Still reading Towards Zero. I finally got hooked on page 42. It's an atypical Agatha Christie because: 1) it doesn't have Hercule Poirot, Jane Marple, or Tommy and Tuppence--it has, instead, Inspector Battle; 2) it has several plots that intertwine and eventually merge; 3) it is written in the style of Mary Westmacott's romances. Very few people realize that Agatha Christie's main influence is Anton Chekov--both his stories and his plays--in terms of structure, dramatic action and non-action, and psychology. Reading Towards Zero, to me, is as enjoyable as reading a four-act play by Anton Chekov.