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A review by shanaqui
The Big Four by Agatha Christie
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I know that The Big Four is considered one of Agatha Christie's weaker books (including by Christie herself), but I actually kind of enjoyed it? In part, it probably helped that I read it via Serial Reader, which matched well with the episodic feeling in the book. It also helps that it's quite short, and each episode is partly self-contained, meaning there's not so much time to get overcomplicated and build up a huge catch of the proverbial fishies.
It's of course melodramatic and over the top, with a bit of the flavour of Sherlock Holmes vs Moriarty, but I just kinda leaned into that and let it go. Hastings wasn't as unbearable as usual (though I still don't like him)... though I found Poirot pretty insufferable, especially with his repeated decision to let Hastings suffer in ignorance because he can't act.
I'm still not a Christie fan, but this one worked surprisingly well for me.
It's of course melodramatic and over the top, with a bit of the flavour of Sherlock Holmes vs Moriarty, but I just kinda leaned into that and let it go. Hastings wasn't as unbearable as usual (though I still don't like him)... though I found Poirot pretty insufferable, especially with his repeated decision to let Hastings suffer in ignorance because he can't act.
I'm still not a Christie fan, but this one worked surprisingly well for me.