The Big Four, a Book Review

This was an odd Agatha Christie book. Rather than solving a murder or even murders it dealt with international intrigue in the form of a spy ring, The Big Four, though there were plenty of murders involved. While it wasn't a terrible read it did not have the same tone of any of her books. In fact I became annoyed rather than transfixed with the multiple times Hasting and Poriot found themselves in the clutches of the The Big Four, being knocked out, only to awaken with headaches, but free of their enemies. It seemed rather redundant after the first two times.  Another redundant theme was that of clues being gathered via death bed confessions.

Still, the far fetched, James Bond feel of the book is a bit fun, if not up to the standard of her usual books and one of the few that the movie version was better. In the BBC movie, the whole Big Four was a farce fabricated by a disturbed man to cover his own crimes and win back an old girl friend and as crazy as it sounds it made a bit more sense than the book which was quite out there. However, even a "bad" Agatha Christie book is a good read.