Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Luke Fitzwilliam is happy to be back in England after working as a policeman in the Mayang Straits, and happier still to be on a train to London… that is, until the elderly lady in his carriage decides to strike up a conversation.  Having several elderly aunts, Luke expected this to happen but he did not expect to hear that she was on her way to Scotland Yard to report a series of murders. He tries to humor the old dear, listening to her rambling on about who has died and that she expects the doctor to be next.

Luke hopes that the man on duty at the Yard will let her down gently, even though she is definitely a bubble off plumb.

It’s a bit of a shock when he reads in paper that the old lady was run over by a motor car and killed before she even reached the Yard. 

It’s even more of a shock a few days later when Luke reads that the doctor she mentioned as the next victim dies suddenly.

Is it possible that the old lady was right and there’s a murderer running amok in a quaint little English village?

Luke enlists the aid of an old friend in order to go undercover and investigate.

I read quite a lot of Agatha Christie’s books in high school, but back then I was really only interested in the series titles with Hercule Poirot or (my favorite) Miss Marple so this one was new to me.  Christie wrote a number of standalone books like this one, which came out in 1939.  While it definitely reflects the era in which it was written, the strong plot and good characterizations had me turning pages quickly to find the solution.  As with most of Christie’s books, there’s a possible romance—unless, of course, the lovely young woman who has caught Luke’s eye is the murderer in question.  Luke himself is a likeable young man, but it must be said he doesn’t have Hercule’s “little grey cells.”  In fact, another character catches on more quickly that he does.  Nonetheless, he does solve it out in the end—and just in time, too.

As usual, I had some things figured out but not others.  There’s a reason Agatha Christie’s work is still read, and I certainly enjoyed this one.

Note:  The book was also published under the title Easy to Kill.