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Five Complete Hercule Poirot Novels: ABC Murders / Cards on the Table / Death on the Nile / Murder on the Orient Express / Thirteen at Dinner
Novels included; Thirteen at Dinner/Murder on The Orient Express/The ABC Murders/Cards on the Table/ Death on the Nile.
663 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1980
62 people are currently reading
3380 people want to read
About the author
Agatha Christie
5,795 books74.9k followersAgatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
February 4, 2023
Some of the best stories out there for fans of Poirot.
There are links to individual reviews of each story below.
The A.B.C. Murders
Cards on the Table
Death on the Nile
Murder on the Orient Express
Thirteen at Dinner
Better known as Lord Edgware Dies.
There are links to individual reviews of each story below.
The A.B.C. Murders
Cards on the Table
Death on the Nile
Murder on the Orient Express
Thirteen at Dinner
Better known as Lord Edgware Dies.
August 22, 2021
Review of Thirteen at Dinner (12/18/20): While Poirot and Hastings are attending a performance of the impressionist, Carlotta Adams, the renowned actress Jane Wilkinson (aka Lady Edgware) approaches Poirot. It seems the lady would like very much to divorce her current husband so she can marry the wealthy Duke of Merton (and move even further up the social ladder). Ms. Wilkinson is used to getting her way and can't stand the fact that her husband is being so obstructive and refusing to grant the divorce. In fact, if Monsieur Poirot cannot convince him to divorce her, then she'll just have to jump in a taxi, drive up to the house, and kill him.
Despite the fact that Poirot does not usually dabble in divorce cases of any sort, he is intrigued and surprises Hastings by agreeing to visit Lord Edgware. But they both get a bit of a shock when Edgware declares that he can't understand what they're talking about--he's written to his wife telling her quite plainly that she's welcome to her divorce. Poirot senses that there is something peculiar going on even after he tells the delighted actress that all should be smooth sailing in the divorce department. He's proved right the next day when Inspector Japp tells him that Lord Edware has been murdered and both the butler and secretary declare that Lady Edgware did it.
It appears that a woman announcing herself as Lady Edgware arrived at the house, went into the library to speak with her husband, and left. Lord Edgware was discovered the next morning stabbed to death. Japp isn't worried about the case at all except for one small fact--he's been told that Poirot visited the dead man the day before his death and Japp wants to know just what's up. Well, he's a bit deflated to hear that Lady Edware's motive isn't nearly as strong--after all, she was going to get her divorce. But--still you can't deny the evidence of witnesses, now can you?
But then...he finds out that there's a roomful of witnesses prepared to swear that Jane Wilkinson spent the evening at a dinner party held at the home of Sir Montagu Corner. She never left the dinner table once except when she was briefly called to the phone for what seems to have been a prank phone call. So other suspects must be found. Lord Edware wasn't a particularly nice man--his daughter admits to hating him; he had thrown his nephew (and now the new Lord Edware) out of the house and cut off his allowance; and the butler and a sum of money recently withdrawn by the lord have now disappeared.
Poirot suddenly remembers Carlotta Adams and her very successful impersonation of Jane Wilkinson and becomes worried for her safety. He and Hastings rush to her rooming house, but are too late. Carlotta Adams is also dead from an apparent overdose of veronal. Somebody got Carlotta to impersonate Lady Edgware--but who? And whose hand held the knife that killed Lady Edware's husband? Poirot poses five questions that must be answered before he'll be able to identify the killer and he almost forgets about them when it looks like he finds the culprit by another means. Japp is happy with the initial solution, but Poirot is not and he goes back to his five questions once more.
This is a fine use of one of Dame Agatha's favorite ploys--impersonation. And getting to the bottom of who plotted the impersonation and to just what use it is put is the whole point and the fun of the thing. Of course, I've read this one before and have seen the Suchet version of it more recently, so I really wasn't fooled by the red herrings and distractions that Christie puts in the reader's way, but it was still enjoyable to watch her try. Christie is one of my many comfort reads and I am having a very good time working my way through her work (more or less in publication order).
*********
Review of Murder on the Orient Express/Murder in the Calais Coach (1/30/21)
I am currently trying to reread all of Agatha Christie's detective fiction in order of publication--something I have never done and have long wanted to try. When I first discovered her mysteries, I simply read them as I found them and didn't really pay attention to when they had been published. Some of her work I have read once and then never returned to--whether because I didn't like the particular plot as well or because I initially read it from the library and just hadn't added it to my personal collection. Others, such as this one, I have read and enjoyed many times. Some of these novels I can reread and her tricks still work on me if it has been long enough since the previous read--my memory gets more sieve-like as the years go by. Some are what I consider the "big" novels--where the solution is such that I would need to suffer from complete reading amnesia to be fooled again. This is one of the latter.
I last read this (under the Orient Express title) in 2015 and reviewed it in full at that time. For a much more in-depth look at my thoughts on the plot as well as on various formats (I had a regular train murder party--I read the book, listened to an audio version, and watched two filmed versions), please see the link above. This year's reading was pure indulgence. I didn't think deep thoughts about the plot or examine Christie's methods of clueing or look at all the subtle hints that were oh-so-obvious this time around (and think why on earth didn't I catch that when I read it the first time?). I just enjoyed watching Poirot do his thing and let his little grey cells do the work. I also had a running film going in my head with Suchet as Poirot (but not being so overly intense in his whole weighing of the guilt and justice thing as happens in his filmed version) and with the rest of the cast of characters as played in the 1974 movie. ★★★★★ every time I read it.
