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    Murder Is Easy
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    Murder Is Easy
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    Murder Is Easy
    Audiobook6 hours

    Murder Is Easy

    Written by Agatha Christie

    Narrated by Hugh Fraser

    3.5/5

    ()

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    About this audiobook

    Luke Fitzwilliam does not believe Miss Pinkerton's wild allegation that a multiple murderer is at work in the quiet English village of Wychwood and that her local doctor is next in line.

    But within hours, Miss Pinkerton has been killed in a hit-and-run car accident. Mere coincidence? Luke is inclined to think so-until he reads in the Times of the unexpected demise of Wychwood's Dr. Humbleby.…

    This title was previously published as Easy to Kill.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJul 3, 2012
    ISBN9780062230904
    Author

    Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in over 70 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 20 plays, and six novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott.

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    Reviews for Murder Is Easy

    3.5/5

    383 ratings23 reviews

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    • 3/5
      In which a casual conversation with a stranger on a train leads Luke Fitzwilliam to investigate an unsettling village, and the murderer within…

      For some reason, I have very strong memories of reading this book as a child. Returning to it as an adult, I find that it isn’t half bad – indeed the mystery is engaging, and the writing quite taut. Luke Fitzwilliam – a rare example of a lead detective in Christie murder mystery who never appears elsewhere – is perhaps the weakest element. He’s rather generic, really – young-ish British men were never Christie’s strong point – and there’s a strain of unnecessary melodrama. Ultimately, "Murder is Easy" probably falls somewhere in the ‘whatever’ pile, but it’s a decent read, with a cameo from Superintendent Battle.

      [In the US, this book was released under the title "Easy to Kill" - one of several completely unnecessary title changes that we'll see over the next posts.]
    • 4/5
      Luke Fitzwilliam shares a train carriage with a lovely, if strange, old lady as they're both on their way to London. The woman seems nice, but has a curious story: she's on her way to Scotland Yard to report a mass murderer in her small country village. Luke listens politely but mentally dismisses the possibility, until he sees in the paper the next day that the old woman was killed by a hit-and-run just near the police station. He decides to investigate her story, which now seems like a very possible one. And so starts another Murder in a Small English Village mystery. And it's a good one. Tons of possible culprits, all with interesting motives, and a couple of excellent twists along the way. I figured out the Bad Guy *just* before they were revealed, which is exactly how I like it. Another win for Christie.
    • 4/5
      This is classic Agatha Christie. Luke Fitzwilliam, a British policeman just retired from service abroad, finds himself traveling by train opposite a dear old spinster who flutters out a most astonishing theory: that there is a serial murderer loose in her little country village, and she knows who the next victim will be. And she's proved right—well, almost. Because she didn't realize the very next victim would be herself. Luke, stunned by the coincidence, decides to undertake an investigation. Wychwood is a sleepy little village where the worst scandal is a remnant of Satanic rituals played at by a local dilettante. It's hardly the place where one would expect a maniacal murderer to reside. But murder is so easy, so very easy if you do it carefully...This story possesses a sly awareness of itself as a work of fiction; at one point one of the female characters muses how the heroines of books are never killed though they live in constant danger; in another place Luke, deducing, tells himself this is not a book and so things may not necessarily follow the pattern set by books; and later Luke introduces himself as a private investigator just like the ones found in the pages of detective fiction. This mystery also reflects the tenuous relationship between the author and reader, a relationship curious and unique to this particular genre. How much does the author give in the way of real clues, and how much does the reader want to undermine the author's efforts by guessing the murderer before the big reveal? I admit it: I was duped most of the way through. Christie sets up elaborate red herrings and writes chapters devoted to analyzing the motives of a bunch of innocent suspects. I marveled a little at her for being able (and patient) to spin it out as long as she does. Not that it drags. Christie writes economically and well; her character delineations are crisp and to the point, and her dialogue is excellent. I listened to this on audiobook read by Hugh Fraser, and he does a brilliant job with the various characters. Hints of ugly pagan rites, a cast of decidedly interesting and intertwined characters, a sympathetic hero, an enigmatic heroine, and several fascinating theories about how easy it is to get away with murder combine to make this a good all-round mystery and satisfying read. Recommended, especially for those who would like a Christie mystery not featuring Miss Marple, Poirot, or the Beresfords.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5
      Chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter & supposition... lots & lots of supposition....Boooooooooooooooooooooooring!A former British police office just back from Africa is on a train when an old woman sits across from him and proceeds to tell him about a series of murders in the small village where she lives...... She also tells him that she has just warned the local doctor that he could be next, and she knows this by the look in the murderer's eyes.He dismisses the old woman's story as fancy. Unbeknownst to him, on her way to Scotland Yard she is run down by a car....... What sets him off on his investigation is the notice that the Doctor has died.....From the point where he arrives in the village the story just falls short..... I didn't care about the characters, I didn't like them, they had no redeeming qualities......As for this being a Superintendent Battle mystery, he doesn't come into the story until the very end and really has not active part in it at all!
    • 3/5
      This was a bit of a disappointment coming from Dame Agatha. The man character, retired policeman Luke Fitzwilliam, is returning from a longterm posting in Singapore when he meets an elderly woman on the train who tells him she is traveling to London to report a series of murders occurring in her village. She feels she must report to Scotland Yard as she is the only person who suspects a series of deaths is actually a series of murders. However, Luke learns that shortly after they parted at the train in London, the old woman was run down by a hit and run driver. His curiosity is aroused and he ends up in the village, unofficially investigating the mysterious deaths. I felt it was pretty easy to figure out who the murderer was by halfway through the book and the characters seemed flat, not intriguing. I love Christie, but I can't recommend this very strongly. It's not bad, but it's not Christie at her best.
    • 4/5
      Luke, a retired cop who worked overseas, returns home to England and meets an elderly lady who is on her way to Scotland Yard to report a series of seeming murders in her small town. When the old lady is killed and her prediction as to who is next to be murdered comes true, Luke takes on the challenge of finding out if there is a murderer loose and who it might be.

