Seven Dials is Christie's subversion of the 1920s style thriller, only with a plucky female heroine and a subtle commentary on English society. A manor murder, a secret society, a slummy club in the East End, and international espionage that make it seem artificially complicated, but it was enjoyable enough, with a few chuckles and a sweet little romantic angle to neatly round it out. A group of young people gather at the English estate the Chimneys, rented out to steel magnate Sir Oswald and his wife, Lady Coote. One of the young men visiting has a propensity for coming late to breakfast, so the group forms a plan to plant eight alarm clocks in his room to wake him with a violent noise. Coincidentally, he never wakes again. Lord Caterham owns the manor, and his daughter, Lady Eileen Brent, "known to her friends and society in general as "Bundle," becomes involved when she realizes she knows several of the people involved. Besides, it'll be smashing good fun, right? Her father's an old dear straight out of Wodehouse--he might have been Bertie in 50 years. "They needn't die in my house,' said Lord Caterham... 'Naturally I expect Brents to die here--they don't count. But I do object to strangers. And I especially object to inquests.'"Initially, Bundle is just satisfying her curiosity about poor dead Gerry as she pokes around the house. She finds part of a letter she feels she should deliver to his surviving sister. As she's taking the car out for a quick errand, she runs into a man in the road. Not long after, she joins forces with one of the men in the house party who works for the government, and then the sister of the murdered lad. Investigation takes them from the countryside to a seamy club to a political house-party. If you forget the murder, it's charming fun.Therein lies my greatest problem with the story: tone. Murder mystery? Light-hearted romp through the English countryside? Mock-up of English society? Daring espionage thriller? It just doesn't quite work. A forward discusses Christie's similarity with Wodehouse, and while I can understand, part of Wodehouse's charm is the sheer daffiness of the capers, and the utter inconsequence of any of the events. However, with one murder down and state secrets at stake, her social commentary doesn't jibe as well as it could with the plot. Characters, however stereotypical, are drawn with depth. Christie could be master of the subtle, and one of my favorite characters by far was Lady Coote who kept her aggressive husband firmly in check through seemingly daffy actions and her ability to cheat at bridge. Oh, and perhaps "the girl called Socks. Subtle was a word of which she was rather fond. She used it a great deal." Her lines were great fun as well, especially when she forces the use of subtle in a most unsubtle way:"'We don't want a subtle clock,' said Socks. 'We want one with a good loud ring.'"Overall, enjoyable without being gripping or especially memorable. One of Christie's more light-hearted stories.*Note--read and owned as part of Murder At The Manor: An Agatha Christie Lost Classics Omnibus
Re-reading Agatha Christie in order of publication - 3 1/2 starsIn this novel, we meet Bundle (Lady Eileen Brent) and Inspector Battle again. There are refinements and improvements to the writing since we last saw these characters in “The Secret of Chimneys” but the same issues exist in milder forms.The novel opened strongly and I enjoyed seeing the lifestyles of the children of the rich. Weekend long parties in famous homes. “Ornamental-only” jobs. Most people vaguely knowing each other by reputation or because they attended the same schools, parties and social circles. However, I lost my enthusiasm by page 100. Identity seems to be the big mystery in this novel again. (Who is #7?) But the mystery isn’t really established until page 200 and even then prospective candidates are slow to develop. There are fewer characters than “Chimneys” and stronger female characters, but character development continues to be an issue. Characters are referenced in several different ways (first name, last name, nickname, title) throughout the novel, so it is hard to keep straight who is who. Jimmy and Bill (the two main young males) seem particularly interchangeable and I was constantly confusing them.One exception was Lady Coote - though minor to the story, her character seemed to be given much care. I found her very interesting. She is the wife of an extremely powerful, wealthy man and yet she yearns for their simpler, poorer life together. She also has control over her incredibly powerful husband using gentle “womanly” ways.Inspector Battle seemed like a very cool cat, but his character is rather one dimensionally wise & perfect. Bundle didn’t carry the novel for me and I found myself missing Poirot or Miss Marple. The interaction between Bundle and George Lomax was humous and a continuation of suggestions from “Chimneys”. Ultimately, I was severely disappointed with Bundle’s exploitation of the Seven Dials meetings and the whole idea of secret international societies. It seemed highly repetitive of “The Big Four”. Perhaps that sort of thing just doesn’t interested me, but it felt “phoned-in” and lazy on Christie’s part. Very unrealistic and unbelievable. Like something from a bad detective novel. The last chapter wraps up this wandering, unfocused story with an elaborately random twist. Since I wasn’t invested in the story or characters, the twist didn’t thrill me.Still - a fast & easy read. Better than many modern novels.
