Towards Zero, Agatha Christie

 The Book

At a house party in a September in the 1940s, the "zero point", as described by noted jurist Mr. Treves, when the lives of the aforementioned Mr. Treves; Angus McWhirter; the Stranges, Neville, Kay, and Neville's first wife Audrey; Lady Tressilian, and her companion, Mary; Thomas Royde (childhood friend of Audrey's); Ted Latimer (friend to Kay Strange; and Superintendent Battle converge. 

Mr. Treves dies of heart attack after announcing he knows the identity of a very calculated murderer. The following night, Lady Tressillian is murdered and everyone else is a suspect for Superintendent Battle to investigate. 

It doesn't take long for Battle to suss out that the murder has been carefully planned. And now, the whole party is wondering if Mr. Treves was murdered as well. The the Stranges fighting over everything, and Royde and Latimer vying for the attention of Audrey and Kay, confusion reigns. Finally, Angus McWhirter figures it out, not long after he heroically saves Audrey from a gruesome suicide. Together he and Superintendent Battle, find a way to bring the murderer down. 

  My Thoughts

This is the first book I read after my father's death, so I'm maybe not in a good frame of mind to offer opinions. However, I'm in my "do it anyway" phase of grieving, so we're giving this a go. 

I find the cover interesting and a spoiler alert for those people who think everything in an Agatha Christie novel is a clue. As such, I put together who the murderer was pretty much from the beginning. What I didn't know, is who this person was trying to murder. Once I figured that out, the plot twist was cute, but not surprising. 

It's a solidly constructed mystery, with a long lead in, giving us ample opportunity to get to know our cast of characters. They are all well constructed, we have plenty of entertainment. I see the publication date is towards the end of WWII, a time when I know Christie was working hard because she was unable to accompany her husband Max during his war deployment. She faced a few darks days, and filled them with work. 

I found a small bit of solace in that, as I am currently doing the same. As I write this, but it won't be published until much later, it is a few days before Christmas 2024. Christmas is always a difficult holiday for me, and prefer to spend it working, despite having a wonderful family and genuinely enjoying most of the parties I go to this time of year. It was nice to have a reminder, that this is a valid way of coping with my holiday blues. 

How Much My Library Card Saved Me

It seems like forever ago that I checked this book out of the library. But it is not yet overdue. That being said, this book came to me from the Winnetka Northfield Public District Library. It is in fairly good condition. There is no information in the book as to when it entered circulation in their library, but the paperback edition is of the set that was issued in the mid 2000's. So it can't be more than 20 years old. Given how popular the title tends to be, and the use, my guess is this was a pandemic buy. 

The cover says it retailed for $12.99. That's the number I will use. 

This Book:                                             $12.99

Items Reviewed This Year:                    $37.99

Still Here? 

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