Boek
Doem der verdenking
| Auteur | Agatha Christie |
| Eerste Uitgave | 1958 |
| Uitgave | 1974 |
| Uitgeverij | A.W. Sijthoff |
| Vorm | roman |
| Taal | Nederlands |
| Bladzijden | 208 bladzijden |
| Gelezen | 2004-01-02 |
| Score | 6/10 |
Inhoud
Jack Argyle is wegens moord op zijn moeder tot levenslang veroordeeld, maar na zes maanden overlijdt hij in de gevangenis. Aan zijn schuld heeft nooit iemand getwijfeld, tot er twee jaar na de moord ineens iemand komt opdagen die Jack een alibi had kunnen geven. Hij verwacht dat Jacks familieleden blij zullen zijn met het bewijs dat hij onschuldig moet zijn geweest, maar die beseffen direct dat de werkelijke moordenaar van mevrouw Argyle nog vij rondloopt.
Bespreking
One of Agatha's weaker novels
Jack Argyle is committed to a life sentence for the murder of his mother. He dies in prison a few months later of pneumonia. Nobody ever doubted that Jack was the murderer until after almost two years a witness turns up who can give Jack a watertight alibi. This witness is Dr. Arthur Cargary, a geophysicist who just returned to England from an expedition to Anrarctica. Unfortunately for Jacko, the night of the murder Dr. Calgary was hit by a lorry, and suffered a concussion which brought on partial amnesia. Now that the doctor regained his memory he hopes to free Jack Argyle of all blame by making a stand as a witness. But soon after his statement the family of Jack realizes that the real murderer is still free and possibly a member of the family.
Ordeal by Innocence has no particular features that leap out to the reader. It has a conventional murder-in-retrospect plot with an exceptionally elaborate depiction of family tensions. This focus is makes that the book sags in the middle, because the numerous characters all have to make page filling statements about their alleged innocence. At points I was really craving for a good sleuth like Poirot or Marple to spice things up, but no luck since a dull geophysicist had taken up the role of detective. It does not count as a good point for this book that it is clearly bigger than an average Agatha Christie detective story.
Strangely enough Agatha Christie claims that Ordeal by Innocence is one of her favorite novels. But believe me: if you do not aim to read all her books, you can simply skip this one.