Crooked House (Minotaur Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Agatha Christie (Author) "I first came to know Sophia Leonides in Egypt towards the end of the war..." (more)
Key Phrases: cistern room, little crooked house, insulin bottle, Edith de Haviland, Laurence Brown, Chief Inspector Taverner (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Agatha Christie is more than the most popular mystery writer of all time. In a career that spans over half a century, her name is synonymous with brilliant deception, ingenious puzzles, and the surprise denouement. By virtually inventing the modern mystery novel she has earned her title as the Queen of Crime. Curious? Then you're invited to read...

CROOKED HOUSE

In a sprawling, half-timbered mansion in the affluent suburb of Swinley Dean, Aristide Leonides lies dead from barbiturate poisoning. An accident? Not likely. In fact, suspicion has already fallen on his luscious widow, a cunning beauty fifty years his junior, set to inherit a sizeable fortune, and rumored to be carrying on with a strapping young tutor comfortably ensconced in the family estate. But criminologist Charles Hayward is casting his own doubts on the innocence of the entire Leonides brood. He knows them intimately. And he's certain that in a crooked house such as Three Gables, no one's on the level...

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.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books (August 19, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031298166X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312981662
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #122,105 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clever, chilling, cunning - and brilliant., January 27, 2000

By	Daniel (Reading, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crooked House (Mass Market Paperback)

This is one of the Christie books I remember reading as a child. When I reread it recently, I was amazed at how superb it is - it is not a Poirot or Miss Marple mystery, not at all, but it is a very different type of mystery. The shocking solution is in fact a brutal attack upon our own culture, our obsession with murderers and murder, and the inexorable impartiality of evil - it is a very frightening book, largely because it does not follow ALL the strictures one expects of a murder mystery. A novel as well as a whodunnit as well as a psychological study. And a grand success.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars And They All Lived Together In A Little Crooked House, October 30, 2001

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

This review is from: Crooked House (Mass Market Paperback)

Having read all of the Agatha Christies at least twice, I can honestly say that "Crooked House" is my very favorite. One reason is that Agatha Christie does in this novel what she does best---gathers an extended family all under one roof, allows one of the family to be murdered, and shows quite clearly that all the others had motive and opportunity.

"Crooked House" is an excellent story of a complex family. The patriarch is Aristide Leonides, a Greek who has come to England and made a fortune in the restaurant and catering business. His mansion is home to his two sons, two daughters-in-law, three grandchildren, his first wife's sister, and now to his young and beautiful second wife plus the grandchildren's tutor. When the wealthy old man is poisoned, the reader learns that everyone had not only a motive but also an alibi. The characterizations are wonderful and the characters stand out as some of Mrs. Christie's most memorable ones.

The usual detectives are absent in this one, but the detecting is in the capable hands of Charles Hayward, the son of a Scotland Yard detective and the fiance of Aristide's granddaughter Sophia Leonides. When the blood-chilling ending occurs, one is shocked and yet, on careful reexamination, must admit that all the clues were clearly there.

Curl up with a cup of cocoa (unpoisoned, of course) and enjoy this classic crime with one of Mrs. Christie's most spectacular and unforgettable endings.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Brilliance Tarnished by Plagiarism, August 16, 2000

By	Carl Tait (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Crooked House (Mass Market Paperback)

"Crooked House" has long been considered one of Agatha Christie's most brilliant and memorable books -- the author herself singled it out as a favorite. I gave it a five-star review two years ago, but was recently stunned to see this one-line comment by Korean reviewer "ellermoris":

>this mystery pirate ellery queen's work "the tragedy of y"

Agatha Christie a plagiarist! During her golden years of the 1940s? Surely this couldn't be true ... could it?

Yes, it could be. And it is.

Here is the plot of "The Tragedy of Y," without giving away any major surprises: Three generations of a warped, wealthy family live together in one house. The hated grandparent is murdered. The children's tutor is wrongly arrested. Secret handwritten documents emerge that solve the crime. The murderer is shockingly revealed to be <the same person as in "Crooked House">. (Given the ostensible originality of Christie's ending, this last point is the most damning of all.)

"The Tragedy of Y" was first published in 1932 under the pseudonym of Barnaby Ross. It was reissued as a paperback in 1945 credited to the more familiar pseudonym of Ellery Queen. "Crooked House" was published in 1949.

Despite this disturbing and embarrassing discovery, I would still strongly recommend "Crooked House." It's a better book than "The Tragedy of Y," which suffers from a surfeit of clues, an overly analytical explanation, and weak characterization. Christie takes the same ingenious plot and turns it into a compelling human tragedy with an intuitively satisfying solution. We'll just have to live with the fact that the plot wasn't hers....