Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Links Review

Agatha Christie’s Murder On the Links Review

Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Links
On Amazon
Grade: A for writing, but D for golf content
Teacher’s Comments: Not much golf, but mystery fans will like it anyway.

Although I have enjoyed Agatha Christie movies such as Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile, I am ashamed to admit that I had not previously read any of the 66 detective novels that made Christie the bestselling author of all time. Her novels have sold more than two billion copies. More than thirty feature films have been made of her novels, in addition to numerous television productions (notably on Masterpiece Theatre).

Murder on the Links is the second novel published by Christie and the second to feature her famous detective Hercule Poirot. Its first publication was in 1923.

The book popped up in my Amazon suggestions list, so I decided that an Agatha Christie novel about golf just might be worth a read.

In the novel, Poirot is summoned to Merlinville-sur-Mer, France to help millionaire Paul Renaud, who fears his life is in danger. Unfortunately, Renaud is dead by the time Poirot arrives — his body having been found on a golf course adjacent to wealth man’s estate.

And that is pretty much it for the golf in the story. The remainder involves Poirot using his powers of deduction to sort out the scene of the crime, the weapon, several suspects, financial entanglements, a second murder, kidnapping and a related murder case from twenty years.

All in a fortnight’s work for Poirot.

I will say no more for fear of spoiling the book for a new reader.

An interesting aside is that Murder on the Links apparently is the first published work to use the phrase “Scene of the Crime.”

For all its lack of golf, I thought The Murder on the Links was a good read. The mystery is intriguing and has lots of twists.

I may tackle Death on the Nile next in anticipation of the upcoming movie. I’ve see the 1978 version with Peter Ustinov as Poirot. It will be interesting to see what Kenneth Branagh does with the role.