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Agatha Christie
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Sparkling Cyanide Paperback – January 1, 2002

by Agatha Christie (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 4,603 ratings
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This is NOT a signature edition. It's a paperback called "Remembered Death" by Agatha Christie. The original British Title: "Sparkling Cyanide". From inside the front cover: Your Wife Rosemary Didn't Kill Herself. She Was Murdered! George Barton received this strange anonymous note almost a year after Rosemary's death. It had all started at Rosemary's birthday party. The six guests saw her take a glass of champagne. Suddenly she slumped to the floor-dead. The verdict: suicide by poison. But after the note, people started to remember things: Rosemary's passionate letter to a mysterious lover, "Leopard." Handsome Anthony Browne's threats. The fact that Rosemary's penniless sister stood to inherit all of her fabulous fortune. Then somebody remembered one thing too many. So the killer struck again! From the back cover: It was certainly a strange kind of party to celebrate Rosemary's birthday. Every guest had a motive for her murder....
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    336 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Harpercollins Pb
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 2002
  5. Dimensions
    4.37 x 0.98 x 7.01 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0007136854
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0007136858
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harpercollins Pb; Masterpiece Ed edition (January 1, 2002)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0007136854
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0007136858
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.37 x 0.98 x 7.01 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 4,603 ratings

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Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie

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Born in Torquay in 1890, Agatha Christie began writing during the First World War and wrote over 100 novels, plays and short story collections. She was still writing to great acclaim until her death, and her books have now sold over a billion copies in English and another billion in over 100 foreign languages. Yet Agatha Christie was always a very private person, and though Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple became household names, the Queen of Crime was a complete enigma to all but her closest friends.

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4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
4,603 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Laura's Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Mystery!
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2023
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One year ago, a group of friends went out for dinner at a fancy London restaurant, and one, Rosemary, died apparently from suicide by cyanide poisoning. The same group meets again a year later to celebrate the birthday of Rosemary’s sister Iris. One place is left empty in remembrance of Rosemary. Rosemary’s husband George has begun to put the pieces together and thinks the suicide may have been murder. When this evening again ends in death, will the killer be found before they strike again?

I liked that Rosemary’s murder was at the very start of the novel and then the various characters at the party are further fleshed out after the party. I could then see why various characters would want to murder Rosemary, but did they and how? I didn’t quite guess the answer to this Agatha Christy mystery as per usual. I enjoyed that George wanted to solve the mystery of his wife’s murder. He realized she wasn’t perfect, but he loved her and wanted justice for her.

This is called a Colonel Race novel. He is slightly in it but is really a secondary character.

Sparkling Cyanide was the April read for the #ReadChristie2023 challenge. Poison was the focus for this month, and this was the perfect book for it.

Book Source: E-book purchased from Amazon.com.
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Ruth Anderson
4.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly enjoyable!
Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2014
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One year ago, everything changed for a seemingly close-knit group of friends and family -- for it was one year ago that one of them died. Seven went to dinner in a celebratory mood, and only six returned, for the seventh -- sparkling, effervescent, attractive Rosemary Barton -- drank champagne laced with cyanide. Rosemary was a golden girl, with everything to live for, and her suicide shocked the circle of survivors, for although suicide emotionally out of the question as a viable option for the inexplicable, horrific events of the evening, it was the verdict. For who would want to kill Rosemary? It must have been the depression she'd suffered as a result of a particularly nasty bout of flu. As horrible and tragic as it was, depression was the only option, the only way to bring order and reason from chaos. The only other option was even more unthinkable...that one individual who walked away from that fateful dinner was a killer...

As the anniversary of Rosemary's death approaches, the six other attendees begin to reminisce about their respective relationships with Rosemary...for as time has distanced them from the immediacy of her passing, so too has it dulled their comfort level with the suicide verdict, giving rise to uncomfortable questions. George, the long-suffering, dully respectable husband, has his doubts fanned by anonymous letters claiming Rosemary was murdered. Iris has begun to fear that she never truly knew her sister at all, while the mysterious Anthony bitterly regrets his onetime flirtation with Rosemary for jeopardizing his secrets and his hope of a relationship with her sister. Stephen, an up-and-coming politician, fears his long-time liaison with Rosemary may have jeopardized his career and his marriage, all the while wondering if his wife Sandra might have taken drastic steps to eliminate her rival. And last but not least, the quietly efficient Ruth, George's secretary, begins to ponder just how much she hates her employer's late wife. All connected, all harboring secrets...but only one with enough vitriol to kill Rosemary...and the ripple effect of that rash action threatens to strike again as the anniversary and the questions it raises inches ever closer...

