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Anne's Reviews > 4:50 From Paddington
4:50 From Paddington
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Anne's review
bookshelves: agatha-christie, mystery, audio, crime, libby-app, read-in-2020
Feb 15, 2020
bookshelves: agatha-christie, mystery, audio, crime, libby-app, read-in-2020
Lucy Eyelesbarrow is the best thing about this book.
Loved her. Why is she not in more books?
She and Miss Marple were just an unbeatable team!
Psst - This book is also known as What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!
However, that ending came out of nowhere like a giant ex machina sky beam.
No. I do not agree with that one at all. I normally don't mind when Christie makes someone unlikely character the murderer, but this one was poorly done.
POORLY DONE.
Everything from the slipshod way the murderer was 'identified' by the witness to the idiotic reasoning behind the murder's reason for killing the young woman. I was floored by how badly it all came together.
5 stars for Lucy and the rest of the characters, 1 star for the ridiculous ending.
I'm settling for 3 stars because I love trains in mysteries.
Toot-toot!
Publisher: HarperAudio
Edition: Unabridged
Joan Hickson - Narrator
Loved her. Why is she not in more books?
She and Miss Marple were just an unbeatable team!
Psst - This book is also known as What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!
However, that ending came out of nowhere like a giant ex machina sky beam.
No. I do not agree with that one at all. I normally don't mind when Christie makes someone unlikely character the murderer, but this one was poorly done.
POORLY DONE.
Everything from the slipshod way the murderer was 'identified' by the witness to the idiotic reasoning behind the murder's reason for killing the young woman. I was floored by how badly it all came together.
5 stars for Lucy and the rest of the characters, 1 star for the ridiculous ending.
I'm settling for 3 stars because I love trains in mysteries.
Toot-toot!
Publisher: HarperAudio
Edition: Unabridged
Joan Hickson - Narrator
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Reading Progress
June 10, 2009
– Shelved
February 15, 2020
–
Started Reading
February 15, 2020
–
Finished Reading
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Luffy Sempai
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rated it 5 stars
Feb 15, 2020 10:47AM
I rarely guess Agatha Christie's culprits but I remember having guessed this one halfway through. But don't ask me the details since I forgot everything else about the book.
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How? It was out of nowhere!
I no longer remember, but there were customs that Christie established that led me to the right conclusion. The murderer was given too much focus at one point and I based my hunch on that.
Damn! You're a true detective b/c I was all...wtf?
Anne wrote: "Damn! You're a true detective b/c I was all...wtf?"Lol, thank you. I usually don't have a clue, like most readers.
I figured out ONE. That was it.
I love trains in mysteries.Is that some sort of euphemism?
Another great review, Anne! I went back and reread the ending thinking I'd missed something. It was great until then!
Exactly! I've noticed her endings can sometimes really make you scratch your head as to what she was thinking. Still fun to read, though.
Can confirm, even when you know the solution beforehand it still doesn't make a lot of sense.
That's how I felt about the ending too!
I wasnt sure why he killed the two brothers. Was it so Emma gets more money? And how did he kill Alfred? The arsenic was in the tea the nurse gave him, but when did he put it there. The tv series did a really good job on this one!
COMPLETELY agree with your assessment... Great characters ... Terrible ending/resolution... I will say this is the first time I've been truly disappointed by an Agatha Christie story...
Agreed. SPOILERS. The motive didn't really make a lot of sense. On the surface, maybe? I can see him wanting to bump off his ex before she got word that Emma was sweet on him, but there's no real reason to kill the two brothers. Maybe Emma doesn't want to marry him and where does that leave him? Potentially on death row and absolutely nothing gained.
I know there was the whole spiel from Miss Marple about people getting too greedy, but the murderer seemed pretty smart. There was no real reason for him to kill the brothers. Too much of a risk.
@Silvana. I believe it would have been easy enough for him to put the arsenic in ahead of time. In with the tea that is. He probably doesn't have a preference for whom it kills, as long as it isn't Emma. He could put a poisoned tea packet in with normal ones and instruct the nurse to not serve any tea to Emma. He even tells Lucy to keep watch over Emma and the old man. He probably doesn't want the old man to die just yet.
