Death in the Clouds - Agatha Christie
First published 1935.
Mystery novels are fun, but re-reading them can be less exciting. Well-written ones can still hold interest, but a lot of the fun is trying to figure out, along with the detective, just "whodunnit?" If you know whodunnit, it changes the game a bit. On the other hand, examples like Murder on the Orient Express and (I would suspect) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd might still be interesting on a second read, knowing the outcome, and looking for the clues that point in that direction.
Perhaps, however, the way to enjoy re-reading a mystery is to leave long enough between reading and re-reading it. I first read Death in the Clouds in 2017, and in the nine years(!) since then, I seem to have forgotten enough of the plot to get sucked back in.
In fact, I even became convinced that I remembered what happened, and ended up wrongly suspecting another character because of my faulty memory. Perhaps it was a character I suspected during my first read; this time around I definitely thought I had picked up on some subtle hints, but they turned out to be red herrings.
The main plot, about a woman found dead on a plane who has apparently been killed by poison from a blow-pipe, is a good mystery in its own right, but Agatha Christie also adds in some fun subplots, and the 'young love' couple of Jane Grey and Norman Gale have enough character to carry them through.
Once again, Poirot is a smarter-than-everyone-else-in-the-room detective, but here he also manages to show a sentimental streak which looks good on him.
A satisfying conclusion, with enough twists to keep you guessing, twice!
Completed 25 March 2026.
Previously completed 10 August 2017.
(2017 List)
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