Crooked House / Agatha Christie

3 out of 5 stars

In the sprawling, half-timbered mansion in the affluent suburb of Swinly 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...

A nice evening’s reading. One of Dame Agatha’s stand-alone novels, not featuring any of her famous sleuths. It’s a decent little story but I was somewhat disappointed to have guessed the identity of the killer fairly early on in the book. Quite unlike And Then There Were None. Nevertheless, an interesting glimpse into British society right post-World War II. How much society has changed—never today would a police department allow an amateur detective to hang around and pollute their crime scene and witness pool, no matter if he is tentatively engaged to one of the family in question!

As one would expect of a female author, there are a number of strong female characters (plus the normal assortment of weaker vessels, but that is also true of the men). Women had taken on more duties & responsibilities during war time and it would be hard to give them back up. Christie gives us an interesting man as narrator, probably much more rational and clear thinking than your average person, but useful in this context.

Read to fill the Closed Room Mystery square on my 2016 Halloween Book Bingo card.