Sparkling Cyanide: B2+
Written by Agatha Christie
Narrated by Peter Kenny
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Collins brings the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, to English language learners.
Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time and in any language. Now Collins has adapted her famous detective novels for English language learners. These carefully abridged versions are shorter with the language targeted at learners of English.
Six people sit down for dinner at a table laid for seven. No one can forget the night exactly a year ago that Rosemary Barton died at this same table surrounded by the same people, her beautiful face turned blue with cyanide poison.
Rosemary had always been memorable – and people had strong reactions to her. Did one of the six people at dinner feel strongly enough about her to kill her?
Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She died in 1976, after a prolific career spanning six decades.
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Reviews for Sparkling Cyanide
530 ratings14 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I read the first half of this one on a plane ride and it was a fun, quick murder mystery to get pulled into. I lost momentum after being home for a few days. The ending was still satisfying, but it’s not one of my new favorite Christie novels. It’s a slow burn and there was only one twist I really loved. Still a good easy travel read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5aka Remembered DeathNot Christie's best. I'm not sure that the clues were adequately explained to the reader. Perhaps I just wasn't paying attention.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is an expansion and rewrite of the short story "Yellow Iris," published in 1937, which featured Hercule Poirot as a detective. Colonel John Race is the detective in the novel, which retains its 1930s setting, despite being published in 1947. I enjoyed reading this, although I thought the main character, Iris, was a rather a cipher, and her romance very contrived. She and her suitor seem to have fallen in love at first glance, and decided to marry very quickly. ("Some enchanted evening . . .")Then I got to the very disappointing conclusion. Christie has written a chapter on several of the characters, detailing their thoughts and personalities, but she lied by omission. After such a detailed description of the perpetrator, it seems to me like cheating to suddenly reveal an almost completely concealed motive, one that contradicts what we have learned about the character, despite the apparent frankness.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A suicide that didn't seem likely at a birthday party full of people who had all sorts of reasons to want the person unalive.Another good Christie mystery.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dame Agatha never fails to entertain and intrigue with her mysteries. This one involves the fateful deaths of two people, and the web of intrigue surrounding them. Not a Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot, but still involving excellent detective work and well-drawn characters. The plot kept me guessing until the last minute.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Avery slow start but picked up about midway. not a great Christie mystery it revolves around the death of Rosemary Barton and the approaching 1 year anniversary of her death. Each prime suspect is introduced in the beginning chapters which I found a unique and positive.
As one may guess there is another murder upon the anniversary and so goes the mystery. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Substance: The psychological state of all the suspects is well done. The clues are fair, and the mystery solved by one of the participants. However, the solution itself is not plausible. Interesting as a window on the world of 1945 England.Style: Somewhat more "people oriented" than others she wrote.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is the last of the novels that featured Colonel Race and/or Superintendent Battle and it was a very satisfying conclusion. Colonel Race is retired from MI5 (we are finally confirmed in our suspicions of what he was doing for a living) and is involved in this mystery because of friendship. I liked the form of the novel as we are introduced individually to the main characters in the first part of the book and then are introduced to the “puzzle” part of the story. There is even a reference to Superintendent Battle when Race consults Superintendent Kemp who has stepped into his former chief’s shoes upon Battle’s retirement. This one had an added bonus for me—I was guessing about the culprit until the last few pages—and one of the factors took me completely by surprise. I’m not usually that “trusting” in Christie novels.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A highly enjoyable murder mystery, Sparkling Cyanide features none of Agatha Christie's recurring sleuths, but 'sparkles' nonetheless with a cast of familiar but well-drawn characters. A lovely but airheaded young wife has been done in by the eponymous poison, and who's to blame? The list of suspects comprises several highly-plausible possibilities, featuring the victim's cuckolded husband, plus her uneasy lover and his iron-willed wife.The story is excellent for period detail (1940s) and for strong pacing and dialogue. The only downside is the ending, which is satisfactory in 'whodunit' terms, but disappointing in its technicalities.Never the less, this one's recommended.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Although intriguing and stumping, it was also a little lacking in clues, and somewhat disappointing that the killer is someone who seems to come out of no where. How could anyone guess it was ... I challenge anyone to correctly guess the murder without cheating and reading the last page.I am a great fan of mystery novels and, despite its shortcomings, this was one of the better who-done-its I have read for a long time. It's easy to see why the woman is rated one of the best writers of her genre.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Another good murder in retrospect
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is another one of those mysteries where the original murder happened in the past and somehow the story needs to be untangled. This is another one of those books where there is an element of romance, which feels less contrived than some of her other books. Parts of the story are also focalised through different characters and the change in perspective makes this an interesting and entertaining read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As with many of Christie's novels, this is less a murder mystery than it is a romance. This is one of the more satisfying, told from the point of view of each of the suspects in turn. I particularly enjoyed the character of Sandra Faraday.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Old fashioned with often cardboard characters, but nobody keeps you guessing like old Agatha.