How to Figure Out Whodunnit in Agatha Christie

How do you know who did in an Agatha Christie? Is there a way to guess? I'll tell you the things I look for in her stories to guess who I think did it
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Books Mentioned (all links are affiliated):
CARDS ON THE TABLE by Agatha Christie - bookshop.org/a/8761/978006207...
CROOKED HOUSE by Agatha Christie - bookshop.org/a/8761/978006207...
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[@bookslikewhoa]

Eek, missed one last one! I also keep my eyes open for name discrepancies, including possibly unisex names or possible nicknames 🙌

[@Alex-lm5en]

Since you know a lot about Agatha Christie books, can you tell me a book with Hercule Poirot that is like The Big Four ? ( I find this book really good and adventurous, I could not put it down and I want something similar)

[@susancorbett8155]

Definitely agree!

[@notdeadjustyet8136]

@@Alex-lm5en there's loads, although usually not Poirot. Man in the Brown Suit, N or M, They Came to Baghdad, The Secret of the Chimneys, 7 Dials.....come to my mind🙂 enjoy 💙💜❤️

[@abigaillarion9365]

If a character's backstory prominently features someone who is missing, dead, or otherwise absent... they're almost always present but disguised.

[@anthony3557]

I am immediately suspicious of murders gone wrong, specifically of anyone who survives an attempted murder. There’s often some element of staging involved, which kind of ties it in with the ‘beware actors!’ trope.

[@skeletonkeybooks]

One thing I'm noticing as I re-read from the beginning is that she will hide the key to the entire mystery in plain sight very early on, but then the detective completely misinterprets it. Peril at End House is a prime example of this.

[@bookslikewhoa]

Very true!!

[@puirYorick]

Exactly! She writes like a Detective Columbo episode where we see the crime committed right up front and know who did it essentially but we ride along with the detective to figure out how they are able to unravel the alibis and red herrings. A Murder Is Announced could have only one possible perpetrator from the very first act onward due to all the necessary logistical planning of the crime. The rest of it is about precisely how the deception will finally unravel.

[@uma.n2680]

or like in And then there were none, you'll be able to figure out who done it, just by asking " who's the one person who will be able to gather all these information?" just by looking at everyone's profession, and eliminating the less likely people.

[@Wats06071]

I LOVED it. Please do a spoilery one! I think there are lots of AC veterans here :) I am glad that I have read her books (not all, but maybe 70-75%) during late teens/early twenties, because the more I listen to your analysis the more I think I would have been much critical now. After a while, I also started guessing correctly a decent number of them. My "proudest" achievement was "Death on The Nile". I basically guessed everything apart from How. The construction of the events on that night is amazing!!

[@bookslikewhoa]

It's one of her most fun solutions, I think! Love that book

[@Wats06071]

@@bookslikewhoa Yes it is, that is why it is in my top 3. As I said, I was 90% sure the who, why, and all subsequent events (really, once you guess the who, everything else fall in place). But, despite trying to put the events of the night in logical sequence I couldn't. And when I read the solution I felt satsfied and awed, because there were enough clues to imagine it.

[@katarinarundgren7968]

I find that often the murderer in a Christie is someone I quite like, someone I know I should suspect but so hope I am wrong about. Also she is so clever with her clues and red herrings I enjoy re-reading her books; when I start I am sure I remember who the murderer is, but soon start doubting myself and start suspecting others, only to find I was right to begin with. 🙈

[@amysegreti]

You're the best! I have now watched sooo many of your Agatha videos; I know you did these many years ago but they've been so helpful to me. Thank you.

[@kwalton7690]

It would be interesting to see your stats on figuring out whodunnit in Agatha Christie novels- like how many times did you get it right based on your strategies and breakdown within this data? I find that when the murderer is female I rarely get it right. I also am more likely to get it right in a Marple mystery than Poirot. Epic fail whenever there is more than one person involved. I do a fist bump in the air whenever I get it right :) Yep, the characteristic thing has been the most helpful. Like Maya Angelou's famous quote "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time." There is often a character trait dropped by a friend or family member that turns out to be key.

[@bookslikewhoa]

Oh man, the stats nerd in me wishes I had kept track of my "hit rate" on guessing who did it as I went!

