Crooked House (Minotaur Mysteries)

Book Description

In the sprawling, half-timbered mansion in the affluent suburb of Swinly Dean, Aristide Leonides lies dead from barbiturate poisoning. An accident? Not likely. In fact, suspicion has already fallen on his luscious widow, a cunning beauty fifty years his junior, set to inherit a sizeable fortune, and rumored to be carrying on with a strapping young tutor comfortably ensconced in the family estate. But criminologist Charles Hayward is casting his own doubts on the innocence of the entire Leonides brood. He knows them intimately. And he's certain that in a crooked house such as Three Gables, no one's on the level...

Customer Reviews:

CHRISTIE AT HER BEST.......2007-06-25

By all means, this is one of my favorite Agatha Christie novels. The denoument is so gripping I couldn't put the book down, even after I finished reading it. I just immediately started reviewing the clues again. It was all there in the open to see. Pure genius! Most of the other reviewers have summarized the plot, so I won't rehash it. Excellent, quick read.

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS.......2007-04-29

CROOKED HOUSE was written in 1949. The detective is not Hercule Poirot nor Mrs. Marple but Charles Hayward, the son of an eminent Scotland Yard superintendent, who's in love with Sofia Leonides whose grandfather has just been poisoned. The book is a good example of the "all in the family" murder genre as Aristide Leonides was murdered in the family home and the prime suspects are his own wife, his sister-in-law, his sons, their wives and his grandchildren.

As often in the Agatha Christie novels of that period, there aren't many descriptions of London or even of the "crooked" Leonides house in the book. CROOKED HOUSE is pure Christie style : a lot of dialogs and psychological considerations carried out per se by Charles Hayward. In addition to the final twist which seems to have been very innovative and provocative in 1949, American radios refusing to broadcast the radio adaptation of the novel, I liked very much, in a detective story, the fact that nor the detective, nor the police inspectors could find the identity of the murderer(s).

A book for the week-end.

Great Twist........2007-03-12

THis is not as scary as "then there were none" but I really like the twist at the end of the story. She turns steriotypes on their head and goes for someone people don't usually think of as a culprit and yet the guilty person fit6s the criteria like a glove. Nice!

A Puzzling Story Full of Twists.......2006-06-01

The beginning tells how Charles Hayward met Sophia Leonides in war-time Egypt. When Charles returned to England to meet Sophia he read the notice of her grandfather Aristide's death. Sophia tells him her grandfather's death is suspicious. Charles' father is Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard, and he learns of the facts in this case. Three Gables is a large home composed of three separate houses. Bombing had brought the family together. Inspector Taverner questions the family, and we learn about the events and their character (Chapter 7). Then about the young widow and the private tutor (Chapter 8). Charles talks to the widow Brenda Leonides and we hear her story (Chapter 9). Sophia explains her grandfather's cleverness. We meet Josephine, Sophia's young sister, who likes detective stories. Aristide's will was found unsigned! Next we learn that the family business is in difficulty, due to the error of mismanagement, nothing criminal. The death of Aristide prevented him from saving his son Roger (Chapter 11).

Sir Arthur Hayward gives his opinion on amateur murderers: they are vain and want to talk. What about heredity and additive weaknesses (Chapter 12)? Why did Aristide provide a blueprint for his murder? Charles attends a family meeting; nothing will be done to save Roger's business (Chapter 14). Charles looks around, and talks to Laurence Brown and the young widow (Chapter 16). The missing will is found, and it has a shocking surprise (Chapter 17). But another person is hurt, it is no accident (Chapter 18), Incriminating documents are found (Chapter 19). Aristide's will creates the usual turmoil when the heirs don't share equally (Chapter 20). The police arrest the obvious suspects (Chapter 21). Yet there is some doubt by the family - and the police. Charles discusses his observations of the family. Then an urgent telephone call has shocking news: another poisoning (Chapter 23). The final chapters have the ending to this story. It would be shocking if you did not pick up on the clues appearing near the end. The murderer was hidden in plain sight, like a sapling among trees. Like other stories, it is very intriguing even if implausible.

The final irony is that Charles Hayward will join the Diplomatic Corps and be sent to Persia. He will surely miss the peace and quiet of Swinly Dean.

