Sparkling Cyanide

In the Agatha Christie novel Sparkling Cyanide beautiful Rosemary Barton dies as a result of drinking cyanide. She had been depressed after a bad dose of flu and a verdict of suicide was brought in.

However, when the story begins, it is one year later and six people are thinking about the events surrounding that awful tragedy, and the reader begins to suspect that there is more to Rosemary’s death than meets the eye.

This particular Agatha Christie murder mystery novel unwinds slowly. The reader knows that something dramatic is going to happen and when it does, we don’t quite know what to make of it. Does it make things any clearer? Well, in my case, no. I wasn’t surprised that this particular character became the next victim, but I was completely wrong about the reason why.

We begin to get to know Rosemary from reading the thoughts of those who knew her best, some who loved her, some who hated her, but all of whom could be said to have had a motive for her death. And all of whom were present at the dinner party where Rosemary drank the fatal glass of champagne.

This is a good, well crafted, Agatha Christie murder mystery. There is a distinct shortage of solid clues, but careful reading (and studying of the personalities involved) reveals plenty of indications as to the culprit and his or her motive.

I like this Agatha Christie book very much. Stories told in flashback don’t always work, but I think in this case it does and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone who hasn’t yet read it.

You can get hold of Sparkling Cyanide via the following links.

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