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Rating: 
Summary: No One Can Do it Like Agatha Christie!
Review: Agatha Christie is such a master at her chosen genre, that mystery novels are continually judged against her extensive body of work. And well they should be. She keeps her readers guessing right up until the end, over and over again. She is still truly the Grande Dame of mystey fiction writers, and her work will be around for a long time to come. In this book we have Hercule Poirot visiting a small village called Warmsley Vale. He finds himself in a real tangled mess that concerns various members of a certain family that lives in this out-of-the-way spot. The ending is a real surprise, and we the readers have such fun getting there. No one can match Ms. Christie's cunning and ingenious plots, and this book does not disappoint.
Rating: 
Summary: Not my favourite Christie
Review: Christie's books are normally excellent, but I felt that this one was made up as it was written, and the strands of the mystery didn't tie in particularly convincingly. I would recommend Death on the Nile.
Rating: 
Summary: Maze of Mystery, Murder, Death, Suicide Is Classic Christie
Review: If you like intricate and complex plots, lots of red herrings, characters who are not who they say they are, murders disguised as suicides and accidents, this could be your favorite Christie. At the center of this intruiging book is wealthy Gordon Cloade, eldest brother of a family he is devoted to and has promised to always look after. He has amassed a fortune in business and has always maintained that his money also belongs to his family. Although they are also successful, the other family members have come to depend on Gordon and the security he and his fortune offer. And now for the fly in the ointment: Gordon meets Rosaleen, a young Irish widow, on an Atlantic crossing and their shipboard romance leads to a quick marriage. Before he can bring her home to his family, Gordon is killed during a bombing raid. Because he has not changed his will, his entire fortune passes to Rosaleen. She and her brother go to live in his family home and, needless to say, are the target of much resentment by the family. The alternate title of this book is "There Is A Tide" and both titles come from the line in Julius Caesar which says " There is a tide in the affairs of men when, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." Fortune is definitely the key to this novel and the lengths to which men and women will go to obtain one. This is vintage Christie as she proves once more that murder is always exciting when it's kept all in the family.
Rating:
Summary: It's good but she's written better
Review: Like many murder mysteries, this one revolves around money. You see, the Cloade family was promised by their bachelor uncle that they would inherit his wealth when he dies seeing as that he has no heirs himself. Imagine their disappointment when he suddenly marries a young woman and then goes and gets himself killed in a German air-raid. Now the young bride inherits all the money...the money that the Cloades sorely need. 'Taken at the Flood' was not one of Christie's best although it is enjoyable enough for a quick afternoon read. Red herrings are piled right and left to confuse the reader as per usual. And if you can spot the major clue which Christie practically signposted on page.....well, all I'm saying is that if you can spot it then you'll probably have a good hunch who did the dirty deed. Or would you? For the case IS puzzling as more bodies begin to pile up (three people die in the book). Poirot himself is confused and asks, "If A has a motive to kill C and B has a motive to kill D, would it make sense if A killed D and B killed C?" Perfect book for that 2-3 hour plane, train or car ride.
Rating:
Summary: When Taken at the Flood...It Can Lead to Murder
Review: This is one of the most original mystery of all times. Agatha Christie treated the readers to not one, not two, but three deaths, each death being a very clever deception! The final outcome is almost guaranteed to please all mystery fans. The fourth deception is the title, which I personally thought seriously failed to convey anything meaningful to the contents. During an air raid in London, World War 2, Poirot happened to overhear a Major Porter musing over a news report he just read. Mr Gordon Cloade, rich old man and once thought to be a confirmed bachelor, had married a young girl Rosaleen shortly before being hit by enemy bombing of London. The widow and her brother were the only people succesfully rescued, the rest of the household staff perished and Gordon Cloade did not awaken though the rescuers dug him out too. Major Porter mused that he had known the first husband of Rosaleen in Africa, a colonial by the name of Robert Underhay. The couple realised that the marriage was a mistake. Pious Roman Catholic Underhay confided in Porter that he might do an "Enoch Arden" (in reference to Alfred Tennyson's poem of the same name), letting the world think he was dead and enabling Rosaleen to move on with her life. Whatever the case, word came to the colonial office that Underhay died in the outbacks and later, Rosaleen had a lightning marriage with rich Gordon Cloade, only to be widowed again shortly. The story moved on to a year after the end of the war and life in Britain was difficult for most people, not the least to other members of the Cloade family. Gordon Cloade was the financial protector who had actively encouraged the other Cloades to venture out on their own, tacitly promising financial backings to pick them up if they fall or to take care of them. The quick succession of his marriage and death meant that all his money went into a trust for his widow instead. Though the Cloades were not parasitic, one by one, they ran into difficulties in post-war Britain, ranging from a housewife whose pre-war investments shrank, to a farmer struggling to make his farm viable, even those in the medical and legal profession had financial problems. They might have come to terms with the apparently simple-minded Rosaleen but for her outrightly hostile brother David Hunter. Things became very interesting when a man arrived in their village claiming to be Enoch Arden. An inn's maid overheard David Hunter being blackmailed with news of Underhay still being alive. Shortly afterwards, Enoch Arden was found murdered. Agatha Christie normally provided readers with one strong highly involved enigmatic girl who was either instrumental in the plot or in providing insights, such as Elinor Carlisle in Sad Cypress, Joanna Burton in The Moving Finger, and Veronica Cray in The Hollow. It was a rare treat in this novel that she had two such female characters: Frances Cloade, wife of Jeremy Cloade the lawyer who was determined to save her husband at all cost and show him that she loved him and had not married because he saved her father before, and Lynn Marchmont, a discharged WREN trying to decide if she still wanted to marry Rowland Cloade the farmer who stayed behind during the war to farm the land, or it was a different person she wanted. Agatha Christie's female characters were always more interesting than her males, their insight, sheer determination and tenacity would quickly dispel the myth of women being the weaker sex. In a true Christie style, readers were given a glimpse that each of branch of the Cloade family had something to hide. In a novel twist, none apparently is what could usually be guessed. This book ranks with one of Christie's must-read, along with Death on the Nile and Murder On The Orient Express.
