Postern of Fate

Rating:
Summary: Agatha Christie's Final Novel
Review: Although "Curtain" and "Sleeping Murder" were both published after this one, they had been written in the mid-1940's, so this is the final novel that Agatha Christie actually wrote.

She once again takes us into the world of Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, the dynamic duo of the twenties who are now elderly grandparents.

The Beresfords have bought a cottage in a small retirement village and discover that the previous owners left behind many children's books. Tuppence is sorting them out and reading through one of them when she discovers underlined letters and a child's simple cipher. Naturally, Tuppence decodes the message which reads "Mary Jordan did not die naturally. It was one of us." The naturally inquisitive Tuppence is once again off to discover who Mary Jordan is, when she lived in the village, and how she really died.

Though this book has been criticized quite strongly by many readers, I found it to be another most enjoyable brain-teaser from Agatha Christie. It was also very satisfying to see how Tommy and Tuppence lived out their adventurous lives. Thank you, Mrs. Christie, for giving us closure to this exciting couple.

Rating:
Summary: A reader who strongly disagrees
Review: I'm sorry, but all of the reviews written before are, in my opinon, wrong. I'm not saying that this is the best book Agatha Christie wrote, but it's certainly not the worst! There is a plot. The plot is Tommy and Tuppence are trying to find out why there are the words that clearly spell out- "Mary Jordan did not die naturally." in the book The Black Arrow. Certainly this book is intriguing.

Rating:
Summary: Atrocious
Review: Listen to this advice from an hardcore Christie fan: don't read this book. It's such a painful experience to see one of the greatest mystery writers ever getting into - I can't use another word - complete senility. The story (I can't call it a plot) goes nowhere. Characters are wooden, and some excerpts are merely ludicrous. If you really like Christie, be charitable and forget about that sad final opus. She wrote so many excellent things in her earlier years.

Rating:
Summary: Cold War is a bad inspirer
Review: One of the most surprising novel by Agatha Christie I have ever read. No Poirot, no Marple, but Tommy and Tuppence. This book is a soft thriller but it deals with a very special type of crime : politically minded organizations that do not hesitate to commit crime to conquer power. Clearly connected and affiliated to the fascist or nazi movement and ideology, this crime is also linked, marginally it is true, to communism. It reveals how a democratic society like Britain is using secret services and special services to infiltrate and explore those organizations in order to contain them or destroy them. What is strange is that there is no real exploration of the motivations of either side. Why do some people want to change the world and can come to criminal means if necessary ? Why does an established social order spend so much energy and time destroying those who could represent a « menace » to this establishment, hence containing any group or organization that may represent change in this established society ? In other words the approach is very conservative. It captures the sympathy of the reader by evoking fascism, nazism or even communism, but no real assessment of the established social order is really given. After all, maybe this established social order should change or be changed ? How can change occur in a society where secret services and special services do all they can to prevent any change ? Isn't it dangerous to block change in a society ? These questions are at the back of the mind of any conscious reader, but no answer is given, no opening is provided, no reflexion is proposed. The book is thus slightly disappointing. It is the typical result of the Cold War ideology and atmosphere but Agatha Christie is a lot better inspired when she deals with real crime outside the sphere of politics.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU



Rating:
Summary: The final Christie
Review: POSTERN OF FATE is the last novel Christie actually wrote (those published later were in fact written before but had been kept in reserve). It is fitting that Christie chose to close her writing career with Tommy and Tuppence. In many ways Tuppence mirrored Christie herself. In the early books Tuppence is a young woman fresh from her wartime adventures (much like Christie herself), in later books she is a mother coping with another war, and here is dealing with downsizing to a smaller home, the physical challenges of growing older and memories of the past. Many of the adventures that Tuppence has in this book are mentioned in Christie's own autobiography.

The Beresfords have recently moved to a new house and discovered that previous owners had left behind various things, including books. In one of the books they discover a clue left by a young boy of a long ago murder. In their typical Beresford style Tommy and Tuppence try to uncover the truth and find that murder does not rest quietly even with the passage of so many years.

This novel is not one of Christie's best and the madcap adventure style of previous Tommy and Tuppence novels does not work as well with two eldery heroes. Still if you are a Christie fan and espeically if you have a fondness for Tommy and Tuppence this one is not to be missed.

