Towards Zero

This is #33 of chronologically reading Christie's mysteries (minus short stories) and it was a mixed bag. It was a relief to have Superintendent Battle back again, but the structure of the story was odd this time and took a while to get going.

The idea is that a murder begins long before it actually occurs and that, instead of the story beginning with the murder, the story should end with the murder. Usually she moves away from 0 (that being the point of the murder), but in this story she moves towards it. I liked the concept, and you think you understand it from the start just the way I explained it, but she adds a twist. I don't think that's spoiling anything for you–after all, it is a mystery novel. The downfall of writing the story using this structure is that the first half of it felt a bit like a soap opera as you're just waiting for someone to be murdered. It sounds crude, but there it is.

Once the story took off a bit and Superintendent Battle came along it seemed to take off and feel like her other novels. However, if you have read a lot of her books like I have, you will probably guess “whodunit”. On the plus side, you probably won't guess how. She does a good job of turning everything you thought you understood on its head, even when you think you know the culprit.

Worth reading!