Did they have serial killers in the 1930s? Of course they existed, Christie even makes reference to Jack the Ripper here, but I don't know if the modern concept of the serial killer, the killer who kills multiple people that he's never met before, for reasons that only make sense in his deranged brain, I don't know how popular that was in Christie's time. In the novel, she spends quite a lot of time talking about the psychology of such a person, mostly with the idea of hopefully being able to predict and warn the next victim. Poirot has multiple conferences with the police and an "alienist"; Poirot himself has always supported the idea of understanding the psychology of a criminal, but there are a few characters in this story who pooh-pooh that notion, who come from the "right is right and wrong is wrong" school of thought. These days, whenever I read a Poirot novel, I can't help but compare it to how such a crime would be treated on Law and Order, or, in this case, Criminal Minds.The concept is an unusual one, even for Christie. Poirot is receiving taunting letters from a killer. In each case the killer gives Poirot the date and place of the murder in advance. The first murder is of Alice Ascher, an elderly lady who keeps a small shop, not a very prominent crime. But shortly afterwards, the killer attacks a pretty young girl, Betty Barnard, and then a rich art collector, Sir Carmichael Clarke, and in each case he leaves at the scene of the crime an alphabetical railway guide known as an ABC, the same initials as those of the anonymous letter writer. Hence the various discussions about the mind of a "homicidal lunatic" and how to warn any potential future victims, and to catch the killer before he strikes again.I liked that this episode is faithful to the novel is almost every aspect. Due to the nature of the crimes, this is not one of the more light hearted episodes, which is a bit of a shame; these longer episodes need a little levity to relieve the grim tension involved. There is an amusing running joke about a stuffed alligator that Hastings has brought back from South America, and Suchet has some of his best moments when Hastings presents it to him as a gift. For me this episode was good for the same reasons that the book itself is good, but could have been better if they had found a few more ways to make it interesting.

I love episodes like Sad Cypress, Five Little Pigs and Peril At End House, but The ABC Murders deserves to be up there with the best of them. It was a near-perfect, top notch and thrilling episode. There are one or two slow moments, and before I realised that there was half an hour left I had the impression as I haven't read the book that I had been told too much, but these are the only problems I had with it. The plot is complicated with plenty of surprises, but is well constructed and well explained. The adaptation looks splendid, not in a sumptuous visual style like say Sad Cypress but in a dark haunting visual style like something like Hickory Dickory Dock. The music is enough to make the hairs stand up on your neck, it certainly did that to mine. The acting from all involved is exceptional, whilst David Suchet gives an impeccable performance as always as Poirot, it is Donald Sumpter who walks away with the acting honours in one of the best supporting performances in the history of the Poirot run. It is considered as one of Suchet's favourite Poirots, and you know what, it is easy to see why. It is superb. 9/10 Bethany Cox

A serial killer strikes in London: he selects his targets in alphabetical order of name and location. He also sends letters to Hercule Poirot, signing as "ABC", boasting about his "accomplishments" and challenging Poirot to find him.Reportedly this is one of the favorite Poirot episodes of David Suchet himself, and you can see why. Agatha Christie has rarely been more audacious in her misleading and manipulating the (reading & viewing) audience than she is here. Halfway through, you may feel a slight disappointment, that the film has told you too much; stick with it and you'll find out why this is not the case. They often say "seeing is believing", but in this story sometimes you shouldn't even believe what you can see with your own eyes! All this, and some priceless Poirot-Hastings interaction as well: a top-notch episode. (***)

The book is a good one and it has been well dramatized here. Donald Sumpter is excellent as the travelling salesman, Cust.It's unlike other Christies in that most of the victims are not wealthy or aristocratic. The scenes in the Andover shop and at Bexhill are (perhaps unintentionally) touching. The deaths are really sad -- which is almost never the case in a Christie book, where murder is only a chance for an interesting puzzle and the victim is quite often a nasty tyrant whom almost everyone wants dead. When Hastings is moved by the scene in Andover, Poirot brushes his comments aside, saying they must not succumb to sentimentality.Entertaining. Recommended.