Postern of Fate

From the very start of the book, I had the sense that the conversations between Tommy and Tuppence, which make up a significant part of the book, were probably near-verbatim transcripts of conversations between Agatha and her husband Max in her later years. In that sense, it is mostly autobiographical, giving mundane details of their daily lives which I found fascinating and delightful. The copy I have was published in 1980. It was first published in 1973, when she was about 82 or 83. The frequent references to a possible mistress in TommyMax's life was painful though, since it was based on truth and was a great hurt to Agatha. (Remember that Max was was still in his 60's when she turned 80.) To me it recounted actual conversations in which Max was probably trying to discourage her from writing the book, and she would escape into the wonderful memories of her wonderful childhood. The story line was less interesting. It is the story of Tommy and Tuppence, now in advanced old age, moving to their final home, a very old country home, fixing it, hiring a gardener. Tuppence finds clues to a bygone murder and sets out to solve the mystery with Tommy's somewhat reluctant help. She interviews many local elderly people who had relatives, long-dead, who had ideas about the murder. In the process of trying to dig out the truth, Tuppence is wounded by gunfire, but not seriously. The gardener is coshed on the head and killed. Someone tried to poison Tuppence. In the end the clues they dig up enable intelligence agency personnel to pinpoint what happened and who both the long-ago and current-day villans were. Having achieved unequalled success in the publishing world, I think she felt entitled to indulge herself in this book and write about the things she loved: her home, her childhood toys, her dogs (including a terrier and a sealyham), the luxurious meals that were served at home when she was a child, old story books, simple country life. The cart Truelove was a description of the one she had as a small child; it had the same name. I don't think she cared too much what people thought about the book; it was what she wanted to do and she had earned the right to do it. At that pinnacle of her success, she could have published anything she chose to write, things that she could not have gotten published in her early days of writing. I loved this book because it gives me a glimpse into the daily life of the great Dame Christie; it lets me share her simple pleasures. If you see it as the essential last chapter of her autobiography, rather than a rather dull spy story, I think it is easier to appreciate. It is the necessary endpiece to a dramatic, spectacular, awesome life and career. To me it is a grand book by the grandest lady. It is priceless. (Six stars from me.)

For every publishing house putting out her works, there seem to be a new batch of editors altering Agatha Christie's words and the sound of her voice. What's the matter with these publishers? Whose voice do they think we want to hear when we sit down to a novel by Agatha Christie? And what will she sound like twenty years from now? It's frightening that her estate has failed to see the importance of guarding her words as she wrote them. Please tell me I'm not the only one here who senses that a crime has been committed.

I'm sorry, but all of the reviews written before are, in my opinon, wrong. I'm not saying that this is the best book Agatha Christie wrote, but it's certainly not the worst! There is a plot. The plot is Tommy and Tuppence are trying to find out why there are the words that clearly spell out- "Mary Jordan did not die naturally." in the book The Black Arrow. Certainly this book is intriguing.

Although "Curtain" and "Sleeping Murder" were both published after this one, they had been written in the mid-1940's, so this is the final novel that Agatha Christie actually wrote.She once again takes us into the world of Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, the dynamic duo of the twenties who are now elderly grandparents. The Beresfords have bought a cottage in a small retirement village and discover that the previous owners left behind many children's books. Tuppence is sorting them out and reading through one of them when she discovers underlined letters and a child's simple cipher. Naturally, Tuppence decodes the message which reads "Mary Jordan did not die naturally. It was one of us." The naturally inquisitive Tuppence is once again off to discover who Mary Jordan is, when she lived in the village, and how she really died. Though this book has been criticized quite strongly by many readers, I found it to be another most enjoyable brain-teaser from Agatha Christie. It was also very satisfying to see how Tommy and Tuppence lived out their adventurous lives. Thank you, Mrs. Christie, for giving us closure to this exciting couple.

I can't believe all the negative reviews of this book! It had me hooked... Tommy and Tuppence have a really sweet relationship. I think Christie just wanted to end their history like she did with Miss Marple and Poirot, both whose last stories were much more involving. This one was about fascism and that angle really held my attention... T & T were always more into espionage than true murder mysteries. Here, they've stayed true to their characters... And their dog Hannibal was a nice touch... Let's remember this was her final book, and to have such a complicated plot from a woman in her 80's is amazing... I never found it dull or confusing. It's mostly about the past and how governments still til this day continue to bury their secrets... The fat yellow man Robinson explains all this before it's over... Personally I thought the whole story was fascinating...