A Murder is Announced vs The A.B.C. Murders: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Agatha Christie, Series, Detective, Classic, British, Thriller
A Murder is Announced
More
The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn, including Jane Marple, are agog with curiosity over an advertisement in the local gazette which read: 'A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 29th, at Little…
The A.B.C. Murders
More
There's a serial killer on the loose, bent on working his way though the alphabet. There seems little chance of the murderer being caught - until her makes the crucial and vain mistake of challenging Hercule Poirot to…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The A.B.C. Murders has the widest readership — 213357 ratings behind its score.
Affiliate links: we may earn a commission on purchases.
Scores by source
| A Murder is Announced | The A.B.C. Murders | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.0 (90291) | 4.0 (213357) |
| Hardcover | 3.9 (184) | 4.0 (1) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (1) | 4.0 (2) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (47) | — |
| Check price → | Check price → |
Reception
| A Murder is Announced | The A.B.C. Murders | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 90291 | 213357 |
| Editions | 127 | 142 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 44295 | 106266 |
| Reading it now | 3459 | 6947 |
| Written reviews | 6456 | 14392 |
| Wikipedia attention | 4774 | 7792 |
| Pages | 288 | 272 |
| Check price → | Check price → |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: A Murder is Announced or The A.B.C. Murders?
The A.B.C. Murders has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The A.B.C. Murders 4.0/5, A Murder is Announced 4.0/5).
Which is shorter to read: A Murder is Announced or The A.B.C. Murders?
The A.B.C. Murders is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The A.B.C. Murders (272 pages, ≈ 5 h 02 m); A Murder is Announced (288 pages, ≈ 5 h 20 m).
Which is harder to read: A Murder is Announced or The A.B.C. Murders?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — A Murder is Announced: Challenging; The A.B.C. Murders: Challenging.
Have both books been made into films?
A Murder is Announced: 1 film adaptation; The A.B.C. Murders: 5 film adaptations.