Funerals Are Fatal [Paperback]

Agatha Christie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 1980

When Cora is savagely murdered with a hatchet, the extraordinary remark she made the previous day at her brother Richard's funeral suddenly takes on a chilling significance. At the reading of Richard's will, Cora was clearly heard to say 'It's been hushed up very nicely, hasn't it...But he was murdered, wasn't he?' In desperation, the family solicitor turns to Hercule Poirot to unravel the mystery.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Keeps us guessing - and guessing wrongly - to the very last page" Liverpool Post --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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 over 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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Pocket (November 3, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671425129
• ISBN-13: 978-0671425128
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 3.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,017,990 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

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than average Poirot novel, October 18, 2007

By 

Joseph Boone (Irvine, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: After the Funeral: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot Mysteries) (Hardcover)

After the Funeral is a Hercule Poirot novel that follows a somewhat different structure from most. First, as the title suggests, the story only begins after the funeral of a wealthy man. When the relatives gather at the house afterwards, his sister blurts out that he must have been murdered even though he was known to be terminally ill and no foul play was suspected. When that same sister is brutally murdered the very next day, however, there can be little doubt that something sinister is afoot and this is where Hercule Poirot is called upon. Still, we don't see as much of him as we usually do. The suspects are scattered about England and a number of the interrogations are conducted by other people and reported back to Poirot. In the end, of course, Poirot gathers all the interested parties together and reveals the solution.

Normally, I find that any Poirot novel suffers greatly when the Belgian is used sparingly. So I was pleasantly surprised in this instance that the other characters were sufficiently interesting to carry the load. The cast is pretty varied and I definitely found it interesting to see how they interacted with each other in the aftermath of these murders. The story generally moves along at a good pace though it slowed down a touch toward the end. The razor sharp humor that Poirot provides when portrayed at his best is largely absent here but the book doesn't suffer too badly.

This is nowhere near the best Hercule Poirot novel but it certainly is a solid effort. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to first time readers, as they would do be better served to start with one of the very best such as the The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot Mysteries) or Death on the Nile: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot Mysteries). But established Christie fans could do far worse than to pick up After the Funeral. It's got a strong cast and an interesting story that make it well worth reading.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funerals can be fun!, February 1, 2000

By 

Scott E Amundsen - See all my reviews

This review is from: After the Funeral (Hercule Poirot Mysteries) (Paperback)

Agatha does it again! Without wishing to give anything away, she has the reader looking in the wrong direction from page one right up to the end. How many times have we Christie fans fooled ourselves into thinking we know "whodunnit," only to find out that, dammit, she's pulled the wool over our eyes again! This one is pure pleasure; the characters are more eccentric than usual and therefore quite funny at times, and the puzzle (and its solution) is as amazing as any she ever came up with.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't put it down., September 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: After the Funeral (Hercule Poirot Mysteries) (Paperback)

It's no surprise that Agatha Christie is one of the most widely sold authors in the world. Unlike many other detective novels, "After the Funeral" kept me guessing down to the end. Ms. Christie's choice of murderer and motive turned out to be quite clever. All of her characters are richly drawn and well rounded. I loved this book and can't wait to read another.