by 
Title and Author: Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie
No. of Pages: 224
Series: Hercule Poirot #12
Publication Date: 1935
Genre: Mystery, Crime, Classics, Hercule Poirot Mystery Series, Detective, Murder Mystery, Thriller
Language: English
Book Review:
A woman dies on a flight from Paris to Croydon. Initially thought to have died due to heart attack, her death becomes a murder when a poisonous arrow is found near her and a mark found on her neck! But what really is outrageous is the discovery of the blow pipe, from which the arrow is thought to have been shot, under Hercule Poirot’s seat!
Someone has not only killed the woman but is also trying to implicate Poirot in her murder.
Who is the killer?
How did he/she kill using a blowpipe without being seen by the other passengers?
Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie is another mind boggling mystery where things are not as they seem. Poirot is implicated of murder. A woman who seems to have had no past but who was a well-known money lender to the rich is dead and upon inquiry almost everyone is a suspect!
The best thing about this book is the plot that points at a solution that is deceptive and the insightful human study that teaches and challenges.
All through the book, I kept thinking about the mystery and how it was impossible that someone should kill a person in a plane full of people with a blow pipe! But when the solution came, it left me speechless with its simplicity and yet its effectiveness in achieving the desired end while stumping everyone including the police. There are eleven suspects and each has his/her own story with a motive to want the woman dead.
Poirot is his usual funny, arrogant and yet ingenious self. I laughed at his seemingly serious but hilarious statements and then enjoyed while people around him made fun of him which as usual flew over Poirot’s head. Despite his intelligence, he is somewhat slow in understanding such things.
The story is adequately paced and the author keeps the interest of the readers alive with well calculated twists and turns with well thrown clues that kept my brain engaged in trying to solve the mystery.
This book was first published in 1935 and despite this, the mystery is still as relevant as it must have been then. I could visualize the aeroplanes of that time and sometimes even felt like I was there experiencing everything. Some incidents may seem out of place and even dislikable today but we need to remember that this book came at a time when the world was different and people’s opinions on certain things weren’t quite what they are now. However, such incidents are only one or two and so minor that many of the readers wont even notice them.
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable and brain teasing mystery, Death in the Clouds is a must read. It can be reread again and it still will be enjoyable. 5 super shiny stars to it out of 5 and strongly recommended to all mystery lovers. I am a big fan of Agatha Christie and this one is a great book from the Queen of Crime.
