Sparkling Cyanide, Agatha Christie

 

The Book

Rosemary Barton was a beautiful you woman who seemed to have it all. Looks, money, and a loving husband. But underneath that seemingly perfect life, lay wild secrets, myriad lies, and false friendships. Still, it came as a surprise when she seemingly committed suicide in the middle of dinner at a very post restaurant. 

Then, six months later, her husband George gets several letters saying she was murdered. This leads him to gather together everyone from the party to try and catch the culprit. But who could it be. 

Anthony or Steven, two of her former lovers? Steven's wife, a lady from a powerful family? Her sister, covetous of Rosemary's money, or George's secretary who was desperately in love with her employer? He doesn't know. But when he is killed in the exact same manner, Colonel Race breezes in to help Inspector Kemp (apparently Inspector Battle had retired). Only one of them is guilty, but all of them are keeping secrets. 

My Thoughts

This is a breezy book, tightly written, with a long slow wind up. So much of Agatha Christie's work lies in following behavioral clues. She challenges the reader to go deep inside her character's heads. And we, the reader just have to pay attention. If Sherlock Holmes challenged the world to solve crimes through science and scientific reasoning, Christie challenges us not the take the world at face value. We may not be suspicious of everyone in our lives, but she is challenging us to pay attention to the behavioral clues of those people who are closest to us. 

In this book Steven and Sandra Farraday are a couple dealing with Steven's infidelity in his marriage. Rosemary is beautiful. Christie calls what Steven feels for Rosemary love. Captures that moment when he falls head over heels for her. This is the Victorian notion of love, and accurately describes the high of "new love", which I have heard many a psychologist deride. 

Indeed, the way Steven pursues Rosemary aligns well with my parents' notions of love and lust and what the interplay of those two feelings are on young people. I was raised to believe that someone could just walk into your life, spin your head, and make you upend everything you believed. 

The notion that this is love, I would argue, in this modern society is quaint. How many couples do you know who barely know each other and get married? My parents met in August of 1971 and were married in March of 1972. They had known each other less than six weeks, but it was enough time for my mom to break off an engagement to another man and agree to marry my father. It took longer than that for them to figure out how to get their jobs to align in the same city. So this was the love story I was told, from the time I was a little girl. 

My parents were married over 50 years, until my father's death. But how many people in my parent's generation had a similar story, only to end up divorced? I believe the divorce rate in my parent's generation was higher than any other cohort in history. 

So, seeing a beautiful person across a room may make you loose your head temporarily, but it isn't love. As Steven Farraday found out. And he was lucky his wife Sandra loved him enough to forgive him. And seeing as how each believed the other killed Rosemary, and worked hard to protect that person from the consequences, Christie definitely shows how a deeply rooted marriage props up the moral rot in each person. 

I don't like the book, but it was a fun read. 

How Much My Library Card Saved Me

This book came to me from Zion Benton Public Library District. It feels and seems new. The cover was pristine, there were no marks, and it was difficult to open. Since Zion Benton doesn't stamp when they receive their book, I can't tell you for sure. 

The book is 268 pages long. The back cover says it cost $18.99 US, and that seems more modern than several from this imprint, which I am certain started in the mid 2010s. I feel like many of these books were going for less. Anyway, that's the price I will use. 

This Book                                                                 $18.99

Items Reviewed this Year                                       $109.92

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