Seven Deadly Sins by
Agatha Christie
hbk out September 04
Published by HarperCollins
at £25
Dame Agatha's legendary ingenuity is almost matched by that of her long-time
publishers. Their top-selling author may have died almost 30 years ago, but they keep
coming up with fresh ways to package her books and, what is most interesting, there
is still evidently an eager readership for them. After the 'Battles of Hastings' two-
volume collection, the latest concept is this weighty hardback, which has a brief
foreword from the author's grandson, Mathew Prichard, who emphasises Christie's
fascination with the power that evil can exert on people. The seven novels are 'The
ABC Murders', 'A Murder is Announced', 'Sparkling Cyanide', 'Evil Under the
Sun', 'At Bertram's Hotel', 'Endless Night' and 'Five Little Pigs', representing
respectively the sins of pride, envy, sloth, lust, gluttony, avarice and wrath. It is an
eclectic selection, featuring Poirot at his very best and also including a rather good
Marple and a classic stand-alone novel of psychological suspense which re-worked a
famous Christie plot from the twenties. The one weak entry, to my mind, is 'At
Bertram's Hotel' – not a bad book, but hardly up to the standards of the other half
dozen. For the whodunit fan unfamiliar with these stories, there is a treat in store.
(
Martin Edwards
- author of the highly acclaimed Harry Devlin Mysteries)
Seven Deadly Sins by
Agatha Christie
