"'Books!' said Tuppence."

I just finished reading the last Agatha Christie book in the Tommy and Tuppence series, Postern of Fate, and sadly, I was disappointed. This was the last novel that Christie wrote and I apparently am not the only one who didn't enjoy it. At the time of its publishing, the critics thought it to be some of her poorest work.

In this book, Tommy and Tuppence are in their seventies. They have moved to a new house which of course turns out to have a mystery attached to it. The mystery itself is okay but the dialogue is scattered and extremely hard to follow. The main characters themselves rarely finish a train of thought. They also neglect to follow up on some pretty obvious leads that they get. You never really gain any information pertinent to the case except for the main clue which is painfully obvious yet they don't figure it out until almost the end. Also, Tommy and Tuppence vacillate between being sprightly and bright to arthritic and forgetful constantly.

I honestly couldn't tell if they were supposed to be written as if they were elderly and on the edge of their rockers or if the author was the one in that state. This book had dog conversations (translations of what the dog's barking must have meant) and repetitive references to the past. It just made me feel a bit sad.

I would love to hear from anyone else who has read this series or this book. Did you feel the same way? Was this final book in the series -- and in the Christie canon -- a disappointment to you?

Wishing things could have ended differently,
K


Buy Postern of Fate on Amazon or find it at your local library.