      Elements from this story borrowed into episodes of TV shows- Anouria as an old-fashioned, oddly creepy lady from an old family(Midsomer Murders has a murderess by this name, similar sort of character). Bottle of hat dye switched with cough medicine as a murder method for killing a maid(I don't recall offhand which show and episode this was used in).
    • 3/5
      Although Luke Fitzwilliam is one of the least likable characters Christie has ever come up with I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery. If he had been any less dense than he was the story would not have played out quite so deliciously. This is a mystery which has the frightening suspense of the reader realizing who the murderer is while the dumbwitted Fitzwilliam remains in the dark. Of course, Ms. Conway has figured it all out but as the reader doesn't know she has until rather late in the story there are still a few nail biting worthy pages in there. Loads of fun.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Luke, the young policeman who stars in this story, isn’t a particularly strong character, but he’s quite likeable. That's just as well, because this is rather a dark story; some of the characters are decidedly creepy. I was a little surprised that there was quite a significant romantic thread, unusual in Christie’s novels; some of the relevant conversation was perhaps a bit cringeworthy, but then dialogue wasn’t one of the author’s strong points. What Agatha Christie lacked in characterisation she more than made up for in her plotting. I was pretty sure from early in the book that I had guessed the criminal; and it turned out that I was wrong. Clues and red herrings were laid with care, and worked exactly as, I'm sure, the author intended. Definitely recommended if you like mid-20th century light crime fiction.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      This book reminds me of the movie Gosford Park. It's because the guilty party is not what is hinted at and I fell for the red herrings hook line and sinker. Unlike the movie, the book is disappointing beyond redemption. It's a good enough book, but the murder of Lavinia Fullerton is incredulous for me. The old push and shove from the crowd is fine, but how does the murderer convey that the car that hit her is a Rolls. Did the murderer keep on following Lavinia waiting for the perfect crime to occur? To my mild credit, I didn't once think that the murderer would be a man. I thought it was Bridget. I was confident. I thought I'd solved the murders at only 38 % read. Serves me right for underestimating Dame Agatha. But you must admit that Bridget would make for a superb twist.
    • 4/5
      Luke Fitzwilliam, returning to London from abroad chances to meet a chattery old lady on the train. She is all worked up about her Persian cat, "Wonkey Pooh," and his ear infection. At this point, I knew I was going to love the story. I returned to my chair, out of which I had fallen in a fit of guffaws, and resumed the narrative. It seems the elderly lady is planning a visit to enlighten Scotland Yard regarding the perpetrator of a series of ingenious murders. Fitzwilliam, a retired policeman, can't resist trying to get at the truth of the story . He meets a series of unforgettable characters. For example, the colorful Mr. Ellsworthy, effete proprietor of an antique shop, can hardly bear to part with any of his curios, and prices them accordingly. In his spare time, he organizes Satanic rituals in the "Witches Meadow" at midnight. His friends come up from the city to join in the revels--- "Three extraordinary people...Item one, a man with shorts, spectacles and a lovely plum-colored silk shirt! Item two, a female with no eyebrows, dressed in a peplum, a pound of assorted sham Egyptian beads and sandals. Item three, a fat man in a lavender suit and co-respondent shoes...'Someone has whispered that there will be gay doings in the Witches' Meadow tonight.'" Eventually, Fitzwilliam apprehends the killer, just in time to save his true love from violent death, and all is well. Christie at her best.
    • 4/5
      When Luke Fitzwilliam meets Lavinia Pinkerton on a train on his first day back in England, he is charmed by this imaginative elderly lady who reminds him of his aunt. She's on her way to consult Scotland Yard about a string of accidental deaths in her village. He dismisses her belief that the “accidents” were actually murders – until he reads about her death in a hit-and-run accident in the next day's paper. Luke heads for the village to finish what Miss Pinkerton started, claiming to be writing a book on local superstitions about death so that his questions about the deadly “accidents” wouldn't raise too much suspicion.While Luke isn't quite as clueless as Hastings, he's definitely not Hercule Poirot. Had Poirot been on the case, this might have been a short story rather than a novel. Luke's process is logical and methodical, but he overlooks some important clues. The local knowledge and insight of his host, his supposed “cousin” Bridget Conway, keeps Luke from getting too far off track.As in most of Christie's Superintendent Battle books, the superintendent has only a minor role in the book, while young people do most of the detecting. I've always liked Christie's Tommy and Tuppence novels and have regretted that she didn't write more of them. Murder Is Easy, The Secret of Chimneys, and The Seven Dials Mystery have a similar feel to the Tommy and Tuppence books and are almost as much fun.