[@AlioH89]

I've just started reading And Then There Were None (my first Agatha Christie novel) after hearing you talking about it so going to wait until I've finished it before watching this vid.

[@monica_has116lentilsand2cats]

oh, i really enjoyed that, thank you! any and all christie-related content is welcome IMHO. 👌🏻 inspired by you i am reading/listening through the entire AC canon and having a grand old time doing so. 😁 happy reading and lots of love from tiny-town austria, monica 📚🐾🐾

[@tatianaledneva8142]

Oh, your content is amazing! And your approach is really scientific. I wish I could find more stuff like yours on youtube!

[@BernasBookishAdventures]

Great analysis!! I also noticed some of them but seeing them all together makes me wanna read more Christie again which is a goal of mine this year ;)

[@srnc]

My answer when I'm asked how did I know, it's "By vibe", and this video is an analysis of my "vibe"! Excellent! One of the red flags for me is the "survived a murder attempt".

[@bookslikewhoa]

Ooo, very true! If someone survives an attempt, I assume it's them :D

[@YugiPlayz]

I gave a like without even watching the video... I've been watching your videos for 2 years now and you're "AWESOME" 👍

[@flipsl]

@bookslikewhoa I always love your book reviews (especially Christie / Poirot, but I wish you would‘ve done a spoiler section in those reviews - would‘ve been too much fun to hear your thoughts on the twists and murders 😁 Still hoping for you to revive „Project Poirot“ to at least add some spoiler reviews as you did with „Marple“ Anyway, keep up the great work 📚💙

[@emilyboivin613]

Great video. Love all your thoughts on Christie.

[@bookslikewhoa]

Glad you enjoyed

[@emmaraewilliams]

This is more of a way to rule someone out, but any character described as "foreign", especially one who seems to be disliked or mistrusted by the other characters is usually a red herring, I've found.

[@susancorbett8155]

I thought the same about foreigners. They are usually mistrusted by other characters (sometimes with quite a racist vibe) but turn out to be innocent.

[@amivanzyl8876]

Love your earring and eyeshadow combo!

[@bookslikewhoa]

Thank you!

[@LiteraryKnitterary]

As an actor, I kind of love that we are automatically suspicious 😂 I wonder if that’s also a holdover from theatre being seen as a disreputable profession in the 1800s?

[@bookslikewhoa]

Haha could be!

[@katie184]

I love your eyeshadow !!

[@debralavoie9095]

Loved knowing what you're thinking while reading a story. I usually go for the least likely person to have dunit.

[@gangulyraj6889]

Ariadne Oliver is my favourite character in Christie universe.

[@markilvedson4143]

Very solid list. I read a TON of Agatha Christie’s during the lockdown of 2020 and the only that really surprised me was - Card On The Table as I’d never much heard about it. But I kept thinking, WOW! This one is really fun!!! So I am happy it’s not just me. The only book I really love that you are MEH about is DEATH COMES AS THE END. You’re wrong about that one… I think it’s great fun and such a fascinating experiment.

[@puirYorick]

This was a good concept for a video. Perhaps you can do another version with spoilers. Discussing specific examples for those of us who have read these titles or don't mind knowing the endings would be fun. The issue of avoiding spoilers leaves too much fruit on the vine IMO.

[@simonecesco6832]

Great video 👍

[@danecobain]

This was just great, I think you should start a detective agency

[@uptown3636]

Such a cool idea for a video!

[@bookslikewhoa]

Thank you!! 😊

[@natasagajic1061]

I usually go by the process of elimination (and sometimes by catching purposeful misdirection - it's not often when I do catch it, but when I do, it feels awesome 😁). Oh, and also, I'm always paying attention to the people abused by the victim. Going by the saying _cornered animal will bite_ , they are always high on my list of suspects.

[@notdeadjustyet8136]

Every single time a character appears to be the intended victim but doesn't die, they're the murderer! Beyond any doubt 😂 If, very early in the story, someone seems obviously guilty (was seen on the crime scene/gets arrested/confesses etc.), but is soon after "proved" innocent, usually due to an, allegedly, rock solid alibi - IT'S 10000% THEM 🤣 I can think of at least 5 books where this is the case🙂

[@rustiqjoy]

I normally just look at the least suspicious persons or the person/persons that are ruled out first. You had covered that one.

