malekdelane

This excellent early Agatha kept me up late because I *had* to know whodunnit. The setting is novel and extremely charming: air travel in the mid-1930s, where there is almost no security and a four-course meal is served on a lunch flight! How nice that must have been. The aeroplane allows Christie a fresh variation on the classic closed setting with its finite number of suspects--she's used trains, boats, and manor houses, so why not a 'plane? Hercule Poirot, snoozing in his seat because he is air-sick, misses seeing the murder happen but is on the spot to investigate with his "cher ami" Inspector Japp. Death in the Clouds (or in the Air, as it was also published) has all of the elements we expect from a top-notch Christie mystery: red herrings, major twists and turns, and absolute ruthlessness with regard to her characters--don't get too attached to any of them, because literally *anyone* could be the crook. The only fault that kept it from being a 5-star for me was that she fell into a trap she describes (in the voice of Ariadne Oliver) in a later novel, Dead Man's Folly: having so many ideas that she didn't know when to stop. The business with the wasp could really have just been omitted; I don't think it would have worked as described. Also, towards the end I figured out the identity of the heiress to the murder victim's fortune exactly one page before Poirot revealed it...and absolutely kicked myself for not seeing it sooner! At that point I was simply delighted with Dame Agatha for outsmarting me so ingeniously. But then she couldn't leave it alone--she goes one twist further, and I didn't find that one nearly so good. I understand that she may have felt she wasn't quite playing fair unless she implicated one of the main suspects, but really I would have left it alone. So, Death in the Clouds ends up a tad overworked but still extremely strong and enjoyable.

2022-11-14 16:41