Agatha Christie's Poirot: The ABC Murders
While most murderers try to hide from detectives, the killer inThe ABC Murderssends a series of letters to alert the famous Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot when and where the murders will be committed. Based on one of Agatha Christie's most ingenious plots, the film contains enough false clues to distract both detective and viewer from the murderer's true identity. As Poirot, David Suchet does not so much play the dapper detective as he inhabits him--his accent, his meticulous manners, and the scowl of concentration as his "little gray cells" solve the puzzle are all immediately familiar to readers of Christie's books. In this feature-length adventure, he is aided and abetted by his perennial sidekick, Captain Hastings (Hugh Fraser), and Chief Inspector Japp (Philip Jackson). Though Christie's novels spanned several decades, the PBSMystery!series has set all of its episodes in the 1930s; the art deco architecture and elegant costumes lend an air of sophistication that makes watching these videos a respectable guilty pleasure.DVD extras include biographies of David Suchet and Agatha Christie, challenging Poirot trivia questions, a filmography of all the PoirotMystery!episodes, and a link to the official Agatha Christie Web site.--Larisa Lomacky Moore