Rating:
Summary: Christie's second worst book
Review: Postern of Fate, published in 1973, was the last book ever written by the incomparable Agatha Christie. My vote for her worst book ever was Passenger to Frankfurt.Christie's health was in sharp decline when writing Postern of Fate and unfortunately it shows. The plot involves Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, now in their retirement, investigating a murder in retrospect. The story is very unfocused and many elements of the story just don't make sense. Considering all the great books she wrote over her career and the countless hours of pleasure she provided to readers all over the world for several generations, Christie can certainly be forgiven for a few clunkers later in the life. I's actually give her two stars for execution, three stars for effort

Rating:
Summary: New light on Dame Agatha Christie's last days
Review: Since its publication, POSTERN OF FATE has received largely execrable reviews, with some labelling it "tedious" and others finding themselvs unable to follow its byzantinely boring plot. Look at the reviews on Amazon for samples. Now comes new evidence that the version of POSTERN OF FATE which we have was severely edited and that Christie's original may be a very different (and more cogent) work than the one we all know and abhor.

Sotheby's was offering the "complete Dictaphone recording of Agatha Christie dictating her last novel" including the original dictaphone belts she used (sixty of them). This was evidently put up for sale by her secretary, Mrs. Jolly. Did you know that "Postern of Fate" was Christie's sub=title for the novel and that the real title is "Doom's Caravan"? Sotheby's catalogue, from which I quote here, reveals that "the text incorporated here differs substantially in very many instances from the final, printed version . . . Among the most striking differences might be noted the following. [WARNING -- SPOILERS AHEAD.] The group responsible for Mary Jordan's murder is here more clearly identified as a Fascist cell amd many more details of, and clues about, them are given in a substantial section eventually cut. The motivation for the murder of old Isaac by a descendant of this group who is endeavouring to bring Fascism to England is, accordinly, more substantiated in the present version; moreover, in the way this material is here worked, clues are thrown out so as apparently to implicate a different murderer. The rearrangement of the final, printed version, in which some of these chapters are placed earlier, also leaves a few threads hanging loose, evidently because of poor editing, there remain in the printed version a few references to certain of these sections which had either by then been moved in such a way that the references are inappropriate or else cut alttogether . . ."

Perhaps it is the case that Christie's last novel isn't the sad, woolgathering, near-Alzheimers experience it presently seems to be, but instead it was the victim of "poor editing"? Wouldn't it be great if a critical edition of POSTERN OF FATE--or should we call it DOOM'S CARAVAN--could be prepared by the Christie estate which would clear up some of these inconsistencies and restore the blot from her reputation?

I give this book only 4 stars because, well, it isn't all that good, and until her original version is restored, this is all we're going to have.

Rating:
Summary: The most tiresome book Christie ever wrote
Review: Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, now retired, move into a house in Devonshire. In an old children's book left in the attic, Tuppence finds cryptic clues to a murder which took place in the village during the First World War. The girl who died was mixed up in an old scandal to do with the passing on of naval secrets. But was she innocent or guilty? Intrigued, Tommy and Tuppence investigate. Suddenly Tommy and Tuppence are in danger, though no one can guess from what source, nor why their raking up of the past should be so bitterly resented. What can it matter now?

This is the last book that Agatha Christie wrote, although not the last one to be published � it was followed by a few other, like Curtain, but they all date from before Postern. Unfortunately, Postern of Fate is one of, if not the, very worst books Christie wrote, and as such forms a sad ending to the enormously successful career of the Dame of Crime. The story never succeeds in catching the readers� attention. It goes on and on, without really making a point. And when the chaotic plot finally unfolds in the last twenty pages, you might as well go to sleep. Strangely the conclusion is even more tiresome.

The only reason to ever read this book is when you are like me and want to read every book written by Agatha Christie. But even then, be prepared to be utterly disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Agatha Christie's Last Bow.
Review: When you are the world's best-selling author, and have given so much pleasure to readers for more than fifty years, the pressure to keep going must be hard to resist. Dame Agatha kept going long enough to complete this last book a year or two before she died in 1974.

Don't expect the initiative and ingenuity found in her best mysteries. She limits herself to a re-working of old plots. Her sleuths are two of her earlier creations - Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, now in their 70s and chattering politely. There is much tedious reminiscing, much collecting of village gossip, and the occasional diatribes on the ills of the world and the errors of the young. Dogs, old gardens, old houses, old children's books and toys are included.

To take up an Agatha Christie book is usually like taking up a nice, warm, familiar cardigan. You know you'll be cozy and comfortable and it's likely you'll be unwilling to take it off. The trouble here is that the cardigan sags badly and seems to be unraveling. It lacks tension and the requisite shape and pattern. Shouldn't the book end with a solution that makes the reading of it worthwhile? You won't find that satisfaction here.