She Does It Again

Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie

Classic Mystery

A murder.....in a sealed airplane...with only a few suspects.  Should be easy to solve, but when the finger of the law seems to be pointing straight at our detective, Hercule Poirot, we know something is amiss.

At first, everyone thinks it was simply a wasp sting, but Poirot knows differently.  The murder victim is a moneylender and Poirot must delve into her life, and her clients, to solve the mystery.

I really liked that the mystery followed the characters off the plane and back to their complicated lives, followed soon by the pitter patter of Poirot's little nosy feet.  And seriously-how fun!  I mean, how many murders are committed by a poisoned dart of a deadly South African snake on a crowded plane cabin and nobody is any the wiser?  This was really fun to read on an airplane and was originally published as "Death in the Air".  Reading it in that setting really put things into perspective on the impossibilities and possibilities of such a thing.

When I first started reading Christie, I loved Ms. Marple and heartily disliked Poirot.  However, the more I keep reading about him, the more I enjoy his eccentricities.  One thing I adore is that he seems to figure things out quickly, gives the reader a slight hint, and then plays it close to the chest so as not to give anything away.  I also love that he makes mistakes and admits them.