Thursday, August 30, 2018

The Boomerang Clue

The Boomerang Clue. Agatha Christie. 1934. 224 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: Bobby Jones teed up his ball, gave a short preliminary waggle, took the club back slowly, then brought it down and through with the rapidity of lightning.

Premise/plot: Bobby Jones, the vicar's son, is playing a round of golf with a friend when they discover a dying man. Did he fall to his death quite by accident, or was he pushed off the cliff? His death is ruled an accident, but Bobby and his friend, Lady Frances (aka Frankie) disagree. Primarily they disagree because soon after this incident an attempt is made on Bobby's life. There is a murderer about who seems to think that Bobby knows more than he actually does--that Bobby is a threat to him. Frankie and Bobby team up to find the murderer, but the clues are few and far between. They have so little to go on and the man--or woman--they're searching for is DANGEROUS. Will they discover the truth of his identity in time? And will he--or she--be brought to justice?

My thoughts: This one is also titled Why Didn't They Ask Evans? That phrase was the last thing uttered by the victim. Bobby the only one who heard it. (His friend had gone for help already). Who is Evans? What question should they have asked Evans? And for that matter WHO is this dead man? Bobby and Frankie are amateurs at best. This is, as far as I know, their only case.

I will say that this one kept me guessing until the very, very end. I don't know why I was so horrible at solving this one. Well, that's not true. The clues are so teeny tiny and there really isn't much to go on except instincts. And readers' impressions are formed largely from the impressions of the characters themselves. Have you read this one? Did you guess who did it?


© 2018 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

1 comment:

Jean said...

Wow, that is some cover! And I'd never heard of the title "The Boomerang Clue." I can't remember anything about it except Evans and a house.