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Book Review By sivert_emil
Mrs. McGinty's Dead by Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot is contacted by Superintendent Spence (we also met in "Taken at the Flood" and "Hallowe'en Party"). He believes James Bentley, a man convicted and just about to be hanged for the murder of his landlady to be innocent and wants Poirot to investigate.


Plot & Themes
Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain? - Challenging
Time/era of story:
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 80%
Misc. Murder Plotlets - local police w/ IQ of a houseplant - "All in the family" murder - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect - Killer purposely leaves clues
Kind of investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
descript. of violence and chases - 10 %
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 70 %
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10 %
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 %
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - 60's-90's

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status:
Eccentric: Yes
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK

Writing Style
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Unusual forms of death - asphyxiation - blunt clubbing (like seals)
Unusual form of death? Yes
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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