[@Tarasreadingnook]

This is very cool video, I to can get a sense of who exactly how you say in a who done it books.

[@dancing-lawn]

I am *living* for this level of nerding out about Christie! :D Really enjoyed the discussion of this article through the (digital) International Agatha Christie festival as well, did you get a chance to watch some of the talks too?

[@rbrown4378]

read lots of Agatha Christie but the but the only one ive been able to solve is Death on the Nile - when the ex-girlfriend turned up I though the ONLY way she could have known where they were was if the husband told her

[@JoaquinNSanchez]

i usually solve the mysteries by different means, by reasoning and by knowing the rules of fiction that make these stories somewhat predictable. but this is very interesting, to be honest i never considered any of these points and you are right about them. specially the point about hereditary traits, its so absurd but it seems christie really believed in it because its in so many of her books.

[@melissaweller3718]

I could never figure out who done it-ever

[@oskarm646]

I guessed in "Evil Under the sun","Murder on the orient express" and a few others, but some cases such as "Five Little pigs" or "And Then there were none" are unsolvable LOL, even Poirot takes about it in Five little pigs

[@CH-oy5mt]

I'm going through the poriot series out of order and I almost didnt watch this. I can never figure it out but the shock at the end is rather fun. Cards on the table was a trip. Hopefully I wont internalize too much of this so I dont ruin the books for myself.

[@larzinthelibrary2530]

I read somewhere a tip on how to figure out whodunnit in her books 99% of the time. After I read enough of them, I started to figure out the formula and I think I was successful maybe 90-95% of the books. It didn't hamper my enjoyment at all, though.

[@puirYorick]

I saw a study about the theory that knowing the ending enhances the enjoyment of a good adventure film. The same applies to books as far as I am concerned. This take is obviously not shared by all other mystery genre readers. The data follows the repeat viewing of record-breaking films making up a large chunk of the global box office. The concept that "spoilers" ruin things seems to be largely nonsense if measured objectively.

[@nikagogibedashvili6476]

Great analysis, very valid points. To say more spoiler-ish types of murderers: -Narrators (blew my mind first time); -Most helpful person (if not Hastings); -Ex-couple team ups; -Person with the solidest alibi; -Assumed target; -The most convenient suspect is almost never guilty (but Agatha toys with it). Having said that, sometimes it's just border-line impossible to guess. Yes, I am looking at you Murder on the Orient Express. To share my most recent "miss" experience, it was Mysterious Affair in Styles (Well, Agatha's first, but my most recent). True spoilers here. My prime suspect was John Cavendish in a "Most helpful person" Role. Also I assumed that Emily was arguing with him earlier on the murder day. Alfred seemed innocent in the most convenient suspect role, should have assumed his coupling with Evelyn. Also I assumed that Lawrence was covering up for John. I did get that Mery drugged Cynthia, but ultimately it was a bad miss for me.

[@lovefromshirley]

I've read 3 Christies this year (my grandmother was a huge fan and it connects me in a strange way with her). About halfway or 2/3s of the way through, I've found I'm able to pick out the culprit (or I get a strong "wait could it be this?"), but I ALWAYS second-guess myself.

[@iansmith4023]

There have only been two of her books where I was able to work out who did it; in both cases it was because the mis-direction was a little too overdone. In the first,Poirot repeatedly said something along the lines of "It can only have been one of these three women - but which?";and in the second,Miss Marple repeatedly said "it can only have been one of these three men - but which?". In both cases it was simply a matter of looking for a suspect outside of those parameters - and it then became obvious! Usually,though,Christie is very good at writing convincing mis-direction.

[@NathanDias0520]

So far, of the 30 Christie books I’ve read, I’ve been able to solve 9

[@naomisbookshelf]

I love trying to figure it out but I also love being surprised. I would say that I guess about 50 percent of the time and enjoy the surprise the other 50 percent. That is some interesting data to compile and evaluate.

