Ranking Every Agatha Christie Book from Worst to Best

oh hello today we are updating my ranking of all of agatha christie's novels so i did a version of this i guess probably two years ago now and at that time there were still a few of her books that i had not yet read and there were also a few of them that i had previously read but remembered so little about them that i felt like i couldn't really meaningfully rate them so since i made that video i have rectified that i have read those books or reread those books and so now i can do an updated ranking i should note that this is all purely subjective obviously this is based on my favorites i'm calling this best to worst because like that's just a little easier to communicate in titling but really probably this should be my least favorite to favorite i do have some commentary in here as to when the quality of something is better or worse insofar as one can be objective about such things which is very little but i try to mention some things about consensus opinions about books and i should also mention that the way that i decided to do this was in the interest of speed i'm basically going to give you three words or phrases that i associate with each title to tell you some of my feelings about it but i'm not going to get into the full thing because we would just be here forever so with that being said these are all of the agatha christie novels slash collections ranked from my least favorite to my favorite no mary westmacott in here fyi and i'll throw you to the books so starting with some stats of these 76 books that i am ranking i liked really liked or loved 76.32 of them and i thought 22.37 of them were mediocre or like just fine too bad i gave 18 of those 76 a 4.5 or 5 star which for me is either a favorite of the year or an all-time favorite whereas i gave eight of them a one and a half or two star which would be in the really dislike to dislike range my average rating for these 76 books was 3.63 stars and to reiterate there are no mary westmacott titles in here and i am going based off of my attempt to include all short stories so there may be collections you're seeing here that don't align with the titles in your particular country that is just the way it works when it comes to international publishing rights we all have slightly different names for these different collections and slightly different stories included in some collections i will also indicate on the screen when one of my rankings is not a popular opinion so with that we will start at the bottom and make our way to the top passenger to frankfurt contrived improbable gender swapping ludicrous political intrigues posturin of fate momentary glimpses of old great christie incoherent plot pov from a dog the clocks worst urcuo poiro very intriguing premise disappointing payoff elephants can remember last written irkyoparo glimpses of charming christie at her best cold case being solved by the pricking of my thumbs solid idea mediocre execution at least we get tommy and tuppence together being pretty cute [Music] halloween party later christy not believable characters or characterization at least we get some spooky vibes taken at the flood thoroughly entrenched in its time in a way that has not aged well intriguing look into per intriguing look into post-world war ii britain interesting idea even if i didn't love the execution the mystery of the blue train agatha christie's personal least favorite of her works fun travel vibes works better in its short story form endless knight a christie thriller too melodramatic for my taste many people love the twist in this one three act tragedy very fun premise great crossover from mr satirthwaite the solution and character work in this one just didn't fully come together for me nemesis the last written miss marple some interesting cold case elements but far too many of its time components for me to be able to love it mrs mcginty's dead great great setting very crispy intriguing interpolation of a lot of christie themes ultimate solution didn't really fully click for me third girl very 60s so the setting is pretty interesting a lot of psychobabble talk in this one classic christie resolution they came to baghdad mid christy thriller nonsense political machinations interesting setting in the middle east which christy does pretty well hickory dickory death classic christy misdirections very of its time elements that i think were well-meaning but don't read well to a reader today overly contrived relation to a nursery rhyme at bertrand's hotel very charming setting with a miss marple dubious merging of the a and b plots not enough marble for a marple in my opinion why didn't they ask evans early christy thriller lots of light-hearted but nonsensical jolly japes improbable conclusions all around destination unknown mid christie thriller some elements that have aged very poorly fun if improbable political machinations secret adversary first tommy and tuppence the first christie thriller i believe so very early in her career with that kind of book pretty nonsensical but very likable characters the mysterious mr quinn probably the most super natural based recurring series for a christie some interesting puzzle mysteries lots of vibes sad cypress uncharacteristic dual timeline from christy some very compelling characters not enough of a poirot for a poirot cat among the pigeons very fun boarding school setting lots of bodies a very high body count again not enough poirot for a puero peril at end house a classic hastings poirot joint a pretty easy one to predict if you know christie's twists an interesting commentary on the increasingly poverished british aristocracy of this period ordeal by innocence some classic christie vibes not personally very memorable in my opinion but has some much-loved christi-isms in it that is a crowd-pleaser witness for the prosecution and other stories perfectly good collection witness for the prosecution is a crowd-pleaser i don't think this is one of her most accomplished groupings of stories murder on the lynx hastings and poirot go to france so a change of setting some classic christie aristocrats you know on their bs not really about a golf course but you know sure death in the clouds this is a locked room mystery this has a very fun solution and i think is a very good example of how christy plays with romantic relationships dumb witness classic christie family dynamics a very a good use of poirot and hastings working together some very memorable characters death comes as the end the very first historical murder mystery puzzle like where there's a whodunit but set in an earlier period an astonishingly high body count after a very slow start the holo the first christie i ever read some really lovely drawing of characters the solution to me misses a little bit but i see why people love this one the abc murders one of the first not sure if it's the first but one of the first true serial killer type mysteries from this era an ingenious solution but one that personally to me doesn't feel all that satisfying for what i like in a serial killer book parker pine investigates a nice change of pace where they're not always murder mysteries some real high points with a few of the stories that he's in but pretty inconsistent i would say as a whole the moving finger not enough marble for marple does have a very ingenious solution and was a personal favorite of christy the mirror cracked obsessed with the angela lansbury adaptation of this one based on a true crime in real life story this one even if it's not the best quality i personally just think is a lot of fun they do it with mirrors an unusual marple because it's more of a country house mystery very