When penniless Michael Rogers discovers the beautiful house at Gypsy’s Acre and then meets the heiress Ellie, it seems that all his dreams have come true at once. But he ignores an old woman’s warning of an ancient curse, and evil begins to stir in paradise. As Michael soon learns: Gypsy’s Acre is the place where fatal “accidents” happen.
Blurb taken from Goodreads.
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I've always been a fan of Agatha Christie's work, and I've managed to read all of the Hercule Poirot stories in my time. Having loved them, I've been collecting other Christie books; specifically some of the standalone novels that don't have a specific detective. Already ticked off my list include And Then There Were None, Ordeal by Innocence, and Crooked House, and when I was given a lovely edition of Endless Night as a birthday gift, I knew that would be my next Christie venture.
Reflecting on this book, I have a lot of different feelings about it. It's definitely the least Agatha Christie-esque novel I've read by the Queen of Crime, and the story was definitely not what I was expecting. The actual story plods very merrily along until right at the very end. Right at the end is when the action happens. I enjoyed reading about the characters up until this point, but I wouldn't have said it was anything particular special. When the twist comes, however, it was very explosive, and it definitely made the book better. If it was shock factor that Christie was going for, then she definitely achieved her goal. I really did love reading about the little details that had led up to this point, and it was a really interesting idea. That being said, I didn't enjoy it as much as some of her other, more traditional novels that I've come to know and love.
Rating: ✫✫✫✫
SPOILER ALERT
The Story
It's difficult to know where to begin with this story. I think I need to split the story into two parts and dicuss them separately: the main bulk of the story, ending with the suspicious death. Then the final few chapters of the book, where the real events begin to unravel.
When Michael is introduced, he is entirely unremarkable, which, for the most of the book, makes for fairly dull reading. The story is really quite dull. It plods along, with Michael meeting Ellie, and them choosing to buy the house. Michael meets Ellie's family, and it's all pretty standard. The only real intrigue comes from the gypsy, who gives sinister warnings to Ellie about staying at Gipsy's Acre.
I made my way steadily through the book, with not really a lot of things to say about it.
And then Ellie dies.
And I thought to myself, 'ah, here we go.' I knew, as per Agatha Christie's novels in general, that the excitement would come, and there would be a number of clues that I had missed along the way. And come they did.
It turns out that Michael concocted the plan alongside Greta, fooling Ellie and planning to steal her money. Pretty standard, and I wasn't really awfully surprised that he turned out to be the culprit. Even though he was the main narrator in the story, we never really got to know him as a character. I always found these was something not quite genuine in him, so this didn't surprise me too much. If I am honest, I also guessed that Greta was maybe not quite what she seemed. I didn't expect the two to be working together, and I took a guess that Greta was the dark horse. Her working with Michael did surprise me. And Michael's unremarkable character became very remarkable in the very final pages of the novel.
What did surprise me was the way Michael's personality shifted at the very end. There was obviously a nod towards a mental illness, and that was the defining explanation for his off behaviour. I thought the way this reveal was written in the latter chapters was probably the most well-written part of the book. It was dramatic, surprising, exciting, and not at all what I was expecting. I thought that the reveal was that Michael and Greta had been working together. For Michael to then murder Greta and confess everything: that I was not expecting.
But what I really liked, and what I feel added another dimension to the story, was that Michael felt remorse over what he had done to Ellie. He recognised in her a softness, and a kindness. He had felt at home with her, and regretted what he had done to her, and to his life. The murder mysteries that I think make the most powerful stories are either the ones with villains so awful that they have no mercy, or the ones with villains who are surprising in their remorse. I felt like the way Michael's character had so many layers, and so many turning points, that it provided some really necessary depth to the book. The final couple of chapters pulled my rating from 3 stars to 4.
The Verdict
This was a really interesting book for me to review, because my feelings about it changed fairly dramatically right at the very end. I was just plodding along, finding the book very average. Then, bam. Shock ending. Not only that, but a very well written and cohesive ending that, surprisingly, aligned with the rest of the story. This didn't feel like two separate stories, which shows just how good the narrative was.
Not my favourite Agatha Christie by any stretch, but I appreciate that she was doing something very different, and I think it paid off.
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