A Review for “Appointment with Death”

Genre: Crime fiction, psychology, investigation

Published: 1938

The first time I read “Appointment with Death” was in my secondary school, six years ago. I remember this title fascinated me at that time for it’s exotic setting in the Middle East; it’s vivid description of the scenery and the people there is very similar to her other stories set in Middle East such as “Murder in Mesopotamia” and “They Came to Baghdad”. However, I did not understand nor appreciate the story very much back then; which is why I decided to re-read this. A very fortunate thing that my university’s library is quite well-equipped with Christie’s works, including her non-crime fictions (stories written under Mary Westmacott) as well as her autobiography.

The plot for “Appointment with Death” is essentially very psychological in nature. Not as brilliant as “And Then There Were None” perhaps; still it is a good read if you are looking for something other than just plain murder and investigation. Although Poirot is involved in this one, his character does not play an active role until much later in the story where he interviews the suspects and reconstructs the events leading to the murder. However, I prefer it this way very much; Poirot’s clear, logical and unbiased reasoning against the apparent facts of the case gives readers a chance to solve the case themselves. Here, the story progresses much slower and the facts are more understandable, very much unlike that time where I got all muddled up while reading “Murder on the Orient Express”!

Overall, a good read if you are looking for something less elaborate. The method of murder is really straightforward, the events clearly outlined and the list of suspects is limited. Every suspect has equal opportunity of committing the crime and the motive seems to be clear; although there is a slight twist in the end when Poirot reveals the actual motive of the crime, it is not completely unforeseen as Christie herself had dropped some hints earlier in the story. There are also several references to Poirot’s other cases so fans may find it fun to spot them! Typical of Christie, this story has a happy ending which I find satisfactory enough.

My rating: 4.0/5.0