The Big Four by Agatha Christie Book Review

     The Big Four by Agatha Christie is a children's/YA detective fiction novel. It was published in 1927 by William Collins & Sons. It has 3.6 stars on Goodreads. Here are my thoughts.

    The Big Four is about a detective named Hercule Poirot and his best friend, Arthur Hastings, who find out about a criminal organization called the Big Four. The Big Four includes a Chinese mastermind named Li Chang Yen, a Frenchwoman, an American man, and a man at the head of the organization called the Destroyer. Hercule quickly discovers the identities of everyone... but Number Four. He can't let it go, but as he and Hastings delve deeper into the mystery, the risk of danger rises. The Big Four will stop at nothing to achieve their goal of world domination.

    The plot of The Big Four is fun. Hercule and Hastings jump from one mystery to the next as the book progresses. However, the nuances of the Big Four organization aren't clear or thought out. It takes away from the reader's ability to suspend disbelief.

    The main characters in The Big Four are Hercule, Hastings, and Japp. Hercule is confident and flamboyant, assured in the superiority of his "little grey cells." Hastings is short tempered and loyal, never sure what's going on but always ready to help. Japp is prideful and jealous, reluctant to let Hercule in on any of his case information for fear of him solving it immediately. These characters are relatable in the way that they all suffer from hubris at one, or many, points in this book.

    The writing of The Big Four is simple. Agatha Christie does not mince words, but that does not mean she isn't a great writer. Her writing is the perfect mix of concise and descriptive. However, the dialogue in The Big Four is outdated. Readers may be bothered by some of the derogatory language used in this book that was normalized at the time of its publication.

    In conclusion, I would give The Big Four by Agatha Christie 4 stars. I liked Agatha Christie's writing style. I would have liked for more detail on the Big Four as a crime organization. I would recommend this book to readers looking for books about crime, friendship, and mystery.