[@hiigghhggg9150]

Great Video as always! (Spoilers for a whole lotta Christie) I find that I am terrible at guessing if it’s more than one murderer. For example, Endless Night, I kinda predicted that she was doing Roger acrkoyd again and that Michael did it, but I did NOT predict the death on the Nile-esque love triangle. I am also always suspicious of an “attempted victim”, Peril at End House, A Murder is Announced, After the Funeral, Crooked House and more. Also, never underestimate how far Christie is willing to go with her twists. Crooked House shows that. I also find that it is kinda safe to eliminate the help from possible murderers. There are many exceptions to that rule, After the Funeral, Ordeal By Innocence and Sad Cypress come to mind. But, From what Christie I’ve read, which is only 30-ish books, the help might be involved somehow, but the help is rarely the one who actually pulls the trigger so to speak.

[@bookslikewhoa]

Yeah, I would say that "the help" are often a source of important clues or insights, but rarely are the ones whodunnit... though they are more likely to have done it in the short stories, I find

[@chelseafaith6546]

Something I’ve noticed in a lot of Poirot’s that I’ve been reading lately is that every time he wants a character to do an experiment for him or work closely with him during his investigation, they’re at the top of his suspect list and are usually guilty.

[@jimsbooksreadingandstuff]

Agatha Christie has always fooled me, having watched this video, I want to try another one of hers.

[@bookslikewhoa]

Good luck!

[@rebeccag.4263]

Lucy Eyelesbarrow from 4:50 From Paddington is another “plucky” career-minded female character. Cards on the Table is also one of my favorites.

[@jaclynholland-strauss7054]

Any book with Mrs. Oliver is delicious.

[@susancorbett8155]

Christie herself likes playing with the idea of the "least likely suspect". Also I find that if a seemingly minor or insignificant character is described in a lot of detail that is a flag.

[@emmabrown7009]

In the first 3 Agatha Christie books I read, the doctor was the culprit so I am always very suspicious of doctors. But usually I can't figure out who did it and I like being surprised by the ending. I feel like the author hasn't been clever enough if I am able to figure it out.

[@marulollipops]

Quarantine time social media mess plus re reading agatha christie catalogues cemented on my views that rich people are petty, messy, attention seeking and sus even back decades ago loo. I know it's not the point of the her stories but I guessed the culprit pretty accurately by making small notes of family ties (ur right she has a thing for that) and the timeline plus I imagined if the character might has abilities to work with poison.

[@LuminousLibro]

This is so interesting! I have read 15 or 16 Christie novels, and I would love to read more. Poirot is my favorite character.

[@frankveck7988]

I observed two things: 1) she gives away an important clue (not a red herring) very much in the beginning and comes back to it in the end, 2) the murderer gets the most pages to have his background explained, his motives, his alibi, etc. All the suspects get their own little chapters - twice, first to rule them out and in a later chapter to pierce holes into their alibis, find hidden motives - but another person gets much more "screen time" - THAT is the murderer. I refer mostly to "After the funeral" and the "Three Act Tragedy".

[@oskarm646]

Quite often yes, but there are some interesting exceptions like The ABC murders

[@Speireata4]

I am so very bad at guessing the murderer. Only thing I noticed is the thing about money: that it is more likely to be the one who gains money from it. But that does not help me if several people gain money from a death.

[@marianadentsy2279]

Hi! I know your fave book is Jane Eyre. Have you read Rebecca by Du Maurier? I hear it was inspired by Jane Eyre.

[@bookslikewhoa]

Yes, I enjoy that one!

[@samjohnson7869]

Am rereading in chronological order. I am noticing if an actor is a character, more times than not, they are the killer. In fact, 3 written in order (13 at dinner, 3 act tragedy and murder on the orient express) have an actor as a killer...

[@Frea_]

What is the name of the podcast that you talked about at 4:50?

[@hiigghhggg9150]

All about agatha

[@Frea_]

@@hiigghhggg9150 thanks for answering! ^^

[@hiigghhggg9150]

@@Frea_ no problem, it’s a great podcast. They are going on order of all her books. The last one they did was 4:50 from paddington, so pretty soon they will be covering ordeal by innocence.

[@Frea_]

@@hiigghhggg9150 oh that's very helpful, thank you for that info! I haven't read a lor of Christie's work so I will be pick the one that I have read to listen to ^^

[@tinahuestis6931]

This is not about Agatha Christie. I was wondering if you read Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough? The reason that I read it was all the reviews said no one guesses the ending. Well, I like a challenge and let my ego get the better of me. I am usually fairly good at guessing endings.(In movies) Again my ego while reading was saying, oh this is easy. Then I got to the end. BOOM I did not see THAT coming. I do not read as many books as you by far. I am new to your channel so forgive me if you have reviewed this one? I am still working through all your videos and have only watched a handful so far, although I plan to complete them all!

