Ordeal by Innocence [Mass Market Paperback]

Agatha Christie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1991

While serving a sentence for killing his mother, Jacko Argyle dies in prison. Two years later, a stranger shatters the peace of the Argyle household.Was Jacko convicted of a murder he didn't commit?

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Family tensions and suspicions are adroitly handled, and the solution is characteristically surprising' New York Times 'Has the particular distinction of presenting a new temporary detective in place of Poirot or Miss Marple.' New York Herald Tribune Book Review --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

AGATHA CHRISTIE is the world's best known mystery writer. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and another billion in 44 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare.

Her writing career spanned more than half a century, during which she wrote 80 novels and short story collections, as well as 14 plays, one of which, The Mousetrap, is the longest-running play in history. Two of the characters she created, the brilliant little Belgian Hercule Poirot and the irrepressible and relentless Miss Marple, went on to become world-famous detectives. Both have been widely dramatized in feature films and made-for-TV movies.

Agatha Christie also wrote under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. As well, she wrote four non-fiction books including an autobiography and an entertaining account of the many expeditions she shared with her archaeologist husband, Sir Max Mallowan.

Agatha Christie died in 1976. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins (Mm) (November 1991)
• ISBN-10: 006100278X
• ISBN-13: 978-0061002786
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,531,762 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Innocencts, June 22, 2002

By 

RachelWalker "RachelW" (England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ordeal by Innocence (Mass Market Paperback)

This is my personal favourite of all Agatha Christie's books. For no good reason, though. It doesn't stand out particularly, but it is nonetheless a thouroughly brilliany mystery. I have long been of the opinion that Christie really came into her own when she ditched Poirot and marple. The books in which they do not feature are definitely some of her best. ("Towards Zero", "Death Comes As the End" "And Then there Were None" "Murder Is Easy" "The Pale Horse", to name but a few.)

Arthur Calgary is a really likeable character, as are several characters in this book. Which makes it even harder to read about what this opening up of an old wound is doing to them. It is hard to imagine how you would feel if, after several years of security, a stranger comes along and reveals that the killer of your friend/relative was not indeed the one imprisoned, but someone else. Someone who has been walking amongst you all these years, talked to you, eaten with you. And now all of you are under suspicion again. This book demonstrates that wonderfully, and it is a brilliant study of what the hunt for a kilelr can do to the people involved, the assumed guilt, the intrusion, the harassing of the innocent. All trying to find that one person who is guilty.

This book shines becuase it is actually rather realistic. It is full of human emotion and feeling, and some wonderful characters. they are not all of them incredibly likeable, but they are recognisable human, and you can empathise with all of them.

The story is told brilliantly, and the solution is typically unguessable and shocking. The climax is great. Fear permeates the atmosphere almost all through the book, leading to a great resolution.

One of her very very best books, if not her very best. Explores wonderfully issues of innocence and guilt, which raises it above the norm.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "It's not justice that matters, it's the innocents." Christie at her finest!!!, July 21, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Ordeal by Innocence (Mass Market Paperback)

I just finished this book recently and would recomend it to anyone. I think this is my favorite Christie so far. The ending was so unexpected. I loved the characters because they were all so well developed and each one of them was different. There's always at least one character you can relate to. In my case, my two favorite characters were Philip Durrant and Tina Argyle. A cool thing about this book is that, even though you never come face to face with Rachel Argyle (deceased before the opening of the book), you can see a clear picture of her in the background.
If you like Christie, mystery, or just good characters and a good story, go to the top of the screen and order this!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WILL SOMEONE LET THE WOMAN SPEAK?, May 16, 2008

By 

allitwantedbythunder - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ordeal by Innocence (Mass Market Paperback)

What "improvements" have been made for the St. Martin's Minotaur edition? There are already major differences in punctuation, word choices, and scene breaks between the original Collins and Dodd Mead editions of this novel. There are further differences between the Dodd Mead editions republished by Random House/Avenel and the Dodd Mead editions republished by Simon & Shuster/Pocket. There are further additions still in the Signet, Bantam, Berkley, and Black Dog & Leventhal editions. For every publishing house putting out her works, there seem to be a new batch of editors altering Agatha Christie's words and the sound of her voice. What's the matter with these publishers? Whose voice do they think we want to hear when we sit down to a novel by Agatha Christie? And what will she sound like twenty years from now? It's frightening that her estate has failed to see the importance of guarding her words as she wrote them. Please tell me I'm not the only one here who senses that a crime has been committed.