In the pantheon of works by the illustrious British author and playwright Agatha Christie, The Seven Dials Mystery (1929) isn't especially well-known. This novel brings together the characters of one of Christie's previous novels, including Lady Brent, Lord Caterham, Bill Eversleigh, George Lomax, Tredwell, and Superintendent Battle. The novel takes place at a house party, during which guests play a practical joke on attendees involving a series of alarm clocks. After the prank goes wrong, tragedy, chaos, and murder ensue, turning what should have been a jovial party into something more sinister.
Unlike many of Christie's other works, The Seven Dials Mystery received largely negative reviews upon its publication. Writing negatively about the book, one reviewer in 1929 wrote: "It is a great pity that Mrs. Christie should in this, as in a previous book, have deserted the methodical procedure of inquiry into a single and circumscribed crime for the romance of universal conspiracy and international rogues." In modern times, the book was re-evaluated and written about more positively, especially after a new edition was published in 2010 and a T.V. series based on the novel was announced in 2024.
