The A.B.C. Murders 1936 detective book

Name: The A.B.C. Murders
Rating: 4.6 (90 reviews)

The A.B.C. Murders (1936, United Kingdom)

Captain Hastings returns to London and finds his friend Hercule Poirot in an unusual state. A few days earlier, the famous detective received a letter written in an unusual way, which stated that the author of that letter plans to commit a murder in the small town of Andover and a specific date and, in a way, challenges Poirot to try to stop him. Hercule, just like the police that were shown the letter, assumes it is only a joke and nothing will happen in Andover on the given day, but at the same time the famous Belgian begins to suspect there is more to it than just a joke. Days pass by and nothing happens, but on the date given by the author of the letter there is a grim message from Andover - a woman, who was running a tobacco shop, was found dead. Poirot and Hastings rush to the small town and examine the murder scene, but find nothing suspicious. It looks like the woman was hit on the head while she was reaching for the cigarettes, so the first assumption is that one of the clients might have killed her. The police inform Poirot that the victim’s estranged husband, a German immigrant, is a drunkard, who was pestering her for money, so he also became a suspect. But the detective notices one detail in the shop that does not really match the rest of the interior - an ABC Rail Guide opened on the page with Andover.

One of the most popular Agatha Christie novels, mostly because of the formula that she used in this one that broke her usual writing habits. Instead of a sleepy village, where in a close community a body is found, here we have a nationwide investigation and a challenge to the killer sent to Hercule Poirot. The narrative is completely different from her usual style, the atmosphere is completely different, but still, the novel has her clever plot and surprising ending.

Can you solve a case like this?

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