Book Review: Towards Zero by Agatha Christie (1944)

Synopsis: The divorced and re-married Neville Strange is persuaded to attend a holiday at the estate of Lady Tressilian at the same time as his ex-wife Audrey, despite objections from his current wife, Kay. The summer trip results in Strange telling Audrey he made a mistake and wants to return to her and the predictable fight between him and Kay results in an argument with Lady Tressilian as well. When Lady Tressilian is found murdered the following morning, Strange becomes the primary suspect and it's up to Superintendent Battle to help unravel whether the evidence is real or staged.

Review: Even though I have gotten through most of Agatha Christie's novels, there are still some that I haven't yet read. Towards Zero was on that list even though I found it at a used book sale back in December and it's been on my bookshelf since. I finally got around to reading it this week and, for the most part, I thought it was an OK book.

The book does take a little bit of time to get going, with a series of mini stories to introduce it that, at least at first, don't seem to have much to do with the murder mystery that the book eventually evolves into. Once Lady Tressilian is murdered, however, then the pacing and the overall mystery are enjoyable.

The mystery itself wasn't anything overly complicated. Strange and Audrey were the only two who benefited from the victim's death and once the former was cleared by a witness and the case became a bit too easy for Superintendent Battle as a result, it didn't take a whole lot of effort to figure out who the real killer was based solely on reading other Christie books and recognizing a similar trend.

That said, I did like some of the twists that were thrown in, especially relating to the two main suspects' marriage to each other and the killer's real motive, that kept it from being as predictable as it could be. The throw-back to an earlier story involving Superintendent Battle and his daughter was a nice touch as well. Plus, you had so many possible love triangles mixed in when you included the other guests, there were times when that seemed like that could be the main plot. Those are the things that make Christie's novels so memorable.

Final Opinion: I don't think I'd list this as one of my favorites, but it still was an entertaining mystery I couldn't put down and finished relatively quick as a result. It's worth taking the time to read if you get a chance.

My Grade: B+