Four, if you count the abridged BBC radio play of And Then There Were None, which was better than the book insofar as some (but not all) of the racism was softened. Being abriged does make it a better radio play, but I suspect it loses some of the nuance of the mystery--or perhaps this story is just more boring than the others.
Death on the Nile
I found the looping investigation of motivation and opportunity to be quite interesting. One thing I find less plausible in Christie's work, though, is the frequency with which women are scheming to kill people. I just don't think women kill that many people, not by directing their lovers to marry a rich woman and then kill the rich wife surreptitiously in order for her to later on marry her lover and share the inherited wealth. Maybe it's a British thing; the Brits in Christie's stories all seem to be white-knuckle desperate to do anything to improve their social class. In the version I listened to, the actor used the most incredibly annoying voice for Poirot, which might be true to the character but was not pleasant to listen to.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
I picked this up out of a Little Free Library in my neighborhood, and the next time I go for a walk I'll put it back so someone else can read it. I used to think Little Free Libraries were pointless, but the older I get the more walks I take, and the more I appreciate little neighborhood caches of old books, even if the books do have a tendency to get slowly destroyed by the damp. This murder is quite nice, with less of the outright racism or sexism, and a cunning puzzle at the center of it. I won't spoil the twist at the end, but I will say I appreciated it!
This one was my favorite of the Christie's I've read so far.
The Man in the Brown Suit
Too long, too racist. I listened to this on audio, and it was alright in some ways. I really liked the female protagonist for most of the book--before she fell in love with that idiot. Her bold insistence on being an 'adventuress' was naive, imperial, and unrealistic, but also fresh and endearing. She really stood out to me as an individual, and starting a murder mystery with an 'investigator' who is a foolish youngster determined to uncover a thrilling conspiracy that might or might not exist is just delightful. Unfortunately, the book's last half is set in South Africa, and the breathless, vivid descriptions of Victoria Falls and other scenery don't make up for the colonialism cringe.
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