What do You think about The Seven Dials Mystery (2015)?
I can see an argument here for 3 and 5 stars, so I'm settling at 4. This is one of Christie's thrillers that, nevertheless, does have some of the investigative usual elements in the latter half. It also has the odd benefit of being almost a sequel (a rarity in the Christie canon) to The Secret of Chimneys. This means that we get some old characters back- two of which Christie seems especially fond of, and for that reason, the books reads affably even when murder is not the first order of business.So why 5 stars? That resolution, man...it packs a punch, and I can see some earlier places where she had planted clues. It's one of a few Christies where I actually felt compelled to go back and see if she was playing fair- in large part, that seems to be the case.So why 3 stars? That resolution, man...it leaves two big red herrings and one coincidence untouched, plus a couple of other qualms I can't really voice without going into spoiler territory.Ultimately, I'd say this is an overlooked part of the canon well worth reading. It's not perfect, but it's fun and surprising. I'd even go so far as to say that it makes Secret of Chimneys required reading even though that book sets off my coincidence detector in a more offensive fashion.
—William
Normally when I read an Agatha Christie I expect a good mystery with a bit of a story around it. That's why The Seven Dials Mystery really surprised me, it actually felt like a story which happened to have a mystery in it. It also had another quality that took me off guard. It is consistently funny. It does that wonderful thing of being effortlessly humorous in an understated, very British, way. The characters are wonderful, and the story flows well.The mystery, however, does not quite live up to the story.My main problem with the mystery in this book is that it is just too farfetched. The fact that the characters joke about how unlikely everything seems doesn't make it seem any less unlikely. The revelations aren't obvious or unsurprising, but for some reason they are presented in a way which I found to be oddly devoid of impact. Perhaps I would mind less if the book were by a different author. However, from Agatha Christie I tend to expect a mystery that, while it might be a little out there, at least doesn't require the reader to suspend their disbelief too much or too often.I therefore feel a little strange about this probably being one of my favourite Agatha Christie books to date. I really liked it, but for all the wrong reasons. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone craving a good Christie mystery, but I wouldn't hesitate recommending it to anyone who just wants a very entertaining, very English, quick read.I'll be continuing to read the Christie books in the order they were published. If this is an indication of the style she used in this era of her writing, and it is combined with the type of mysteries I know from her later books, I have a feeling that I might really, really, enjoy the next few Christie books I get around to reading.
—Christian Leonard Quale
I always enjoy Agatha Christie and try to bring at least one of her paperbacks on every vacation. Thus did THE SEVEN DIALS MYSTERY come to Norway with me last week, and highly entertaining it was! WHat I noticed about this book, written by Dame Agatha in 1929, was the timelessness of the writing and the story. The writing impressed me as particularly vivid, especially the descriptions. Christie always manages to paint the picture of each of her many characters firmly in the reader's mind without actually describing any of them in the usual way. For instance, "Lady Coote was a big, handsome woman in a tragic sort of fashion. She had large, dark mournful eyes and a deep voice. . . She would have done well in melodrama, staggering through the falling snow as the deeply wronged wife of the villain." The mystery involves several murders that take place in a country estate called Chimneys, an international spy ring, and a mysterious criminal club of seven people (the Seven Dials) who meet wearing masks so no one knows the other members. As she usually does, Christie fooled me completely. An entertaining read.
—Mary Theobald
