Why Didn't They Ask Evans? [audiobook] (1934)

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? is vintage 1934 Christie, and so much fun. I recalled the story vaguely from my early days of reading Agatha Christie. I'd binge on four or five of her novels over a weekend and emerge rather confusedly, with various machinations and motives all mixed up in my head. That reading habit didn't make for great plot retention, but despite the fuzziness I remembered this title as being a particularly good one. I listened to the audiobook version read by Emilia Fox and thoroughly enjoyed it.

"Why didn't they ask Evans?" These are the last words of a dying man, who fell from a cliff near Bobby Jones's home. Bobby, a young ex-Naval officer, attaches no importance to the words until an attempt is made on his own life. By that time, Lady Frances Derwent—or, as we shall call her, Frankie—has decided that the man called Alex Pritchard didn't fall from the cliff. He was pushed. But why? And who is the mysterious Evans?

Yes, there are several farfetched plot devices (multiple impersonations, the hero's astonishing recovery after being poisoned, the deus ex machina also known as Badger Beadon, etc.). But the ride is so much fun, you just don't care. Frankie and Bobby are utterly appealing protagonists whose relationships and characters are drawn sparingly and believably. And the dialogue is splendidly amusing. I suspect Emilia Fox's reading gave it an extra edge.

Fox's narration is excellent, though I did have to get used to the slightly gravelly quality of her voice. She does wonderful character voices and I especially enjoyed the way she portrays Frankie.

Christie is generally one of my favorite mystery authors, having introduced me to the genre, and I'm finding her stories are even more enjoyable on audiobook. Good stuff. ( )

RATING: 3 ou 3.5 estrelas (entre?)Se calhar já li demasiados livros da Agatha Christie, mas este foi bastante fácil de deslindar. Desde cedo que os culpados me pareceram muito óbvios e a única coisa que manteve o meu interesse na leitura foi mesmo a identidade de Evans (que achei o toque mais genial do livro). As tentativas de incriminação de diversas personagens não me convenceram.Mas gostei bastante de Bobby e Frankie, os "detectives" desta história. ^_^ Foi uma leitura engraçada e como sempre com Agatha Christie, cativante. O mistério é, no entanto, bastante simples; definitivamente não é dos melhores ou mais intrincados da autora. No geral, uma obra de leitura rápida, mas que não manterá, talvez, os leitores em suspense como acontece com outros livros desta autora. As personagens precisavam de mais desenvolvimento e o mistério é bastante simples. ( )

my 50th book since joining library thing a year ago!! well, a year and 4 days...life always always gets in the way.

but 50 in a year...i didn't really try, and it's a low number...but its a nice round number...and reach 50 with the genre i first fell in love with, with one of my favorite authors...just puts a smile on my face :) ( )

Abridged on three CDs, and read by Jenny Funnell. This is a standalone mystery without any of Christie's regular characters. It features a pair of bright young things who become suspicious about the circumstances of an accident and decide to investigate. Naturally, they don't take their suspicions to the police, and in various other ways prove themselves too stupid to live, including walking into really obvious traps. None of which actually matters, because it's very amusing watching them being too stupid to live. Christie very gently sends up her characters while keeping them sympathetic. The dialogue leaves a lot to be desired, but I had a lot of fun picking my way through the red herrings. Not her best work, but still an enjoyable way to pass three hours. ( )

Fun to read..especially if you keep in mind the era, the culture, and the society it reflects. ( )

En cherchant une balle de golf, le fils du pasteur découvre, au pied des rochers un individu tombé de la falaise. Avant de passer de vie à trépas, l'homme ne dit qu'une petite phrase : « Pourquoi pas Evans ? » Le tribunal d'enquête, réuni le lendemain, conclut à l'accident. Un accident, c'est vite dit. Qui, dans ce cas, aurait eu intérêt à fourrer, un peu plus tard, huit grains de morphine dans la bière du témoin ? L'amie du garçon, la jeune comtesse Frankie, a son idée là-dessus. Et comme les enfants de l'aristocratie anglaise ont du temps à revendre, elle emploiera le sien à jouer, avec son petit camarade, les détectives amateurs...

Bobby Jones had no clue what to make of the dying man's last words. But they would send Bobby -- and his unlikely partner, Lady Frances Derwent -- on a death-defying chase in pursuit of a killer...

My Thoughts:

Agatha Christie has to be the ultimate ‘queen of crime’. I have only read a couple of her books to say that she is a such a big and well known author. This book is one of her stand alone and not perhaps one of her better works.

