by Julius Albert Custodio

Created on: November 11, 2009

Agatha Christie's "Endless Night" took me off guard when I first read it because it deviated from the usual formula Christie used in her mystery novels. It was a nice kind of surprise though. I've always had this feeling that all of her works were structured in such a way that might eventually bore her readers and she proved me wrong after I read this.

The novel's plot is as far-fetched as any mystery novel can get. It involves a cursed plot of land and how it became the key to a romantic affair between an everyman and an heiress. I think I'm not the first reader who thought that the plot was a little weird. The cursed land and the love affair almost sound like plot devices for a tragic horror movie.

Thankfully, Christie managed to add in a cast of supporting characters with evil motives to turn it into a perfect murder mystery. She deftly captured the essence of each character, although I felt that some of them were a bit stereotypical. I've always enjoyed Christie's character-driven mysteries more than her plot-driven ones and "Endless Night" was both a hit and a miss.

The problem I had with the novel was its pacing. I felt that it took such a long time to develop. After reading the first few chapters, I got a bit bored with the cheesy romantic set-up. There were even instances when I was seriously wishing for something bad to happen to one of the characters! It was a bit too dragging for my taste.

In fact, unlike most Christie novels, the murder doesn't happen until the last few chapters of the book. This might be boon or bane, depending on the taste of the reader. If you're the type who loves picking apart the characters and knowing them thoroughly, then you'll love what Christie has done here. Otherwise, if you're in it just for the murder investigation, then you'll be sorely disappointed.

Over-all, the novel was generally well-written. You can see that careful thought was put into writing it and this showcased Christie's mastery of the genre. Although I got bored, I still appreciated the slow suspense build-up which was frequently absent in her other novels. Aside from the pacing, the other disappointment I had with this novel was that there were too many loose ends left hanging and it made me feel a little cheated. Having said that, I will still recommend this book to the fans who haven't read it yet. It is a pretty solid albeit slow-paced murder mystery.

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