Towards Zero 

Towards Zero, a murder mystery written by none other than the great Agatha Christie herself, is truly a timeless read. Published in 1944, the book harbors plot elements well before its time. The book received nothing short of positive reviews, Robert Barnard describing it as “Superb: intricately plotted and unusual…highly effective story… good characterization…” It was one of Christie’s novels to be adapted into a play. The book remains to this day one of Christies most popular novels. Incidentally, this book is also the last appearance of Superintendent Battle in Christies novels, who unfortunately was shut away to make room for the public’s “stampede” for more Poroit novels.

The story begins by following the elderly Mr. Treves, who is held high in acclaim for his success in the practice of law. While discussing several famous cases with a group of other gentlemen lawyers, he receives an invitation to attend a gathering at the home of one of his old friends, the Lady Tressilian. While he can feel a shift in the air, as if recognizing that something ominous will soon occur, going so far as to state “Just walking over my own grave…”, he ultimately decides to attend. After his fateful decision, the novel shifts perspective to bring to light a series of events seemingly unrelated to the story of Mr. Treves, these consisting of Angus MacWhirther’s failed suicide and a wrongful accusation of thievery directed at Superintendent Battle’s daughter. However,  in true Christie- esque fashion, the essence of the novel’s plot lies in the group gathered at Lady Tressilian’s home - some prior acquaintances, others complete strangers to each other. This group includes Neville Strange, a tennis player with close ties to Lady Tressilian, and Neville’s current wife, the temperamental Kay Strange. The wrench in the machinery comes in the form of the presence of Audrey, Neville’s first wife, a pretty but mysterious woman who  has visited Lady Tressilian’s home nearly every year even after the divorce. The rest of the guests have various relationships with these four characters, ranging from friends to family to unrequited admirers. Mr. Treves, in an attempt to entertain the motley crew of guests by recounting a horrifying story of two children playing with a bow: One was killed in what appeared to be an accident, and the other child expressed their sorrow profusely at having caused the mishap. The case was not taken any further after the child’s expressions of grief. However, Mr. Treves believed that the surviving child had gotten away with cold-blooded murder. Even twenty years later, he explicitly states to the guests that he is certain he would recognize this child as an adult, as they had a physical irregularity impossibly to miss, and impossible to alter. Soon after his story, when Mr. Treves suffers a heart attack after being forced to climb several flights of stairs, due to what initially appeared to be a broken elevator, the mood in the mansion becomes uneasy. But when Lady Tressilian is assaulted and murdered with a blunt weapon in the middle of the night, Superintendent Battle is finally called in. Could there perhaps be something more to Treves's story? Filled with red herrings, suspense and complex plot twists, Agatha Christie’s “Towards Zero” is truly a fascinating and rewarding read.

This book presents an odd array of twists and turns, even stating at the beginning that “A murder begins long before someone is killed”. This statement gave me pause, as I recounted every single book I had read where the murder came first, and the events following detailed only the post-murder. Usually, these had involved a ridiculous amount of background exposition in the first few chapters, which had sometimes detached from the story. Towards Zero, as it begins quite a few days before the murder takes place, gives us time to get to know each individual character, each strained relationship, and more importantly, to develop a thorough understanding of the events taking place before the murder. After all, Agatha Christie’s novels are not just murder mysteries, they are philosophies, psychology books, insight into the mind of a murderer. It’s hard to believe that Agatha Christie was hailed for being such a kind individual, after reading her works. Her understanding of the criminal mind is so detailed, and appears to be so absolutely on point.

As I mentioned before, one of Christies most successful plot devices was the use of suspense; the type that would drive one to the brink of insanity, if they weren’t able to find a resolution. I exaggerate, yes, but the use was so completely effective.Perhaps what also made the book so suspenseful, was that any one of the characters had motive to be the killer. Much like her book “Mousetrap”, each one of the individuals in this novel had the capacity to kill, as well as the opportunity. Be it for inheritance or for revenge, their reasons ranged from tame to psychotic. But their reasons weren’t the only aspect to their character, Christie included snippets from their ordinary lives as well as paragraphs detailing their inner personalities, which made them seem more human in the readers eyes, instead of fantastical characters written into a novel. It was believable as well as fascinating, and because of this, it was all one could do not to become completely absorbed in the book, and read the entire novel in one sitting. 

One must truly commemorate Agatha Christie for creating such an awe-inspiring murder mystery novel, overshadowed only by her other works. The plot-twists were phenomenal, stunning even the most tame of readers, while her use of suspense kept the readers eyes glued to the page. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed a good mystery, or simply anyone who was willing to become absorbed in a good story, and be completely shocked by the last page. I look forward to reading more Christie novels in the future, and shall most likely start on one of her more famous “Poroit” novels soon.