Rating:
Summary: Original, entertaining, intriguing, challenging
Review: This is one of the most original mystery of all times. Agatha Christie treated the readers to not one, not two, but three deaths, each death being a very clever deception! The final outcome is almost guaranteed to please all mystery fans. The fourth deception is the title, which I personally thought seriously failed to convey anything meaningful to the contents. During an air raid in London, World War 2, Poirot happened to overhear a Major Porter musing over a news report he just read. Mr Gordon Cloade, rich old man and once thought to be a confirmed bachelor, had married a young girl Rosaleen shortly before being hit by enemy bombing of London. The widow and her brother were the only people succesfully rescued, the rest of the household staff perished and Gordon Cloade did not awaken though the rescuers dug him out too. Major Porter mused that he had known the first husband of Rosaleen in Africa, a colonial by the name of Robert Underhay. The couple realised that the marriage was a mistake. Pious Roman Catholic Underhay confided in Porter that he might do an "Enoch Arden" (in reference to Alfred Tennyson's poem of the same name), letting the world think he was dead and enabling Rosaleen to move on with her life. Whatever the case, word came to the colonial office that Underhay died in the outbacks and later, Rosaleen had a lightning marriage with rich Gordon Cloade, only to be widowed again shortly. The story moved on to a year after the end of the war and life in Britain was difficult for most people, not the least to other members of the Cloade family. Gordon Cloade was the financial protector who had actively encouraged the other Cloades to venture out on their own, tacitly promising financial backings to pick them up if they fall or to take care of them. The quick succession of his marriage and death meant that all his money went into a trust for his widow instead. Though the Cloades were not parasitic, one by one, they ran into difficulties in post-war Britain, ranging from a housewife whose pre-war investments shrank, to a farmer struggling to make his farm viable, even those in the medical and legal profession had financial problems. They might have come to terms with the apparently simple-minded Rosaleen but for her outrightly hostile brother David Hunter. Things became very interesting when a man arrived in their village claiming to be Enoch Arden. An inn's maid overheard David Hunter being blackmailed with news of Underhay still being alive. Shortly afterwards, Enoch Arden was found murdered. Agatha Christie normally provided readers with one strong highly involved enigmatic girl who was either instrumental in the plot or in providing insights, such as Elinor Carlisle in Sad Cypress, Joanna Burton in The Moving Finger, and Veronica Cray in The Hollow. It was a rare treat in this novel that she had two such female characters: Frances Cloade, wife of Jeremy Cloade the lawyer who was determined to save her husband at all cost and show him that she loved him and had not married because he saved her father before, and Lynn Marchmont, a discharged WREN trying to decide if she still wanted to marry Rowland Cloade the farmer who stayed behind during the war to farm the land, or it was a different person she wanted. Agatha Christie's female characters were always more interesting than her males, their insight, sheer determination and tenacity would quickly dispel the myth of women being the weaker sex. In a true Christie style, readers were given a glimpse that each of branch of the Cloade family had something to hide. In a novel twist, none apparently is what could usually be guessed. This book ranks with one of Christie's must-read, along with Death on the Nile and Murder On The Orient Express.
Rating:
Summary: When Taken at the Flood...It Can Lead to Murder
Review: This was a great book. The characters are really full of life and you really get inside their heads. The story opens in a London terrorized by the Blitz. Hercule Poirot hears a story told by the club bore, about a woman who's husband had died and now she was married to a millionaire. She herself is now a millionaire because he had died recently. Later, Poirot is encountered by Katherine Cloade, who is related to the millionaire. Then we are taken to the village of Warmsley Vale where we meet the members of the Cloade family, Adela Marchmont, Lynn Marchmont, Lionel Cloade, Katherine Cloade, Jeremy Cloade, Frances Cloade, and Rowley Cloade. They are all disgusted at one thing, that they haven't a penny to bless themselves with and Rosaleen Cloade and her brother David Hunter, whom they think are fortune hunters, have everything. But then, a man is murdered at a hotel, and the connection between him and the family seems to be getting greater and greater. The only downpoint of this novel is the fact that Agatha Christie seemed to have no enthusiasum in putting Hercule Poirot in the novel, as you will find happens often in most of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels. When Hercule Poirot does make his untimely appearance in Warmsley Vale, it is already a good deal through the book. All around, it's a great book.
Rating:
Summary: complicated but great ending
Review: You might be able to think you know who done it here but once again, Christie makes the obvious deliberately hard to decipher. A really fine plot line contains probably Agatha's best story involving a will and the many characters fighting over the contents of it. The final twist is a delightful gem.
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