[@Alex-lm5en]

Since you know a lot about Agatha Christie books, can you tell me a book with Hercule Poirot that is like The Big Four ? ( I find this book really good and adventurous, I could not put it down and I want something similar)

[@bookslikewhoa]

Hmm, I would say that maybe The Labors of Hercules might give you similar vibes? They are short stories, but they have a similar fast pace vibe. Another Poirot with some of the "international intrigue" type elements that are in The Big Four would be One, Two Buckle My Shoe. Hope that helps!

[@Alex-lm5en]

@@bookslikewhoa Thank you so much ❤️❤️❤️

[@Alex-lm5en]

@@bookslikewhoa Just in case that helps, I would like a Poirot book that will make me anxious about what is gonna happen, with some twists maybe and fast pace...

[@jolynnwhite7946]

💕✌🏿🙍🏽👼🏿🌷🦹🏾‍♂️

[@eddnash]

1-its always the one who benefits the most (simple as that) 2-it always the one who she is anxious to give a clear alibi and the person who could not have done it 3-mostly money money money greedy motive 4-almost never a native or a foreigner or a minority

[@jujunorman4695]

The catholic divorce trope. Where the victim was married to the perpetrator and was not willing to divorce for religious reasons and had to be bumped off

[@bookslikewhoa]

Yes, that's a good one!

[@TheVioletdecember]

I usually can't identify the culprit but I can often spot the deception device she will use (i.e. I bet Sue is the secret love child of James, or I bet "Molly" was actually someone else pretending to be Molly.)

[@locutusdborg126]

Either the least suspect ed person or some minor assistant type who is mentioned once and then not again.

[@Sebastian-lw5qb]

I don't think the second one is true. The Killer practically always has a big part in her books.

[@eamongilligan3262]

On the contrary, I find Christie often makes it one of the most likely people, but then creates a situation where it seems impossible for them to have done it, or otherwise deflects attention from them. I think it's mentioned over and over in her books that when a wife dies, the most likely person is the husband and it generally does end up being the husband, for example.

[@sassycatz4470]

I bought Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None based upon your recommendation and then your friend Beautiful Bookish Bethany spoiled the book in one of her videoes and now I have no reason to read it. Not happy.

[@hiigghhggg9150]

@Charlotte Gonzalez I also got spoiled for Roger ackroyd(that’s the one your talking of, right?) I still liked it, but yeah, it was pretty lackluster

[@sassycatz4470]

@Charlotte Gonzalez Well, I'm keeping in mind that Christie is a good author and so I would expect that her books would be enjoyable to read beyond just trying to figure out "who done it," and I'm putting the book at the bottom of my pile in the hope that the spoiler will slip my mind. Let me also add, Bethany had a slip of the tongue, so I'm not upset with her personally -- although at the time my mouth dropped open. ;-) I did think it ironic that I bought the book after having listened to Mara for some months and her love of mystery -- I am not much of a mystery reader -- and I got into listening to Bethany due to Mara. And there you go, all our worlds collided! The happy thing about romances, of which I am a much more prolific reader, is that most of the time you cannot spoil the ending! (I can name a few that surprised me and I'd not be happy if I were spoilt regarding them, but not many.)

[@marulollipops]

It's a relatively old book and it's one of the best selling, influential title all over the world.... Frankly I think saving yourself from spoilers of that title is hard and you can't blame anyone for it. It's like dumbledore dies thing lol

[@kwalton7690]

That is the worst thing that could happen to a mystery lover. It happened to me listening to a podcast talking about a completely different book. No warning, just out popped the spoiler for Murder on the Orient Express. It was during my earlier Christie reading period so that was one I was going to read soon. To this day, I still haven't read because it would just make me angry.

[@sassycatz4470]

@@marulollipops But, funny enough, not being much of a mystery reader and having never read Christie nor seen any movies based on her books except Murder on the Orient Express, I did not know the culprit to And Then There Were None and I'm not a young woman!