"A female Bluebeard--cribbed from 'Arsenic and Old Lace'--".......2006-04-05

Like other reviewers I admire CROOKED HOUSE for its claustrophobic plot and the audacity of its payoff, another variation on Christie's famous "least likely person" gambit. But even if you know going in who did it, it's still an intriguing read. This time around I noticed, for the first time, how very deep Christie's cultural specificity ranges. Usually we think of her as light reading, sort of fluffy, but CROOKED HOUSE is oddly stuffed with allusions to all sorts of bodies of knowledge. Hardly a page goes by without a definite reference to some other book, myth, piece of music, popular song, TV program, or what have you--the sort of brand name precision Stephen King is famous for. I hadn't really noticed it in Agatha Christie before, but check it out.

One suspect, Magda, is compared directly to a real life actress. "For the first time I was aware of the charm of her delightfully tip tilted nose. I was faintly reminded of Athene Seyler." Athene Seyler! Not exactly, even in 1948, a particularly well known star. It's not as though Christie wrote "Garbo." No, she meant to characterize Magda more precisely by alluding to La Seyler. Never a huge star, she was 50 in 1948, far from slim, a sort of Kathy Bates type perhaps, equally at home on the stage as on the screen. In the CROOKED HOUSE, the references continue: one victim was painted by Augustus John, a painter whom Christie saw as the epitome of modernism, another by John Singer Sargent, perhaps her example of an outmoded genteel tradition. Magda and her son, Eustace, are glimpsed in a family pose, and Charles thinks it looks very like a portrait by Gainsborough.

Magda recalls a scene from THE VOYSEY INHERITANCE, Granville Barker's 1905 melodrama recently updated by none other than David Mamet! Famous murderers of the past are invoked, most notably Edith Thompson and Constance Kent. Charles agrees to play "Watson" to young Josephine's "Sherlock Holmes." And there's a lot from Shakespeare and the Bible: the "mark of Cain," for one, and "this side idolatry" (Ben Jonson speaking of his love of Shakespeare). Poetry is everywhere. We are reminded that Henry the VIII was in fact a poet too, writing verse to Anne Boleyn. Christie alludes to Chaucer and Colerudge as well. But it's not just the work of the canon that you need to know in Agatha Christie, there's pop culture too, for one of the suspects is an avid listener to the "Brains Trust," a popular UK radio show of the postwar period.

Then there's all the history lessons! "The drama of Thermidor," writes Christie, regarding the French Directoire, "the decree of outlawry against the Robespierrists, the magnificence of Barras, the cunning of Fouche--Napoleon, the half-starved young gunner lieutenant." Suffice it to say if you don't know your French Revolution you will never guess the ending.

Perhaps my favorite character is Clemency--the steely wife of Roger, the woman who helped develop the atomic bomb and thus, we suspect, might be willing to commit a murder as well. In one passage Charles, the narratorm dwells on "Clemency's abstract expression." I can't help but wonder if this is a reference, possibly subconscious, to the "abstract expressionism" that was all the rage in painting circles at the moment Christie was composing CROOKED HOUSE--1948? It was popularized, don't forget, by CLEMENT Greenberg, possibly CLEMENCY is an ironic reference to this art critic. Oh well, just a thought!

The Crooked House (King's Daggers, Bk 2)

Average customer rating:

The Crooked House
Enjoyable reading
Derring-Do
Rollicking Adventure
Wart into Sir Stalwart

The Crooked House (King's Daggers, Bk 2)
Dave Duncan
Manufacturer: Avon Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0380800993

Book Description

The Crooked House is the second book in the King's Daggers triology, and Duncan has infused this title with all the breathless action and riveting adventure of his previous titles. In this installment, Sir Stalwart and Emerald embark on a quest to uncover the evil lurking at the heart of the king's chambers.

Customer Reviews:

The Crooked House.......2001-09-01

Not Bad. It did have some interesting turns in the story. The charactor of Stalwart was very good. I'm looking forward to the next book., I hope to see Stalwart charactor grows even more complex .

Enjoyable reading.......2001-07-06

An enjoyable short book. Not a deep book but doesn't take a lot of time to just find an excursion into the world of King Ambrose and his daggers.

