Easy to Kill by Agatha Christie: Book Review

Easy to Kill is the fourth book by Agatha Christie to feature Superintendent Battle. It is also one of those books written by Christie to be known under another name-Murder is Easy. The book was first published in June 1939.

I read this story for the Read Christie 2021 sponsored by Agatha Christie’s website. The theme for May was a book featuring tea. Several other books are listed as alternatives. Who knows, maybe I will read them in the future.

Synopsis

Luke Fitzwilliam is on the train to London when he meets Miss Fullerton. She tells him the reason for her journey, to visit Scotland Yard in hopes of stopping a murderer in her village. He hears the tales of the various deaths in her village but doesn’t say anything about it. He believes it to be an older woman’s mind playing tricks on her. Until he learns in the paper the next day that she was killed outside of Scotland Yard. Was she able to tell the officials her story? Then a few days later, another sudden death occurs in the lady’s village, one that she had said would happen.

Was Miss Fullerton telling the truth?

Was there a murderer on the loose in the tiny village of Wychwood?

Is it really that easy to kill?

Positives

The cast of characters in this book was as colorful and believable as most in Christie’s writing. While a few may seem a bit dimwitted, that can be true of people all over.

The description of Wychwood made it feel as though it is a real place. Who wouldn’t want to visit an old English village? Of course, I would like to avoid Witches Meadow.

Negatives

I’m not sure why this is classified as a Superintendent Battle book when he does not show up until the last couple of chapters. That has left me totally perplexed. Do you know why it’s classified as such?

Luke Fitzwilliam is supposed to be a police officer, yet he failed to look at the whole picture. He only seemed to focus on a few suspects throughout the whole book. Then as it winds down, he suddenly changes tact and a new suspect. And in the end, it turns out that he was still wrong as to who it was. I’m not saying I’m an expert or know who the murderer was right away, but I was pretty certain it wasn’t one of the four suspects he kept chasing after.

My Opinions

Agatha Christie was an amazing mystery writer. There is no doubting that. But this book seemed a bit off. Maybe because it is one of the few without Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple, maybe it’s a fact it felt a bit like cat and mouse the majority of the way through. It just isn’t one of my favorites of hers.

That said, it is short and is quite possible to be read in a day. Or a weekend, if you wish to take it a bit slower and try to solve the crime yourself.

Looking for some more books to read? Check out my other book reviews and my monthly reading wrap-ups.