Customer Reviews
Not a bad novel ! - By: Mr. Mg Reynolds, 01 Mar 2008 
This is a dark tale of suspense , twists & turns & drama containing characters of depth & substancein a well written easy to read novel . It shows the genius of Agatha Christie ! This will not send you to sleep ( unlike Five Little Pigs & Sad Cypress ). I know it does re-use the genesis of Lord Edgware Dies but it is great fun if you want a train or coach journey to pass that bit quicker . But as with Dead Man's Folly , Evil Under The Sun & Murder In Messomptania Agatha Christie could have added Hastings as Poirot with out Hastings is rather like Morse without Lewis or Holmes without Watson . Her failing as an author was that she created great characters like Supt Battle , Col Race , Miss Lemon , Chief Inspector Japp , Mrs Oliver & of course dear old Captain Hastings but did not use them often enough . When Sir Peter Ustinov filmed Murder In Three Acts ( a TV movie based on this book ) the decision to include Arthur Hastings was the right one because with the best willin the world Mr Satterwaite was alright but Hastings is the Watson of this enterprise . There was a brief rumour on IMDb web site that Zoe Wanamaker might play Mrs Oliverin a televised version of Three Act Tradegy which does sort of embrace the logic of what I have said . That is not hard fact - just an interesting bit of speculation about how this book may be filmed should David Suchet get around to itin the next few years .
Death at the Captain's table - By: Jane Baker, 20 Jan 2008 
Quintessential Christie. Recently I've been re-reading some of Christie's crime fiction & thoroughly enjoying myself. This I don't recall reading & I had to read itin 2 sittings - it drew me away from everything else & I totally forgot it was rainy January. This is originalin approach - 3 Acts with Dramatis Personnae listed at the start - even costume design & direction. Intriguing; mystifying, with Poirot as enigmatic as always. This is a must for all Christie followers.
Three Act Tragedy - By: Rich Milligan, 30 Oct 2005 “Three Act Tragedy” is well worthy of the title being split into three separate sections of the story which Agatha Christie even named “First, Second & Third Acts.” The theatrical theme is fully developed within the plot as it concerns the famous actor Sir Charles Cartwright.
***Possible Spoilers***
Sir Charles has retired to the quiet costal town of Loomouth & has organised a small party for a number of distinguished guests. There’s the eminent Harley Street doctor Sir Bartholomew Strange, the beautiful actress Angela Sutcliffe, Lady Mary Lytton Gore & her daughter, the curiously nicknamed “Egg”, Mr Satterthwaite a well known patron of the arts & several others. Also amongst the crowd is the beautifully turned out Hercule Poirot.
When during the serving of cocktails, one of the guests, Rev Babbington keels over & dies, no-one suspects anything more than a unfortunately accident. Sir Charles, who is love sick for Egg decides he has lost her to another & leaves the country for Monte Carlo. Whilst there he meets up with Mr Satterthwaite & they read of the news that Sir Bartholomew has also been killedin an event remarkably similar to the one that happened at Sir Charles’ housein Loomouth. The two immediately decide to return to England to investigate the matter, & when Mr Satterthwaite meets M. Poitrot alsoin Monte Carlo he lures the famous detectivein on their investigations.
As I say the book has a very theatrical feel to it, with the bulk of the investigation being carried out by Sir Charles who adopts the mannerisms of various characters to aid himin this. M. Poirot really sits on the sidelines a little & the main investigators use him as a sounding board to their various theories on what has really happened.
The key to the murder is a ruse that Christie has usedin other books (“Lord Edgeware dies” for example) but it’s still enjoyable & very nicely put together. The book also benefits from some interesting characters, Mr Satterthwaite is a fine example, & makes for great reading.
Three-Act Delight - By: David Holland, 10 Jan 2003 Two suspicious deathsin similar circumstances but with no apparent motive appeal to the well trained mind of the great Hercule Poirot.
I (like so many) watched (and enjoyed) many Poirot mysteries on TV & film but never actually thought of reading any of the stories until recently. Three-Act Tragedy was my first venture into the books of Agatha Christie & I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The plot revolves around the guests & staff who attended two parties (in particular, the people who were at both)in which there were similar deaths. The initial death was thought to be natural & only after the second was there any thought of murder. Unfortunately for the murderer, the famous detective Hercule Poirot (who was a guest at the first party) has decided to investigate the case.
I had not seen the TV adaptation of this book (if there is one) & therefore I was able to approach this mystery without knowing the ending, & it definitely made the book an intriguing read. There are the usual red herrings & plot twists you'd expect from Poirot, but up until he has his familiar gathering of the suspects you are not sure if the person you thought the murderer was 20 pages ago actually is (I got it wrong). Of course, once all is revealed it all makes sense.
This book was not a difficult read & once the characters have been established & the murders have been committed you can't help but turn the next pagein the hope to get another clue. Having enjoyed this book I went on to read one other Poirot novel (The Murder of Roger Ackroyd) & hope to read another soon.
