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EuSei
Aug 02, 2014EuSei rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This is a 1929 book by Mrs. Christie that has been adapted into an excellent movie—with John Guielgud perfectly incarnated in the skin of the Marquis of Caterhan, and James Warwick from “Tommy & Tuppence” playing the bad guy. A thoroughly enjoyable read with a quite surprising end that I defy you to guess! It’s a young Agatha Christie at her best. It reintroduces superintendent Battle and Lady Eileen (aka Bundle), who had their first appearances at Chimney’s; they are back to solve a entangled net of international espionage. Now, brace yourselves for the Introduction by Val McDermid… He warns readers of Christie’s lack of political correctness—I kid you not!—as if we were a bunch of little kids who need guidance. He then lectures readers on the shortcomings of “hidebound” Conservatism (to which he, at least admits, Mrs. Christie was a partisan); Conservatives, it seems, are a bunch of bigots, intolerant, narrow-minded creatures… I don’t know about others, but I enjoy reading authors such as Christie, Buchan, Sapper or Mason not only because of their literary capacities, but also BECAUSE of their lack of PC, so I’d appreciate the absence of this kind of “introduction”!