When I first started reading Agatha Christie years ago, I almost exclusively confined myself to the Poirot mysteries, having fallen in love with the mustachioed, fastidious detective in no small part thanks to David Suchet's portrayal in the long-running television series. Thankfully, as the years passed I learned to broaden my reading horizons and discovered the gems that lay waiting in the other corners of Christie's extensive backlist. Sparkling Cyanide has long been high on my list of Christie standalones to read, especially since it is based on one of my favorite Poirot short stories: "The Yellow Iris." (The episode is one of my favorites among the television series' hour-long adaptations.) And when I finally tracked down a copy of the elusive 1983 film version, starring my much-loved Anthony Andrews and transplanting the story to Los Angeles (!!), I knew that at long last I had to read the source material.

There is something irresistibly compelling about a dinner table set mystery. Similar to a locked room tale, the dinner setting (also employed by Christie in Lord Edgeware Dies) immediately limits the pool of potential suspects. There is something extraordinarily creepy about the thought of sitting at table with a killer. The very idea of taking a meal with someone (typically) implies a certain conviviality, one Christie happily turns on its head by taking her limited guest list and making them question everything they thought they knew about each other.

As the novel opens, Rosemary Barton has been dead nearly a year, the approaching anniversary leading her family and friends reminisce about their acquaintance with Rosemary. It becomes quickly apparent that no one knew Rosemary as well as they'd thought...nor any other member of the group that witnessed her shocking death. I loved how Christie structured the novel, beginning with chapters told from each survivor's viewpoint, building tension as the mystery of Rosemary's relationships with each and her true state of mind at the time of the fateful dinner gradually click into place. At the one-third mark, Christie brings the story into the present, building towards the anniversary and the ramifications of George's insistence that his wife didn't commit suicide as widely assumed, leading him to plan a second -- and equally fateful -- dinner party.

The multiple viewpoints utilized aren't the neatest method I've ever seen Christie use for a mystery of this ilk, but the characters are engaging and I loved watching the secrets of their relationships and views of each other unfold in all their scandalous glory. This novel marks the final appearance of Colonel Race (also seen in The Man in the Brown Suit and as Poirot's friend in Cards on the Table and Death on the Nile), who, while never a star investigator, ably plays the assistant role, facilitating the investigation and here the dashing Anthony's creative breakthrough in recognizing the murder method.

Each and every main player in the cast is deliciously over-the-top in the best soap opera fashion (with the exception of Colonel Race), and though Sparkling Cyanide may not be Christie's most tightly-plotted mystery, in spite of -- or perhaps because of -- it's eccentricities it is one of her most delightful. This book was sheer, unadulterated fun to read from start to finish. This mystery is all about relationships, running the gamut from love to loathing and everything in between, replete with Christie's signature droll sense of humor and a dash of romance between Iris and Anthony. I would love to see this tale get a proper film adaptation, playing up the period elements and keeping the characters true to their time period and scripted histories. This is pure, delicious soap opera as only the Queen of Crime can deliver, a diverting breath of fresh air for mystery lovers looking for something a little different from a favorite author.
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Kindle Cat
5.0 out of 5 stars Surprise ending?
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2024
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Good plot and kept the suspect pool going until the end. Red herrings or inconsistencies, didn't matter which, kept the solution hidden from obvious view. Good story from different viewpoints.
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angela
5.0 out of 5 stars A really good Christie
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2023
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An intelligently written book! Christie doesn't need to endlessly repeat the same boring facts as a lot of mystery writers do, thank goodness. You will get all the needed clues, but in an interesting way.
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Patrick W. Crabtree
4.0 out of 5 stars Colonel Race is drawn into a poisoning case (details)
Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2010
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This work is also sold under its original U.S. title,  Remembered Death(original British Title - Sparkling Cyanide) , a fact Christie fans find irritating as publishers have changed titles on a number of her popular books - this unnecessary practice has led to considerable confusion for readers. I'm reviewing the original U.S. title here, a 1964 7th printing Pocket Books paperback edition (first appearing in 1947) which sports the cool black, red, and school bus yellow cover, 214 pages.

I should also mention that some of these publishers have more recently begun editing, redacting, and even (unscrupulously) re-writing some of Christie's actual words which is why I much prefer the older editions. But the one I've cited as reviewing here is terrific if you can find it.