Derring-Do.......2000-12-11

If it's true there is no rest for the wicked, what have Wart and Emerald to hide in their brief pasts? The intrepid "King's Daggers" are sent back into the fray virtually the instant they return from their success against the traitors at Quagmarsh.

Like Sir Stalwart, the first installment of the King's Daggers series, every page crackles to life with deeds of derring-do, courage and folly in almost equal portions, and the growing friendship/reliance between Wart and Emerald (although they'd be loathe to admit it). From the opening treachery to the introduction of Wart's tortured Ironhall friend, Badger, to the nail-biting conclusion, the story is borne along on a theme of loyalty.

Again, in writing for a young adult audience, author Dave Duncan sacrifices little in the way of the characteristic wit, action and sheer delightful storytelling that adult fans have come to expect. Stalwart and Emerald are among the most engaging characters to spring from Duncan's pen, reminicient of the young Rap and Inosolan in a previous series "A Man of His Word."

Yes, it is a young adult book and so it's shorter than the books in the adult series, but it's also true that good things come in small packages. I can't wait for volume three, Silvercloak.

Rollicking Adventure.......2000-12-01

This book begins on the same day that the previous episode ends and covers a span of just three days. Like Stalwart himself, the book moves along at a headlong and skillful pace. After his stunning sucess in the first episode, Stalwart has some sobering lessions to learn here.

The first book in this series can stand alone. This one cannot in spite of the excellent initial summary provided. It feels emotionally incomplete somehow. Maybe I just secretly wanted Stalwart to succeed wildly again. Instead he barely manages to muddle through. Duncan, true to form, does not go for the cliche ending, but for one that does seem more probable given his characters behaviors and personalities.

Duncan normally writes for adults and is always excellent at characterizations. Here I especially admire his ability to give an authentic voice to his two 16 year old main protagonists. I also continue to enjoy the internal consistancy of the world he had created for both this series and the King's Blades series. It has been a very interesting place to visit.

I am eagerly awaiting the publication of Silvercloak next year to see how Stalwart and Emerald continue to develop.

Wart into Sir Stalwart.......2000-10-16

Are there more than two King's Daggers? Maybe, or maybe not.

All of the right elements are in this chapter of the saga of the King's Daggers but they just aren't quite as gripping as they were in the first book, "Sir Stalwart". I expected more maturation of the characterization of Wart and Emerald but the action seemed to carry them along without any growth of their personalities. Hopefully, "Sky of Swords", the newest King's Blades novel will have more of those personality conflicts, arcane battles and wonderful descriptions of swordsmanship that made the other books in this series and sub-series so enthralling. This was a good read but not a great one.

Average customer rating:

The Aldens and Mrs. McGregor on vacation together

Customer's Review

The Mystery at the Crooked House (Boxcar Children Mysteries)
Gertrude Chandler Warner
Manufacturer: Albert Whitman & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Mysteries, Espionage, & Detectives | Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0807554723

Customer Reviews:

The Aldens and Mrs. McGregor on vacation together.......2001-07-18

As the book opens, Mrs. McGregor is not feeling like herself. So the Alden children, Henry, Jessie, Violet & Benny tried to cheer her up. Mrs, McGregor's child home might be sold, which I guess it's supposed to be an inn. Mrs. McGregor's sister lives there. In fact, Mrs. McGregor had a mystery lady visited her at her house when she was a child. But Mrs. McGregor nevered find out her name.

The children's grandfather droves them and Mrs. McGregor to her house. Mrs. McGregor's sister doesn't believe that there is a treasure in the house. Her name is Madeline. Benny had remembered in the car that he forgot a book called The Alphabet Mystery by his favorite author Amelia Quigley Adams. It turns out that Mrs. McGregor was aslo a Amelia Quigley Adams fan. And has her books at the crooked house (Mrs. McGregor's house). There is a guest that is staying there too but she isn't very nice. But the Alden children didn't think they would find a mystery. This is a must read for Boxcar Children fans.

Customer's Review.......2000-12-30

This is a great book and you will love it. It is very clever, and I feel that it is one of Gertrude Chandler Wilder's best works.

