Towards Zero
ISBN: 9780008196318
Description
An elderly widow is murdered at a clifftop seaside house. What is the connection between a failed suicide attempt, a wrongful accusation of theft against a schoolgirl, and the romantic life of a famous tennis player? To the casual observer, apparently nothing. But when a houseparty gathers at Gull’s Point, the seaside home of an elderly widow, earlier events come to a dramatic head. It’s all part of a carefully paid plan – for murder.
Reviewed on 17th September 2023
A (fairly) stand-alone Agatha Christie mystery, in which a wide range of early 20th Century English people assemble on the south coast for a September break.
The plot is complex and I found it tricky to keep track of the characters several times, as there are so many of them, and not all with obvious connection to any of the others.
The narrative reads somewhat more like a play than a novel, and knowing this story does also exist as a play, I assumed it had been later adapted into novel form, but it turns out the opposite is the case. It’s a dialogue heavy story, which was the main reason for my misapprehension.
I enjoyed revisiting her world though - despite the accidental reference to climate change when they complain about a September heat vastly less than the one I was experiencing as I was reading.
