Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Top Ten Tuesday - Agatha Christie Opening Lines

Today I'm linking up with Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl which is all about lists.  Since lists are one of my favorite things this is one of my favorite linkups!  Today's topic is about opening lines.  I'm not really big on quotes or paying attention to opening lines so I thought I would pull some of my favorite Agatha Christie books and share their opening lines.  There's no real rhyme or reason for picking these then that they are some of my favorite mysteries!


Gwenda Reed stood, shivering a little, on the quayside.  - Sleeping Murder

Mrs Van Rydock moved a little back from the mirror and sighed.  - Murder with Mirrors

The memory of the public is short. - Lord Edgware Dies

It was five o'clock on a winter's morning in Syria.  - Murder on the Orient Express

In every club there is a club bore. - Taken at the Flood


The Espresso machine behind my shoulder hissed like an angry snake. - The Pale Horse

Iris Marle was thinking about her sister, Rosemary.  - Sparkling Cyanide

Nadina, the dancer who had taken Paris by storm, swayed to the sound of the applause, bowed and bowed again.  - The Man in the Brown Suit

That amiable youth, Jimmy Thesigner, came racing down the big staircase at Chimneys two steps at a time. - The Seven Dials Mystery

In my end is my beginning... That's a quotation I've often heard people say.  - Endless Night

Which opening line is your favorite?  Have you read any of these?

11 comments:

  1. The only Christie book I read is 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles' which I didn't really like and I don't remember the opening line from that. That 'Endless Night' opening sounds good. Perhaps I'll try to read that.

    Have a lovely day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the cover of Sleeping Murder! I've been wanting to read Agatha Christie.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I haven't read any of these yet, I just got into Agatha Christie so I look forward to reading them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a fun idea! I wouldn't call any of those attention grabbers exactly, but the espresso ine made me giggle.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The one that made me smile was the one about the club bore!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love Agatha Christie books in any which way. Thanks for this meme.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm afraid I don't read crime fiction so I've never read any of these. I never keep track of good opening lines and my memory is poor so I went rogue on the topic this week!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I really need to read Agatha Christie soon!

    ReplyDelete
  9. It's interesting to see opening lines from a bunch of books by the same author. It looks like Christie uses a variety of formats for hers, which is great. I've only read AND THEN THERE WERE NONE and MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS. I really should try more of hers.

    Happy TTT (on a Thursday)!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Interesting that a lot of these are what I would describe as observational quotes.

    ReplyDelete