Average customer rating:

La casa torcida (The Crooked House)
Agatha Christie
Manufacturer: RBA Publicaciones
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

British Detectives | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Spanish | Foreign Language Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 8478713131

Book Description

Three generations of the Leonides family live together in a large and somewhat crooked-looking house. Sophia and Charles have just resumed their courtship, interrupted by WWII. Then the wealthy patriarch of the household, Aristide, is murdered, injected not with insulin for his diabetes but with a killer substance. Suspicion falls on the whole household, including Aristede's two sons, his widow ¨Dfifty years his junior¨D and even his three grandchildren. Could any member of this seemingly devoted family have had a hand in his death? Can Charles Hayward, fianc¨¦ of the late millionaire¡¯s granddaughter, help the police find the killer?

Description in Spanish: Charles y Sophia se han reunido para reanudar su noviazgo interrumpido por la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Ahora una nueva dificultad se interpone entre ellos: el abuelo de Sophia, un anciano millonario griego con el que viv¨ªa toda la familia, ha muerto envenenado.

A parecer se trata de un asesinato, la sustancia letal ha sido introducida en una de las ampollas de insulina que habitualmente le inyectaban al anciano. Todos sus parientes son sospechosos: la segunda esposa del difunto, Sophia¡ Charles quiere demostrar la inocencia de su novia.

Average customer rating:
The Nursery Rhyme Murders: Including "a Pocket Full of Rye", "Hickory Dickory Death" and "the Crooked House"
Agatha Christie
Manufacturer: Dodd Mead
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Christie, Agatha | ( C ) | Authors, A-Z | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0396061818

Average customer rating:

A great fun mystery

A Crooked Little House : An E.J. Pugh Mystery
Susan Rogers Cooper
Manufacturer: Avon Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0380794691

Book Description

A house of cards -- A pack of lies

Her husband, Willis, calls her a "danger junkie." But suburban Texas mom and romance writer E.J. Pugh believes that the truth is something that must always be pursued no matter perilous the path that leads to it.

When her black sheep sister-in-law is arrested for the murder of a young homeless woman, E.J. is unwilling to simply accept the swift judgement f her husband's family that June is a lost cause, good for nothing but trouble. The Pughs have never forgiven Juney for the tragic death of Willis's brother, yet E.J. feels certain she's innocent of this crime. But the plucky sometime-sleuth's investigation could topple of a very fragile house of cards with shocking revelations of sex, drugs and depravity. . .and brings E.J.'s own happy homelife crashing down as well.

Customer Reviews:

A great fun mystery.......1998-12-12

When Dusty Pugh was twenty he married teenager Juney Trueblood. Three weeks later in a bar, Dusty and Juney have a fight after which he abruptly leaves and dies in a drunken crash. His family blames Juney for his untimely death. A few months later, Juney gives birth to a boy, but is not ready to raise a child by herself. She hands the child to Dusty's mother and leaves town. A year later, Juney has since remarried and is pregnant with another baby, but comes to take Dusty's child home with her.

Three years later, Juney is divorced and returns with Dusty's child. Her ex-spouse has been given custody of her younger child. When Trish Glancey, the daughter of a prominent local family, is found murdered, all the evidence points towards Juney, who is arrested. However, her former sister-in-law E.J. Pugh believes she is innocent and begins to investigate what happened to Trish.

Fans of the Pugh amateur sleuth mysteries will love the latest entry as old favorites and references from the previous novels are included throughout A CROOKED LITTLE HOUSE. However, what makes this cozy so enjoyable to Susan Rogers Cooper's fans, in turn, will leave first time readers feeling a bit confused. The books, including this novel, in this delightful series are well written, but require reading all of them or none at all.

Book Description

In a sprawling mansion in affluent Swinly Dean, Aristide Leonides lies dead from barbiturate poisoning. An accident? Not likely. In fact, suspicion has already fallen on his luscious widow, a cunning, much-younger beauty rumored to have been engaged in an illicit affair. But criminologist Charles Hayward, who’s in love with the dead man’s granddaughter Sophia, has his suspicions about the whole unsavory Leonides clan. Can he solve the puzzle without implicating Sophia? Christie considered this novel, dramatically read by Hugh Fraser, one of her best.

