Product Details

• Published on: 1998-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback

About the Author
Agatha Christie was born in Torquay in 1890 and became, quite simply, the best-selling novelist in history. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, written towards the end of the First World War, introduced us to Hercule Poirot, who was to become the most popular detective in crime fiction since Sherlock Holmes. She is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and another billion in 100 foreign languages. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 19 plays, and six novels under the name of Mary Westmacott.

Customer Reviews

One of Christie's vey best.
Towards Zero is one of Agatha Christie's very best books. The characterisation is excellent with lots of well drawn rounded characters. The setting of the cornish coast in September is also very atmospeheric.

However this book is so good as Christie places the main murder late on in the book viewing, as is the case,murder being the end of a series of events rather than the start.

The solution is totally unexpected but if you look back through the book and the characters it is the only possible solution that would work.

A true classic

An overlooked classic
I have been a Christie fan for 35 years, and I agree with the previous reviewer. To my mind this is one of the best books she ever wrote. Perhaps because it does not feature Poirot or Marple it never really seems to get the attention it deserves. Christie is often criticised for being Plot Plot Plot and precious little atmosphere. It is suggested that creating a convincing atmosphere is beyond her. Well this is the book which disproves that theory. You could cut the atmosphere in this one with a knife. From the word go a strange, menacing, almost dreamlike aura hangs over this book. It is, apart from a (very) tangenital similarity to 'Murder Is Easy' in terms of motivation, quite unlike anything else she wrote. It seems to be one of those Christies that readers come to half-heartedly once they have exhausted the Poirots and Marples but I would place it pretty high on her list of classic titles, in fact I am not sure that I wouldn't place it at number one!

Brilliant mystery, featuring Inspector Battle.
Battle is one of her lesser known detectives, but I take my hat off to him for getting this one right! From the very start, there is a stormy tension over the group, matched by the sultry weather outside. The two enormous twists will leave you amazed and the wickedness of the killer is high even by Agatha standards! The second one I read and after the awful 'Clocks', a wonderful introduction. An essential read.