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Am I right in thinking it is impossible to solve an Agatha Christie story before the end, because crucial evidence is always withheld til then? i.e. it's not a

Am I right in thinking it is impossible to solve an Agatha Christie story before the end, because crucial evidence is always withheld til then? i.e. it's not a "fair puzzle". Also, the only two fans of her work that I have met don't actually like or engage in the puzzle aspect; they don't try to solve (nor - curiously - even have a concept of evaluating multiple hypotheses). These two observations make me wonder if popular detective fiction isn't puzzle fiction at all...

projektir 8y ago
> Am I right in thinking it is impossible to solve an Agatha Christie story before the end, because crucial evidence is always withheld til then? i.e. it's not a "fair puzzle". I'm not sure about impossible. There was one story, Peril at End House, where I have figured out who the murderer was very early on, in the first few chapters or so. It was a weird feeling of thinking that Poirot was being led astray for a while. That being said, as your other comments say, this is not really a goal for me. If I was serious, I'd lay out the story carefully with pen and paper. But mostly I'd rather just read the story.