Towards Zero by Agatha Christie

 

Towards Zero by Agatha Christie.

This edition published 9th February 2017 by Harper Collins.

From the cover of the book:

An elderly widow is murdered at a clifftop seaside house…

What is the connection between a failed suicide attempt, a wrongful accusation of theft against a schoolgirl, and the romantic life of a famous tennis player?

To the casual observer, apparently nothing. But when a houseparty gathers at Gull’s Point, the seaside home of an elderly widow, earlier events come to a dramatic head.

It’s all part of a carefully paid plan – for murder…

***********

The guests are gathering for an unconventional house party at Gull's Point, the home of elderly invalid, Lady Tressillian, on the Devon coast at Saltcreek. Lady Tressillian normally looks forward to the visits of Audrey Strange, the ex-wife of her husband's former ward Neville, but this time the guests will also be including Neville and his glamorous new wife Kay. It is all rather too modern for Lady Tressillian's traditional sensibilities, and she sees trouble ahead. 

It is not long before the feathers start to fly, and this makes things very awkward for the other visitors, Audrey's cousin, the unassuming Thomas Royde, visiting from Malaysia and hopeful of wooing Audrey; Ted Latimer, a friend and disappointed former suitor of Kay's; and Lady Tressillian's companion, sensible Mary Aldin. Gull's Point is not a relaxing place to be, and when an old friend of Lady Tressillian's, the very astute, retired solicitor Mr Treves pays a call, he is concerned that sinister intent lies in the heart of one of the guests.

However, Mr Treve's suspicions go with him to the grave, when he dies the same night of his visit to Gull's Point, under murky circumstances. His death is closely followed by the brutal murder of Lady Tressillian, and it looks very much like an inside job. All the clues point to Neville, but as the police arrive and begin their investigation, Superintendent Battle is not so sure...

This mystery begins with several prophetic, seemingly unconnected, strands which foreshadow how this story plays out. The first is a prologue in which the wily old Mr Treves offers sage wisdom to the young members of his club, explaining how a murder arrives at the end of a planning process that counts down towards zero hour - his views are supported by a little aside glimpse that lets you see into the devious mind that wishes one of the Gull's Point party serious harm. The second is around a failed suicide attempt that is all about fate and unforeseen purpose. The third is connected to our old friend Superintendent Battle's views on modern psychology. Intriguing...

The main event then begins with an introduction to the members of the party that gather at Gull's Point, with a bit of history about the events that have shaped their state of mind, and their reasons for being here. Christie very cleverly manipulates how you think about each of them from this point, filling out of their stories with carefully dropped little titbits that make them very credible suspects in a mysterious death, a brutal murder, and an evil end game motivated by betrayal. 

This story is rife in beautifully contrived red herrings, and it takes all of Battle's considerable intelligence and intuition to see through them, backed up by his recent experience with misapplied psychological theories, and a delicious reference to what he has learned from investigating crime at the side of the great Hercule Poirot. But it is not until the storyline relating to fate eventually comes into play that he is finally able to get to the jaw-dropping truth, via exciting sea-going shenanigans, and a gathering of the suspects that emulates his muse Poirot.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which is the final one of Christie's to feature Superintendent Battle. It really kept me guessing, and the way the separate threads come together is a joy to behold. This is Christie at the very top of her game, and turned out to be an under-the-radar stunner!

This is my second Christie book read in May, featuring Betrayal as a motive for murder, and is one of the recommended choices as part of the #ReadChristie2023 challenge this month.

Towards Zero is available to buy now in multiple formats.

About the author:

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.