Book Review: Crooked House

CROOKED HOUSE | Agatha Christie
02.01.2011 (first published 1949) | William Morrow
Rating: 5/5 stars

The Leonides are a wealthy family, living in a sprawling mansion in England known as “Three Gables” or the Crooked House. The Second World War has brought all of the family members to live under one roof. Despite the hardships of the war, the Leonides have more than most could ask for thanks to the head of the household, Aristide. Things turn upside down when Aristide suddenly dies from a fatal barbiturate injection masquerading as his daily insulin injection. Suspicion immediately falls on Aristide’s young widow, Brenda, who is responsible for his injections. Brenda has never been accepted by the Leonides family because of the twenty year age difference between her and her former husband, which leads the family to believe she was solely after his money.

There was a crooked man and he went a crooked mile.
He found a crooked sixpence beside a crooked stile.
He had a crooked cat which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

Charles Hayward met Sophia Leonides, granddaughter of Aristide, before he went away to fight in the war. Now that he has returned, he desperately wants to ask for Sophia’s hand in marriage, but she will not allow it until the murderer has been caught. Charles teams up with his father and the Scotland Yard to track down the killer. Charles must get to know each member of this crooked family in order to marry the woman he loves. Who can be trusted in a family where everyone is out to make themselves look good?

You see, we’re a very queer family…There’s a lot of ruthlessness in us – and – different kinds of ruthlessness. That’s what’s so disturbing. The different kinds.

Agatha Christie does it again in CROOKED HOUSE! The reader is instantly drawn the Leonides family, which is filled with one interesting personality after another. Along with Charles, the reader must determine who they can trust and who is full of lies. Each family member has something to hide and those truths must come to light before the murderer is revealed. The ending to CROOKED HOUSE will leave you in shock! I highly recommend this novel to any reader looking to get to know more of Christie’s work or simply an interesting mystery!