Jon Nixon reviewed Dead Man's Folly by Agatha Christie
Whilst organising a mock murder hunt for the village fete hosted by Sir George and …
Review of "Dead Man's Folly" on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
A nice and cosy, very English whodunnit. The murder takes place during a pretend murder hunt at a summer garden fete. The whole thing feels like Christie having fun with the genre she has created. I like the Ariadne Oliver crime author as it's clearly Christie laughing at herself. I like the knowing touches, for example where she draws attention to people "SPEAKING IN CAPITALS".
On the down side, I thought the characters were all stereotypes (maybe to be expected in this sort of book) and although I was able to predict a couple of twists the final solution would be too labyrinthine for any except Poirot to untangle.
Some of the 1950s attitudes are a little shocking (eg. The idea that the murder might be a sex crime is dismissed because the victim wasn't very attractive).
On the down side, I thought the characters were all stereotypes (maybe to be expected in this sort of book) and although I was able to predict a couple of twists the final solution would be too labyrinthine for any except Poirot to untangle.
Some of the 1950s attitudes are a little shocking (eg. The idea that the murder might be a sex crime is dismissed because the victim wasn't very attractive).