Once Upon a Crime -- September 5, 2023

The Once Upon a Crime book club met to discuss The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie. Of the seven members at the meeting, the book averaged 4.2 stars out of a possible 5. For some of us, this was the first time we had ever read a Hercule Poirot story, so we were not prepared for how differently he saw things from his partner, Mr. Hastings. 

A serial killer is out and about, but he always sends a note first to Hercule telling him the day and street, working his way through the alphabet. The first person killed is an older lady with a last name that starts with the letter A. The killer then continues to someone whose last name starts with the letter B, and so on. Hercule doesn't have the police tell the public this because he doesn't want to give the killer any publicity, but then Hastings says it might draw him out if he thinks they are on to him. Hastings focuses on the clues that present themselves, but Hercule seems to find the less obvious clues.

There were enough different characters in this story that none of our club members really could pick out the true killer. We all liked the book because there were several twists and turns and motives for several characters. The author was very clever in the layout and storyline of this book. 

We are setting up our next set of books for the 2024 year. If you think this might be a book club you would enjoy, please contact the library and sign up We always welcome mystery readers to our club!