I did finish the book and read it very quickly but I did find that at times I was getting confused. I find that with AC she can have a lot going on and any of the characters could have been the culprit. With lots of red herrings and twists I fouind myself quite breathless trying to keep up. Some of the dialougue in the book now wouldn’t be quite ‘PC’, but the book is quite old.

An OK read but I think if I were to read another I may pick either a Poirot or Marple. ( )

This Agatha Christie novel came highly recommended, and I must admit that the appeal of reading and AC novel which doesn't feature either Poirot or Miss Marple was appealing, since I'd never indulged in any of those before. When a man is discovered at the bottom of a cliff in the last minutes before his death, the only clue to his demise are his last words: "Why didn't they ask Evans?". Bobby and Francis, two young inhabitants of the village where the presumed accident has taken place, can't resist the opportunity to uncover what aristocratic and thrill-seeking Francis hopes is a vile crime, and together they set about getting involved in what is a highly convoluted, yet satisfying plot, involving a young woman who's picture is found in the victim's pocket, and a suspicious temperamental doctor who runs a clinic for drug addicts. I would have given this mystery novel a higher rating were it not for the dialogue, which I found painfully bad. This was probably emphasized by the fact that I took in the audiobook version, but is in no way attributable to the narrator, who did a very competent job. Definitely recommended for Agatha Christie fans. Less so for newcomers. ( )

The words of a dying man “Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?” leads Bobby Jones and Lady Frankie Derwent to conclude a murder has occurred and sets them off on a race to solve the mystery. Why Didn’t They Ask Evans by Agatha Christie is a fast-paced, exciting story with a few twists and turns along the way to keep the reader engrossed.

The more of Agatha Christie I read, the more in awe of her I am. This book is quite different from both her crafty Hercule Poirot and her gentle Miss Marple stories. More of an adventure romp with extremely likeable characters. Even the villain of the piece is charming and rather likeable as he plots his dastardly deeds.

The adventure comes full circle when Bobby and Frankie discover who Evans really is. A story of murder, drug dealing, and forgery told only as Agatha Christie can. And of course, those two crazy kids, are they ever going to realize that they are meant for each other? At first glance this book could appear as rather a mess, but I think Miss Christie had her tongue firmly in cheek with the idea of giving her fans something different. Why Didn’t They Ask Evans is a top notch mystery and will definitely be on my list of favorite Agatha Christie books. ( )

When out playing a round of golf with the local doctor, Bobby Jones a man lying at the bottom of a cliff. Before he dies, the unknown man opens his eyes and clearly states "why didnt they ask evans?".

Bobby and his wealthy friend Lady Frances are then embroiled in an investigation as to what it all meant, who was Evans and who was the stunning woman who's photo was found in the dead man's pocket

To put it mildly--not one of Christie's best--and I am a fan who has rated books of hers five stars. I really liked it at first. Bobby Jones is a amiable young man, a vicar's son, who finds a dying man at the foot of a cliff. The man's last cryptic words were, "Why didn't they ask Evans?" Soon there's an attempt on Bobby's life and he and his childhood friend, Frankie, aka Lady Frances Derwent, are on the case. There's a great chemistry between them, wit and humor to be had in the tale, a breezy readable style, action and suspense, and of course I was drawn in by the mystery.

But there are a number of problems I wouldn't expect from a Christie, although I guess when you write over 80 novels in a career, some are bound to be misfires. One question that occurred to me early on and is a pet peeve in many a mystery is why they didn't immediately go to the police with their suspicions, rather than start sleuthing on their own. But then that might go nicely with problem number two--that they were both too stupid to live--on several levels. One being of the Jeez, don't-walk-into-the-obvious-ambush kind. Another even more serious was that the obvious villains...were obvious--but Christie's sleuths remain oblivious.

This is one Christie (the only one I can remember) where right from the first I met the characters involved I was sure whodunnit and was right. Although there were some ins and outs I didn't learn until the end. Despite their stupidity, I did like Bobby and Frankie and that and those loose ends I wanted to see tied up kept me reading--but really, below average for a mystery and seriously sub-par for the writer of Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None. ( )

For most of this book, I was considering it a three-star. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't my favourite Christie work either. But the ending, as wild and and action-packed as it is, bumped it up a star for the sheer silly fun of it all.

This was a pretty good book. The protagonists certainly don't lack pluck and resourcefulness, especially Lady Frances, who is able to turn her upper-class status to her advantage. You may be able to guess the ending (and I guessed part of the very end), but it's still a very fun read, especially as they get closer to the truth, when the exciting events come thick and fast.