THE STORY: A young heiress of stunning appearance weds an older gentleman, a man blinded by love, who is thus unable to recognize his lovely bride's personal failings as a wife. She soon expands her illicit romantic activities with her enthusiastic, dynamic, and passionate paramours. But she doesn't get to engage in her concupiscent behavior for too long because, during an elaborate birthday supper sponsored by her generous husband at a high-end restaurant, she drops dead of cyanide poisoning. Even though the death is suspicious and likely suspects abound, the coroner ultimately rules the death a suicide, citing the decedent's depression subsequent to her having suffered from the flu.

After a year passes, the husband becomes convinced of two actualities:

1. His wife had been having love affairs behind his back.

2. She was murdered by someone at the dinner table.

These epiphanies were chiefly the result of anonymous letters which he began receiving, advising him directly of the latter thought and strongly implying the former. So the distraught husband calls in his lifelong friend and man-of-the-world, Colonel Race, to aid him in trapping the killer. Unfortunately this widower's meticulous plan, which involved a second celebratory dinner with all the same guests present as before and conducted at the same restaurant, gives rise to a second murder.

That last comment is not a spoiler as all this is revealed by the book's back cover teaser -- Christie wanted us to know all this up front. The resolution is quite clever and most readers will anticipate neither the murderer nor the method.

Christie devotees have previously encountered the fictional Colonel Race, formerly of Great Britain's MI-5 organization, a man who also paired up with the renowned Hercule Poirot in  Cards on the Table (Hercule Poirot) . Race's role is somewhat unique to Christie mysteries in that he functions as a (semi-private) "helper detective" to the primary investigator who in this case is Scotland Yard Inspector Kemp, (whom, it is further noted, had been mentored by the more well-known and now-retired Inspector Battle, ergo:  Towards Zero (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries) .) While it is true that even Hercule Poirot serves as a secondary detective to the Scotland Yard one most of the time, (as does Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppence, etc.), the reader still knows that it will be Poirot, and not the Scotland Yard sleuth, who actually resolves the case. But here, Colonel Race's role is truly a supplemental and secondary one.

While this mystery is a pretty good read overall, it's not, from my view, Christie's best effort. But since she generated a total of over eighty mysteries, romance novels, and plays it's logical that not every work can rank among "the very best." Of British cozy murder mysteries in general, (all authors), this one easily falls within the top twenty percent because Christie was simply that skilled in the art.

This book was first published in 1945 by Dodd, Mead. For those who are just commencing to explore the plethora of Agatha Christie mysteries there are probably better starting points. I would recommend  Agatha Christie's Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot Mysteries) ; Murder at the Vicarage: A Miss Marple Mystery (Agatha Christie Collection) , or;  By the Pricking of My Thumbs .

Highly recommended for all Christie fans and generally recommended for those who enjoy various authors of the cozy murder genre.
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Top reviews from other countries

Sue Wickens
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 18, 2024
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Loved this books with its twists and turns. A step back in time. A satisfying ending.
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Jacqueline A Scott
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on June 9, 2017
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Enjoyed it very much, I am sure I read it many years ago, but I had forgotten it. Marvellous!
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j.m.f. thuijls
5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic mystery as usual
Reviewed in Australia on January 4, 2024
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Great read - I went through the book in a few days. I had to find out who the murderer was!
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NGUYEN Bao Ngoc
4.0 out of 5 stars Average product
Reviewed in Japan on October 9, 2022
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The content of book is good whatever, how ever since it is second-hand, the cover is in quite old condition. Took more time to delivery than expected.
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Hello World!
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Read!
Reviewed in India on June 9, 2017
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"Sparkling Cyanide" is an excellent novel by Agatha Christie. It does not feature any of the "standard" Christie characters like Poirot, Marple etc. The story is about a girl named "Rosemary" who dies at a party by drinking a glass containing cyanide. The initial verdict is "suicide". However, Rosemary's sister and her husband are not so convinced about it. And so, her husband decides to find out the murderer.

The story telling is incredible. The entire book is organised as 3 separate parts. The final revelation is also quite surprising (although if you analyse it carefully, you might be able to arrive at the answer). The book is similar to "Five Little Pigs" in the sense that an attempt to find the murderer of Rosemary is made after a year of her death (although "Five Little Pigs" is much better in my opinion).

Overall, the book is an excellent read.
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