clear whodunit if you've read much christy but personally this plays into a lot of the tropes i love from christy so it works for me miss marple's final cases very enjoyable collection miss marple in my opinion works very well in short stories but not as good as the other miss marple collection murder is easy classic christie setting and tone that i love an interesting resolution to this mystery but is diminished by how long it takes for the resolution to unfold 450 from paddington a great example of travel in a christie a great sampling of miss marple just fun a murder is announced classic miss marple a pretty improbable solution i think but a very fun and satisfying version of miss marple dead man's folly i have personal fondness for this one because i think it was the first audiobook i read from christy and i loved it pretty improbable in terms of its mechanics but again i think has a lot of classic christy twists that are just fun the labors of hercules a contrived sort of framing device for the short story collection but one that allows for some interesting story branching and overall is a very typical archaeol puerto short story collection partners in crime a very fun short story collection tommy and tuppence are at their most jolly and their most jp and it has a fun meta-textual element by incorporating tropes from other literary detectives a caribbean mystery miss marple goes abroad classic christie tropes i have a lot of personal affection for this one the body in the library unexpectedly savage very classic miss marple some very christy flourishes to the twists and turns with the clues n or m my favorite tommy and tuppence a surprisingly poignant look at what it was like to live during world war ii in the early days very fun political machinations and intrigue murder in mesopotamia very satisfying setting from christie she does this middle eastern setting very well intriguing characters but the story as a whole is downgraded by the genuinely laughable twist at the end the underdog and other short stories a really solid christy short story collection includes a lot of standouts one of the better collections in my opinion the big four incredibly dated and uncomfortable at points for modern readers is basically interconnected short stories but i just love this one for reasons unknown the stories in this one just work for me with poirot and hastings the sitterford mystery great snowy vibes an isolated close circle mystery because people are snowed in memorable ending slash twist one two buckle my shoe a more successful integration of a political thriller element into a murder mystery interesting commentary on political mores of the time i like this use of poirot towards zero a locked room mystery classic christie twists very memorable dame newman a locked room mystery a country house mystery with poisonous family dynamics a classic hateable patriarch of a christie family early christie thriller lots of jolly japes i'm personally very fond of lady bundle the pale horse very solid for a later christy successfully tricked me which is hard to do this far into my reading of christy and i think a nice integration of a potentially supernatural element the final poirot in the series a reunion of hastings and poiru incredibly emotionally fulfilling to me a pocketful of rye a rare country house miss marble very successful twisty family dynamics a use of a nursery rhyme that i can live with from christy five little pigs a cold case mystery great character studies and a really satisfying use of poirot murder in the muse my second favorite collection of juaro novellas or short stories very representative of what paro stories are like i think every one of the novellas in this are pretty darn solid the man in the brown suit my favorite christie thriller early from her career interesting setting abroad that does introduce some elements that have not aged well okay i take it back this is my favorite christy thriller it's early from her career and like i said i love lady bundle and her just fun 20s jelly japes sparkling cyanide a very thoughtful character study a cold case mystery that's coming back up in the present i really like the romantic element in this one the murder of roger aykroyd classic christie one of many people's favorites or a pick from many of her best book very innovative memorable twist great 20s characters and setting the mysterious affair styles the first book from agatha christie our first introduction to hastings zamoiro just a classic locker room country house type mystery evil under the sun an interesting vacation setting from christie kind of on the the british riviera a very good use of poirot lots of classic christy misdirections and twists appointment with death the most hateable i think victim in a christie a very well drawn setting in the middle east and very interesting family dynamics my favorite poiro short story collection from the early part of his career great moments with hastings the 13 problems my favorite agatha christie short story collection miss marple just slaying the game lots of just fun delightful puzzle mysteries lord edgware dies classic christie london setting great use of hastings emporo overall just a very fun journey through various clues murder at the vicarage classic miss marple dare i say the most marpley miss marple fantastic narrator with the rector great christy small town cozy mystery sleeping murder my favorite miss marple cold case mystery with implications for the present and the last miss marple to ever come out after the funeral classic christy country house mystery very interesting family dynamics a twist that i personally very much enjoy murder on the orient express possibly the most adapted christie a classic christie with just the isolated closed circle mystery vibes that i love and maybe poirot at his poiroius crooked house twisted family dynamics an ending that really goes there in a way that will either work for you or not really compelling post-world war ii setting and themes death on the nile my favorite christie set abroad great example of an isolated close circle mystery some of the most interesting character development i think in christy and then there were none the best christie thriller ever the definitive isolated closed circle mystery ever great sense of existential dread communicated in the writing my favorite christie and my favorite poirot a closed circle mystery combined with a cold case mystery i just love literally every single thing about this book every beat every side character every plot turn i love it and it's my favorite all righty that was my ranking i am sure actually i know based on the first time i did this that people have strong feelings that i am wrong about some of this does make me laugh when the agatha christie dude bros come out and try to explain to me that i've not read something or that i'm just wrong about my own opinion that's always amusing so looking forward to that but most people are lovely and they explain why they do and don't agree in a very interesting way so definitely let me know below your favorites your least favorites if there's anything that surprised you in this list etc let me know that in the comments below and yeah i hope you enjoyed this video so if you did please like subscribe follow me on the social medias if you are so inclined i have all that information listed in the description box below and i think that that will do it i hope you're having an absolutely lovely day today and i will just talk to you soon bye you

Channel: bookslikewhoa

Views: 6,834

Keywords: books, reading, booktube, literature

Id: Dkqxv__te08

Length: 19min 17sec (1157 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 07 2021