And if you're trying to decide which TV adaptation to watch (both are titled "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?", which is a much better title for the book), I highly recommend the one with Francesca Annis and James Warwick as it is very faithful to the book and Annis and Warwick are such fun as an on-screen couple. ( )

The adventures of one Bobby Jones, fourth son of the vicar of Marchbolt, and his sleuthing partner, Lady Frankie.

Here we have two Christie mysteries (Sad Cypress & Why Didn't They Ask Evans?), both written around the same time, both make use of telephones and license plates and both have similar poison by morphia murders. I thought both were, as expected, fine mysteries with interesting twists and turns. Neither are the absolute best of Agatha Christie but the contrast between the two highlights just how great of a character Hercule Poirot is. Why Didn't They Ask Evans? comes across as an afternoon movie plot with its cast of Bobby Jones and Lady Frances doing the solving (barely) and Sad Cypress has the magisterial air of Poirot to give it a fine luster. ( )

A disappointing outing after the more sophisticated play on the classic detective story form found in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Murder in the Calais Coach/Murder on the Orient Express and the light self-aware touch shown in Murder at the Vicarage Christie returns to the pedestrian style, plotting and characterizations of The Big Four, The Seven Dials Mystery and The Secret Adversary. ( )

Justifiably forgotten "clever young things" mystery from 1933, with so many convolutions and about-faces I lost track. We are supposed to be charmed by the madcap vicar's son and his titled love-interest, but I wasn't. ( )

Synopsis: While playing a round of golf, Bobby Jones slices his ball over the edge of a cliff. His ball is lost, but on the rocks below he finds the crumpled body of a dying man. With his final breath the man opens his eyes and says, ‘Why didn’t they ask Evans?’

WHY DIDN'T THEY ASK EVANS is an interesting exploration of the impact of class differences in English society, at the same time as being an absorbing murder mystery. The original title is self-explanatory, but the title THE BOOMERANG CLUE comes from the fact that the first clue to the identity of the murderer is in fact the one that, when understood, actually counts.

Bobby Jones is the fourth son of a clergyman, at a loose end and without prospects because he has recently left the Navy. His fellow "detective" is the Lady Francis Derwent, well above him in social class, but a friend from childhood, when social station made no difference to their friendship. Frankie is a woman of means, with the leisure to pursue mysteries, a car at her disposal, and able to move in the spheres of the wealthy, and able to winkle information out of people in a way that penurious Bobby never could.

One of the themes of this mystery has to be that personal opinions can cloud your judgement as both Bobby and Frankie believe in the innocence of the person who turns out to be the murderer. If you want to read a real spoiler, and learn more of this story than I am going to tell you here, then you can do that on Wikipedia. Another of the lessons must be that true sleuthing is largely a matter of luck, and that culprits are not always brought to justice.

WHY DIDN'T THEY ASK EVANS has stood the test of time well I think, and largely held my attention, although I got a bit impatient to be finished in the last 30 or so pages, where Christie rather pedantically led me through a recount of all the plot points (just in case I had missed anything). This is a technique that Christie tended to use in most of her novels. ( )

One of Christie's most implausible, with a plot that turns on morphine addiction, a local rehab that may keep patients prisoner and a minor character who swoops in like Errol Flynn to save Bobby and Frankie at the last minute, then disappears again. These may sound like criticisms but they aren't- this is a mystery done at break-neck speed and Christie is having fun throwing in every unlikely plot twist she can think of. ( )

Interesting premise of a murder that is first thought to be an accident. Bobby and Frankie are fairly likeable characters and aren't as annoying as Tommy and Tuppence, which is a blessing. ( )

Bobby Jones is enjoying a round of golf when his ball goes astray. Chasing it down, he finds a dying man. Bobby is in time to hear the man's last words, "Why didn't they ask Evans?"

Bobby is sorry for the man, but ready to forget about the whole thing when someone tries to poison him. He enlists the help of his friend, Lady Frances, and together they try to solve the case. ( )

While golfing Bobby Jones and his partner find a man at the bottom of a cliff. it seems an accident, but when Bobby informs the man's relatives about his last words "why didn't they ask Evans?" he get's into trouble. First people try to get rid of him the nice way, than the hard way. Together with the aristocrat Frankie he tries to find out what is going on.
Nice book. Great plot and very likable characters. The end is a bit over the top, but Christie can be forgiven. ( )

This was one of the first Christie's I ever read, and thus I have a soft spot for it, even if the plot is a bit contrieved. ( )