Postern of Fate

This book has gotten way more crap than it deserves. First off, it was one of the last books Christie wrote and the fifth in a series. For the most part, you can read Christie's books out of order. (I am about to finish reading them all chronologically, so I know.) Not so with her Tommy and Tuppence novels. If you read it alone, I can see why it isn't her best. But to cap off the Tommy and Tuppence saga I rather enjoyed it. You wouldn't read the fifth Harry Potter before reading the others first, would you? Then you can't really judge this one apart from the rest.

The reason I enjoyed it is because it revisits characters that I enjoy. And though I haven't enjoyed as many of Christie's later novels, I wouldn't go as far as to say she was losing her mental faculties. Many of her books since the beginning involve elderly people who should remember something important but don't. There is a lot of banter, but there is a lot of banter in general in her books, especially in Tommy and Tuppence.

The mystery part was a tad lacking in this one, and it was moderately easy to solve. But honestly there was a lot less ideology than some of her other spy novels so I liked that. If you are a true Christie fan, and you have read her other Tommy and Tuppence, you will be glad you read this one.

Bought this at a little used bookstore. Didn't realize I was coming in to an ongoing storyline with Tommy and Tuppence. It certainly worked as a standalone, but I would've enjoyed it more if I'd read the preceding books in the series.

I know things. People don't know as I know things. They don't think I've listened and they don't think I'd remember, but I know sometimes–you know, they'll say something and then they'll say who else knows about it and then they'll–well, you know, if you keep quiet you get to hear a lot.




It's a kind of technique, you know. We've taught it to ourselves in the last, oh, say fifty to a hundred years. Taught that if people cohere together and make a tight little mob of themselves, it's amazing what they are able to accomplish and what they are able to inspire other people to accomplish for them.