Savannah's Little Crooked Houses: If These Walls Could Talk

Average customer rating:

an excellent read

Savannah's Little Crooked Houses: If These Walls Could Talk
Susan B. Johnson
Manufacturer: The History Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Small Homes & Cottages | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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General Sherman and the Georgia Belles: Tales from Women Left Behind

ASIN: 1596292261
Release Date: 2007-02-15

Product Description

Savannah's little crooked houses reveal the secrets they have held for over two hundred years in this new book. With a warm, accessible style, Savannah writer Susan B. Johnson gives voice to the walls of the little antebellum cottages that dot the city's historic district and examines the lives of the families that called them home. Who built these tiny dwellings? Who lived in their twelve hundred (or fewer) square feet of space? And what sort of world did they see when they gazed out their windows? This charming, meticulously researched book answers all these questions-and more. Who can resist the story of Dr. Samuel Furman, who was married to sisters, first Lucy and then Henrietta Williams? Or the sad tale of Edward and Jane Harden, who both died of bilious fever in 1804-he on her birthday, she on his-leaving their children in the care of slaves? Or the mystery of lively and conniving Eliza Howell, whose three husbands all died under the same circumstances? If these walls could talk, the rooms would resonate with the passionate spirit of our ancestors.

Customer Reviews:

an excellent read.......2007-02-19

A wonderful and well-researched addition to the lore and history of Savannah, and especially meaningful to me -- I lived in one of these little crooked houses! Imagine my delight to read about its previous inhabitants.

Average customer rating:

This book is awesome!
He Shoots to Kill
wow....
i love this book
Pretty good

In a Crooked Little House
A. G. Cascone
Manufacturer: WestWind (Troll)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

This book is awesome!.......2003-04-19

Annette and Gina Cascone are great writers and even better when writing a book together!

This book is a major thriller/page-turner. This book is so suspenseful that it just keeps you guessing and guessing.

-Lots of accidents are happening at Huntington Prep. People are missing... all of this is caused by someone that calls himself 'Iggy-boy'. You get to see into the mind of Iggy-boy, but it's really hard to guess who he might be. Could it be the rich/handsome/loner boy named Slater Laurence, the obnoxious Trevor Caldwell who is constantly hassling the main character Casey McCabe, or even the kind old drunk named Jake???

-The ending is wonderful!

SPOILER...

the ending:

'blank' saw them, out of the corner of his eye. And he smiled. Because he couldn't help feeling like he was a little bit responsible for their happiness. And as he watched those beautiful people walk off with their arms around each other, he heard his 'blank's voice whispering in his ear. "Your're a good boy,'blank'. A real good boy."

-love the ending alot =)

He Shoots to Kill.......2002-08-26

I love this book. I've read it over 20 times. I love the agony of trying to figure Iggy Boys true identity. The book through me back and forth trying to figure out who could possibly be the killer. You'll feel so deeply for the beautiful Casey, and so horribly for the boys in Bowdin House. But most of all you'll fear Iggy Boy. And his special place shows the workings of a true psycho. You'll never guess the ending with all the renching twists.

wow...........2002-01-19

Wow, this book was realy awesome and definetly kept me hooked. Although when it came time for 'iggy-boy' to be revealed I got seriously confused. I totally lost track and
I still dont knw who it is.

i love this book.......2001-01-10

let me start off by saying this, i HATE to read. the only reason i read this book in the first pace was because i need to write a book report for school. i have read this book 10 times and it still keeps me interested. it has millions of twists and turns and you would never guess who "iggy-boy" realy is. i'd recomend this book to anybody who hates reading because so do i but i couldnt (and still cant) put this book down.

Pretty good.......1999-03-10

I liked this book. It was rather interesting. It's about this total wacko--Iggy-Boy--killing different people in this fraternity and stalking this girl named Casey. The story flows pretty easily, and all the suspects pointing to who Iggy-Boy actually is are pretty varied. But in the end, it gets really confusing, and you never really know if Iggy-Boy is just some guy or not. I got lost. Anyhoo, the story was okay, and I suggest looking in used bookstores for it. It's okay, I guess. Not very scary, really. At some points, though, it's pretty good. Anyhoo, this is an okay book.

Average customer rating:

Crooked House
Agatha Christie
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 0007191103

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