Although I usually like Agatha Christie’s recurring characters (Poirot, Hastings, Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppenece), I can’t really say the same about Scotland Yard’s Superintendent Battle. He has appeared in several of Christie’s novels, mostly as a secondary character in a Poirot mystery, but I’ve never gotten a specific feel for what he’s like. I can’t remember his physical description, so I have no definite picture in my mind whenever the character appears.
As a result, I haven’t enjoyed past Battle books, such as The Secret of the Chimneys and The Seven Dials Mystery, and was therefore skeptical about how much the 1944 novel Towards Zero would appeal to me. But after a slow start, I found this book to be a surprisingly enjoyable read.
Plot summary (with possible spoilers): The novel opens with lengthy descriptions of two separate events that seemingly bear no connection to each other. First, we read about the botched attempted suicide by a man named Andrew MacWhirter. We get very few details about the circumstances leading up to his attempt, nor is there really a follow-up before Christie cuts to a scene at a private girls’ school. There, we learn that Supt. Battle’s daughter has been accused of a series of petty thefts at the school, and that she has actually confessed to the crimes despite the fact that she never stole anything. Again, there’s no follow-up before Christie gets to the main plot.
Wealthy old Lady Tresselian is having an annual September gathering at her sprawling Gull’s Point estate. Her guests include family members as well as acquaintances, and chief among them are Neville Strange, her late husband’s ward; Neville’s first wife Audrey Strange; and Neville’s current wife Kay. The presence of Neville’s ex as well as his current wife makes everyone uncomfortable, and causes a lot of tongues to wag, but there’s definitely a reason for this, so the careful reader would do well to pay attention.
Anyway, after a slow build-up, Lady Tresselian is found brutally murdered in her bed. Because she was wealthy and left nearly everyone in the house a substantial amount of money, there are plenty of suspects with the good old-fashioned motive of sheer greed. Superintendent Battle, who was vacationing nearby, arrives on the scene to investigate, and soon discovers that all of the evidence points to Neville Strange as the killer.
The only problem is, the case seems too easy. The killer appeared to be sloppy and careless, leaving behind clues that any amateur detective could follow. That’s when Battle gets suspicious and thinks that perhaps there is more to the case than meets the eye.
The rest of the novel then deals with the continuing investigation, and all of the different theories that Battle tests out. Christie gives the reader plenty of red herrings, making it difficult to guess the real answer before everything is revealed in the end.
My Reaction: I found Towards Zero a bit difficult to get into at first because Christie started out with those two scenes that (seemingly) had nothing to do with the main plot at all. Of course, by the end it all made more sense, but still….
Once the action shifted to Lady Tressilian’s estate, however, I soon became engrossed in everything that was going on. I couldn’t quite figure out what was up with Neville Strange and his two wives, but I knew that one (or all) of them would be involved in the crime, so I tried paying extra-close attention whenever they were around. Even so, I couldn’t guess the outcome of the mystery.
I thought this was one of Christie’s better novels, though I wouldn’t put it in my personal top 10 simply because I thought some of the characters’ actions were a bit hard to believe. I do have to say, though, that the whole idea of the murder victim not being the intended victim at all was a nice twist, and I loved the reasoning behind the obvious framing of Neville.
Overall, I thought Towards Zero was a worthwhile read. If you have the patience to stick with it through the slow beginning, then you’ll be treated to an interesting murder mystery with a unique solution!