    • 4/5
      This is classic Agatha Christie. Luke Fitzwilliam, a British policeman just retired from service abroad, finds himself traveling by train opposite a dear old spinster who flutters out a most astonishing theory: that there is a serial murderer loose in her little country village, and she knows who the next victim will be. And she's proved right—well, almost. Because she didn't realize the very next victim would be herself. Luke, stunned by the coincidence, decides to undertake an investigation. Wychwood is a sleepy little village where the worst scandal is a remnant of Satanic rituals played at by a local dilettante. It's hardly the place where one would expect a maniacal murderer to reside. But murder is so easy, so very easy if you do it carefully...This story possesses a sly awareness of itself as a work of fiction; at one point one of the female characters muses how the heroines of books are never killed though they live in constant danger; in another place Luke, deducing, tells himself this is not a book and so things may not necessarily follow the pattern set by books; and later Luke introduces himself as a private investigator just like the ones found in the pages of detective fiction. This mystery also reflects the tenuous relationship between the author and reader, a relationship curious and unique to this particular genre. How much does the author give in the way of real clues, and how much does the reader want to undermine the author's efforts by guessing the murderer before the big reveal? I admit it: I was duped most of the way through. Christie sets up elaborate red herrings and writes chapters devoted to analyzing the motives of a bunch of innocent suspects. I marveled a little at her for being able (and patient) to spin it out as long as she does. Not that it drags. Christie writes economically and well; her character delineations are crisp and to the point, and her dialogue is excellent. I listened to this on audiobook read by Hugh Fraser, and he does a brilliant job with the various characters. Hints of ugly pagan rites, a cast of decidedly interesting and intertwined characters, a sympathetic hero, an enigmatic heroine, and several fascinating theories about how easy it is to get away with murder combine to make this a good all-round mystery and satisfying read. Recommended, especially for those who would like a Christie mystery not featuring Miss Marple, Poirot, or the Beresfords.
    • 4/5
      Recently retired, police detective Luke Fitzwilliam finds himself on a train, sitting next to Miss Pinkerton. She is on her way to Scotland Yard as she is convinced that her village has a serial murderer.The conversation gets around to how easy it is to identify a murderer: Luke had the grace to blush. ‘Well,’ he said. ‘So many murders! Rather hard to do a lot of murders and get away with it, eh?’ Miss Pinkerton shook her head. She said earnestly: ‘No, no, my dear boy, that’s where you’re wrong. It’s very easy to kill – so long as no one suspects you. And you see, the person in question is just the last person any one would suspect!’This becomes a central theme of the novel. Luke sees the death of Miss Pinkerton reported in the London newspaper and decides to conduct his own investigation into the deaths in the village. He analyses the relationships between those remaining in the village and those who have died. There are 4 main suspects and Luke vacillates from one to the other.MURDER IS EASY is a well plotted novel, although by the end I was getting a little tired of Luke's endless and changing lists. The theme of how easy it is to get away with murder recurs constantly. So it boils down to the fact that it’s really quite easy to remove three human beings without anyone suspecting.’ ‘Miss Pinkerton suspected,’ Bridget pointed out. ...... Let me tell you a homicidal lunatic may be the most difficult thing on this earth to spot. To all seeming he may be exactly like everyone else – a man, perhaps, who is easily frightened – who may tell you, perhaps, that he has enemies. No more than that. A quiet, inoffensive fellow.’ ‘Is that really so?’ ‘Of course it’s so. A homicidal lunatic often kills (as he thinks) in self-defence. But of course a lot of killers are ordinary sane fellows like you and me. ....... Amazing how these people get away with it,’ said Luke. He was on the doorstep now. Dr Thomas had come out with him. ‘Not amazing really,’ said Dr Thomas. ‘It’s quite easy, you know.’ ‘What is?’ ‘To get away with it.’ He was smiling again – a charming, boyish smile. ‘If you’re careful. One just has to be careful – that’s all! But a clever man is extremely careful not to make a slip. That’s all there is to it.......This is a theme that occurs in other Christie novels, how difficult it is to pick a murderer. Critics of Agatha Christie's plots often say she is too formulaic, that she often made the least likely person the murderer.I read today that this is one of the few Christie novels to feature a homosexual. Ellsworthy was not so much walking as prancing – like a man who keeps time to some devilish little jig running in his brain. His smile was a strange secret contortion of the lips – it had a gleeful slyness that was definitely unpleasant. .. so it seemed to Luke, a complete change came over the man. Where a minute before there had been the suggestion of a dancing satyr, there was now a somewhat effeminate and priggish young man.Superintendent Battle makes a cameo appearance at the end of MURDER IS EASY, just in time to take the murderer away.
