective in crime fiction since Sherlock Holmes. She is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and another billion in 100 foreign languages. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 19 plays, and six novels under the name of Mary Westmacott.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 361 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins Pb; Masterpiece ed edition (December 3, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007122608
• ISBN-13: 978-0007122608
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,131,561 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Agatha Christie was born in 1890 and created the detective Hercule Poirot in her debut novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920). She achieved wide popularity with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) and produced a total of eighty novels and short-story collections over six decades.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Readers Are Led On Merry Chase In Light-Hearted Adventure, April 28, 2002

By 

Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Agatha Christie gives us a pair of her most likeable amateur sleuths in Bobby Jones, the son of a vicar in a small Welsh village, and Lady Frances Derwent, his childhood friend and now companion in crime-solving. The story is frivolous and funny thanks in large part to the wit of Lady Frances, but you will find the usual murder, villains, and high adventure in this melodramatic tale.

While golfing one afternoon, Bobby and the local doctor find a man who has apparently fallen over a cliff. The victim dies, but his last words are "Why didn't they ask Evans?" A verdict of accidental death ensues, but when Bobby is suddenly offered a high-paying job in Argentina and later someone attempts to poison his beer, he begins to suspect that someone wants him out of the way for fear of what he knows. Bobby cannot figure out what he knows, but with the help of Lady Frances he is off on a trail of clues involving a suspicious doctor, a sanitarium for the highly nervous, two beautiful ladies-in-distress, drugs, and murder.

If you like light-hearted mystery with plenty of adventure, you'll enjoy being led on this merry chase with likeable sleuths. It's too bad Agatha Christie chose not to bring Bobby and Frances back in later books. Perhaps, she thought they were too much like Tommy and Tuppence.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite Agatha Christie mystery!, September 18, 2002

By 

Priscilla Stafford (Yokohama, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (Paperback)

Though I must say I like and enjoy reading about the stories of Hercule Poirot, probably Agatha Christie's most famous character, I really loved reading about Bobby and Frankie. I read this recently for the first time and now find it one of my favorite Christie stories!

When Bobby Jones discovers the body of a man at the bottom of a cliff, he never dreams how much adventure and danger he will find himself in. For before the man takes his last breathe, he says his last words, "Why didn't they ask Evans?" From then on, Bobby Jones is in terrible danger as more and more strange accidents occur. With the help of a childhood friend, the Lady France Derwent (called Frankie by her friends), they try to uncover the secret and mystery behind the death of the man. But throughout their investigation, they keep coming back to the mysterious question, "Why didn't they ask Evans?"...

Poirot's stories have this general type of flow to it, where you tend to have to use your head more to think out the mystery with the famous 'system of order and method'. The ending will take you completely by surprise and everything comes to place when Poirot 'presents the facts'. In the case of this book, Bobby and Frankie do an large amount of moving about, having adventures one after another, and going undercover. The reader also gets to feel more like he (or she) is participating more since Bobby and Frankie always meet and discuss everything together. Somehow, "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" I actually enjoyed myself a lot in the way Christie changed her style a bit to make it more fun. But I must warn you, there's plenty of surprises throughout the way!

The characters of Bobby and Frankie are also incredibly likable. Bobby seems to be the bit more sensible one of the pair though as the story progresses, we see him coming out more with plenty of ideas and imagination. Frankie seems to be the somewhat opposite of her partner. She is in the beginning your usual 'comes from a rich family' young lady, a bit bored with life and wanting some adventure. But as things get more mysterious and dangerous, she can be very serious while keeping her chin up.

There is also plenty of humor which will keep you smiling throughout the story. Plenty of wit and sarcasm, and of course, plenty of chemistry between the two characters. From the very beginning you know that the two are meant for each so it's fun to see them flirt a bit, yet try to keep their distance. Bobby is so shy and deems himself not in her class, while Frankie just seems to wait for him to say something. The ending is completely satisfactory but I sorely wished there were more books out on Bobby and Frankie. Would have liked to read more about them.

I most guarantee that you'll love this book, check it out if you get a chance! And as I've said, besides Hercule Poirot, there are other Christie characters who are loads of fun and likable! There's Miss Marple, Parker Pyne, Mr. Quin, and others. Also, there is the great duo Tommy and Tuppence. A bit like Bobby and Frankie so I love reading about them in "The Secret Adversary", "Partners in Crime", "N or M?", and "By the Pricking of My Thumbs".

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Unlikely But Enjoyable Frolick, May 4, 2002

By 

Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Also published under the title THE BOOMERANG CLUE, Agatha Christie's WHY DIDN'T THEY ASK EVANS? is similar to her Tommy and Tuppence novels, for it offers a "bright young couple" embroiled in an unlikely tale of unexpected murder and constant adventure so smartly paced that one critic subtitled it as "the Merry-Go-Round Mystery."

Bobby Jones and Lady Frances (Frankie to her friends) are not quite as memorable as Tommy and Tuppence, but they make for an engaging pair just the same, and when their suspicions are aroused re a deadly accident the result is a series of masquerades calculated to lead both Bobby and Frankie--as well as the reader--right up the garden path. Although there is less "mystery" more deux ex machina than one normally expects of Christie, the novel is written in high style. Christie was clearly having a great time with this particular novel, and although it cannot be classed with her great classics most readers will find themselves enjoying the ride. Clever, witty, and frolicksome fun. Recommended.