Biblio File

Agatha Christie's Top 5 Plot Twists

Agatha Christie introduced a number of classic motifs to the crime/mystery genre. A murder is committed, there are many suspects, each harboring a shameful secret, and the detective reveals these secrets one by one throughout the story saving the most shocking twists for the end. These are our top five most surprising Agatha Christie mysteries. Which are yours?

#5 Crooked House
The patriarch of a wealthy family is killed. In typical fashion, suspicion falls on his much-younger widow. But the murderer has underestimated the fiancé of the granddaughter.

#4 Curtain:Poirot’s Last Case: A Hercule Poirot Mystery
Poirot returns to the scene of his first great case to prevent a murder. He is suspected of being past his prime when he accuses a seemingly innocent guest of being a five-time murderer.

#3 Murder on the Orient Express
Just after midnight the Orient Express stops in its tracks. In the morning an American is found stabbed to death in his compartment. Red herrings abound!

#2 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
A classic case of the man who knew too much: Roger Ackroyd knew his wife killed her first husband, he knew she was being blackmailed, and when a letter brought Roger the last piece of information he needed to put it all together—someone stabbed him!

#1 And Then There Were None
Ten strangers mysteriously lured to a mansion on a desolate island. A recorded message accuses each of them of having a guilty secret. One by one they begin to die. “The whole thing is utterly impossible and utterly fascinating. It is the most baffling mystery Agatha Christie has ever written.” —The New York Times