    • 4/5
      This isn't one of Agatha Christie's more popular works, but I liked it. It contains one of my favorite quotes ever -"You're a great man, Gordon. Have some more tea."
    • 4/5
      A very typical Christie story. I was thrown a little by recognizing some of the scenes from a Poirot mystery on Masterpiece Theatre, and concluding that I knew who the murderer was. If you do that, you're in for a surprise, as the television program completely changes the culprit! Yes, there's nothing new here, but nevertheless an enjoyable read.
    • 4/5
      It's easy to kill if no one suspects you, and in the situation Luke Fitzwilliam has wandered into, that seems to be the case. A series of deaths has mostly gone unnoticed-- unfortunate accidents, they seemed, ut not to everyone. Lavinia Fullerton has suspicions and premonitions, but she is run down on her way to alert the authorities. After hearing Lavinia's story retired police office Luke Fitzwilliam decides to do a bit of investigating of his own. He finds a small town with a variety of eccentricities. In some ways, this novel follows the typical Christie pattern: murder, a variety of suspects, and an unsuspected conclusion. This particular Christie has more of an element of danger, however, which adds excitement. We actually get to see some action, not just the detective revealing his or her conclusions at the end. Christie has also been successful in underlining the fact that apparantly, it is remarkably easy to kill (or at least it was in the days before DNA evidence and whatnot.)
    • 3/5
      Agatha Christie always plays by the rules--she just also always reminds us that the rules aren't what we think they are. The killer is the last person you'd suspect, right? Ah, but what if you didn't realize that you could suspect them at all?
    • 4/5
      We start off on a train with with Luke Fitzwilliam, a retired police officer returning from the East, and his chance meeting with an older lady who reminds him of his aunts. She tells him a fantastic story about murder in her little village and how someone has been getting away with it. The causes of death don't even raise any suspicion of murder much less pointing at any one. This lady knows who it is and knows who the next victim will be and wants to prevent it by visiting Scotland Yard. Luke finds the story a little incredible but doesn't think much of it. The next day he reads of her death in the paper and briefly wonders if she ever made her report. A week or two later he catches the name of the victim who was next on the list in the obituaries. This sparks his curiosity and he decides to investigate it himself.The books throws many twists and turns into the way and it is a fairly well done plot. There were several interesting developments and characters who could have done it. There were one or 2 hints that were so obvious you suspected Luke was barking up the wrong tree, but I went and followed a better line and still got the wrong one. Over all a pretty good mystery and I enjoyed it. The only part I didn't like was the last 2 pages which had nothing to do with the mystery just the wrap-up so it wasn't too detrimental to the whole thing.
    • 4/5
      A strong mystery which really gets under your skin. Someone is killing the inhabitants of Wychwood and only Miss Pinkerton suspects who. She tells Luke Fitzwilliam of her suspicions on a train journey, and telles who she thinks will be next. When she is later killed and Luke reads of the death of her suspected next victim, Luke travels to Wychwood to investigate. There is a romantic element which is contrived and unconvincing, but this is still a satisfying read.
    • 4/5
      Interesting. And a bit disturbing. Christie is really a master at getting into a person's head. I couldn't put the book down. I changed my opinion three times as to who the murderer was, but the 3rd time I was correct. Another thing that entertains me is how quickly people fall in love in these novels!
    • 3/5
      Not a bad Aggie, originally 1939, not her best but rather interesting!
    • 4/5
      Luke Fitzwilliam meets an old lady in the train. She tells him a strange tale of many deaths in her village, which she believes were not natural. When the old lady dies in an accident Luke sets out to find if it was murder or not.
    • 3/5
      Another early mystery. Again, the mystery is fine, the romance is very awkward.