Most helpful customer reviews
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3.0 out of 5 stars
If you are reading Christie's mysteries, May 5 2004
you might want to skip over this unless you are determined to read them all. This is one of her lesser efforts that only make the rest of her work so much better.The story is cleverly arranged into "Acts", a reflection of the main character, Sir Charles Cartwright, a famous stage actor who is now retired. Sir Charles hosts a dinner party which includes many who have connections with the stage: Angela Sutcliffe, actress; Miss Willis, playwright; Capt. Darce and his wife, who run a theatrical dressmaking business; and Mr. Satterthwaite, wealthy patron of the arts (featured in the short story collection THE MYSTERIOUS MR. QUIN). Rounding out the party are Dr. Strange, a specialist in nervous disorder and a college friend; the local vicar and his wife; Lady Mary Lytton Gore and her daughter Hermione, Mr. Oliver Manders and Hercule Poirot. The party proceeds predictably until a murder takes place (or maybe just proceeds predictably). End of Act I, Act II weeks later another dinner party takes place miles aways, many, although not all, of the same guests are present and another murder takes place. Act III, Poirot and others involved in the tragedies investigate the crimes and of course, Poirot solves the crime. The characters of Mr. Satterthwaite and Hermione are delightful and well written and Poirot is his usual eccentric self. Unfortunately the rest of the characters are down right boring and totally forgetable. The plot itself is far better than the characters. The crimes are cleverly done, there is the usual Christie twist at the end but even that cannot raise this beyond a passable rating. This mystery is suitable for long, boring plane rides or similar periods of prolonged entrapment only.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A Tragedy in Three Acts, Feb 4 2004
By A Customer
THREE ACT TRAGEDY is one of my favorite "Hercule Poirot" novels. Its characters are intriguing, and the solution to the crime is amazingly clever. Agatha Christie establishes an atmosphere of foreboding in the very first chapter, as the likeable Mr. Satterthwaite (who here fills the role of the absent Captain Hastings) sits on the terrace of the Crows Nest resort, remarking on the personalities and the actions of the people around him, who include the retired actor Sir Charles Cartwright and the respected doctor Sir Bartholemew Strange. From here, the novel takes the form of a "tragedy in three acts," with a new murder in each act and a series of clues, both real and "staged." While some readers may be disappointed to find that the great Poirot is absent from the novel for chapters at a time, there is good reason for this -- and he does indeed play a starring role in the "final act." I believe that anyone who loves Christie and Poirot will love THREE ACT TRAGEDY.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Christie-lite, Jun 24 2002
Call me daft, but i really really like this Christie novel. The characters are great (especially the sublime Mr Satterthwaite, and the wonderfully entertaining Hermoine "Egg" Lytton Gore). Really entertaining, and great to read about. As with many of the best Poirot novels, Poirot himself does not really take a large role until quite a way into the book ("Appointment With Death" "Cat and Among the Pigeons", for example.) The plot is great, and the motive for the first motive is just sheer originality. (Even though it, and the motives for the other murders, is just a tiny weeny bit thin). It's a pretty light Christie book, but with a brilliant first death and motive for it. And a great, rather unexpected solution. It may not be her very very best novel, but it is still one of the great ones.
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by Agatha Christie
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