Appointment With Death

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Call Number: Adult Book / Fiction / Mystery / Classic / Christie, Agatha, Mystery / Christie, Agatha
On Shelf At: Pittsfield Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Mystery / Classic / Christie, Agatha	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Adult Books 4-week checkout	Mystery / Christie, Agatha	4-week checkout	In transit
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Mystery / Christie, Agatha	4-week checkout	Due 05-24-2024

Originally published: London: Collins, 1938.
Among the towering red cliffs of Petra, like some monstrous swollen Buddha, sits the corpse of Mrs. Boynton. A tiny puncture mark on her wrist is the only sign of the fatal injection that killed her. With only twenty-four hours available to solve themystery, Hercule Poirot recalled a chance remark he'd overheard back in Jerusalem: You see, don't you, that she's got to be killed? Mrs. Boynton was, indeed, the most detestable woman he'd ever met.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Death in Petra submitted by Meginator on August 1, 2022, 3:07pm Content Note: The book’s plot and characterizations are constructed around emotional abuse in a familial context, and both the narration and the characters espouse antisemitic and racist views.

Between the racism and the potent depiction of emotional abuse, this can be a very difficult book to read, although everyone in the main cast gets a decent resolution in the end (the racism, on the other hand, comes directly from the author and exists as background rather than figuring directly into the plot). The mystery itself at first appears to be a bit more straightforward than some of Poirot’s more memorable adventures, but a murmuring background of intrigue leads to an unexpected, yet appropriate, solution that represents a moral victory of sorts despite the fact that murder is the method of achieving it. As a result, the book has a general feeling of unease throughout, even after the despicable woman at its core is dead. In the end, the book (as with most of Christie’s work) has an excellent sense of place to it, and the various clues and pieces come together slowly but satisfactorily; Christie’s use of red herrings makes it easier than usual to rule certain suspects out, but the complex juggling of timelines and slightly suspicious testimony keeps the suspense afloat until the very end. The book is ultimately a good one for its plot and its strong characters, but reading it can be a rather unpleasant experience.

Time and Place submitted by kathscot on June 16, 2023, 10:26am Written in a time when people were more insular, each nationality (French, Belgian, British, American, Arabic) considers itself superior, which Christie uses and subtly pokes fun at. There are no Asian or Black characters - I’m confused by Meginator’s critique of racism.
The family abuse is quite creepy, but central to making each adult child a suspect in the murder. Interesting in that Poirot is able to use lies to get at the truth.