I knew that picking a crime-fiction-based-thesis was a great idea, if for no other reason than I’d get to read some awesome crime books.
Tonight, I finished Murder on the Orient Express, written by the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie. I’m a late bloomer when it comes to Christie, having only experienced her works a couple years ago because of Uni, and my current total is three novels and one play, and all have been exciting, interesting and maddeningly challenging when it comes to solving the damn crime.
My score is 0 to 4 when it comes to figuring out who the culprit was. Each time my mind was blown and my feeble attempt at guessing blown completely out the window. I’ve gotten to the point whenever I come up with a guess, I automatically add ‘but I’m probably wrong’ at the end of it.
That said, only once have I found that Christie succumbs to ‘crime convention’ – in The Mousetrap, a victim utters the phrase ‘Oh, it’s you. I didn’t hear you come in,’ while the murderer crept into the room. My instant reaction was to withhold laughter, as I thought the other audience members in the theatre wouldn’t appreciate my chortling at the obviously tense scene, but then a thought struck me.
The Mousetrap is over fifty years old. When it originally came out, it was probably original and never been done before. I suppose it’s just telling of Christie’s ability that she can still keep people guessing decades later.
I cannot wait to wrongly guess the ending to another Christie classic.