************
Review of The ABC Murders (8/26/20): Crime is terribly revealing. Try and vary your methods as you will, your tastes, your habits, your attitude of mind, and your soul is revealed by your actions. [Poirot]
A serial killer takes on Hercule Poirot and his little grey cells--sending taunting letters to announce their murders. The first letter tells Poirot to keep his eye on Andover on the 21st of the month. When the 21st arrives, Mrs. Ascher is is found bludgeoned to death in her tobacco shop. The next letter predicts a murder in Bexhill-on-sea...and Betty Barnard is found strangled to death on the beach. Each letter is signed A.B.C. and an ABC railway guide is found on or near the bodies. How far will the killer get through the alphabet before Poirot can bring his man to justice?
Relatives of the victims band together to form The Special Legion and offer their services to Poirot in an effort to help find the killer quicker. They have no faith in the police and, especially, in the rather arrogant Inspector Crome who seems to think he knows everything about everything. They gather together in Poirot's apartment to share what little information they have and to ask him to give them assignments to find out more.
The difficulty is that there are very few clues--other than a nagging feeling that Poirot has that there's something not right about the letters themselves. And then a possible villain--with the fateful initials A. B. C. is caught with numerous pieces of evidence on his person and in his room at a boarding house. But, again, Poirot believes there is something not quite right about the culprit they've been presented with. He has to go back to the beginning and discern just what it is about those letters that isn't right.
I enjoyed having Hastings come back from South American to go "hunting once more" (as Poirot puts it) with his old friend. The Poirot stories are so much better when he has his "Watson" by his side. Their exchanges were just humorous enough to prevent a serial killer mystery from getting too dark. It was also good to see Poirot show up the young, very-full-of-himself Inspector Crome who seems to think the elder detective is past it.
Christie tries something a little different with this one--switching periodically from Hasting's viewpoint to that of our possible villain. In fact, the whole thing has just a bit of difference--from the impersonal serial killings to the multiple viewpoints to Poirot working with The Special Legion. There are red herrings, but not quite in the way of things in a standard closed-circle mystery plot. It's really quite interesting and enjoyable.
********
Review of Death on the Nile (8/25/20): Linnet Ridgeway is the girl who has everything--looks, brains, money. And now she's got her best friend's fiancé. Jaqueline de Bellefort, poor in her own circumstances but desperately in love, had asked her friend to give Simon Doyle a job. Because as she declares to Linnet, "I shall die if I can't marry him! I shall die! I shall die! I shall die...!" She swears Simon is just perfect for the job of land manager for Linnet's new estate and Linnet agrees to look him over. When she does, she decides that he is just perfect...for her.
Next thing we know Linnet and Simon are married. They've chosen Egypt as their honeymoon destination and plan to spend a blissful month visiting the pyramids, looking at the Sphinx, and sailing down the Nile. But life doesn't always turn out as planned...there's little bliss to be found when everywhere they go, up pops Jackie. Annoying as can be, but not actually abusive or threatening. What can be done?
Also vacationing in Egypt is Hercule Poirot. When Jackie shows up again at the Cataract Hotel and Linnet spies Poirot out on the terrace, the heiress tries to hire him to get rid of Jackie. But there's nothing he can do (again, the broken-hearted girl isn't actually hurting anyone by vacationing in the same places as the honeymooners)...and he will not be hired by the imperious young woman whom he suspects feels more guilty than she will admit. He does, however, talk with Jackie about letting her anger go because he senses she is embarking on a dangerous journey.
Do not open your heart to evil....Because--if you do--evil will come...Yes, very surely evil will come...It will enter in and make its home within you and after a while it will no longer be possible to drive it out.
But Jackie is determined to make the honeymoon a miserable as possible. And, even, it seems, has contemplated murder. She shows Poirot a little pearl-handled pistol that sometimes she would love to put up against Linnet's head and just press the trigger--but as long as the persecution keeps rattling them, she won't.
The four of them wind up on the Karnak, sailing down the Nile with an assortment of interesting passengers. There is Linnet's maid (Louise) and her American trustee ("Uncle" Andrew Pennington) who just "happened" to run into the happy couple in Cairo. There is also a sex-obsessed romance novelist (Salome Otterbourne) and her unhappy daughter Rosalie; Tim Allerton and his mother; a member of the American high society (Mrs. Van Schuyler) and her entourage consisting of poor relation/companion Cornelia and a nurse, Miss Bowers; an offensively outspoken communist (Mr. Ferguson); an Italian archaeologist Guido Richetti; a solicitor Jim Fanthorp; and a famous Austrian physician Dr. Bessner. And..Poirot's old friend Colonel Race
One evening, a hysterical scene takes place between Jackie and Simon with the result that she shoots him in the leg. And then when Linnet Doyle winds up dead--from a pistol shot--suspicion naturally focuses on Jackie. But Jackie couldn't have done it. She was attended by the nurse all night after being dosed with morphine for her hysterics. Poirot and Race work together to investigate and soon learn that just about every passenger aboard has a possible motive for wishing Linnet dead. But who took the opportunity of a dropped pistol to make the wish reality?
Well, I wound up having a regular floating Christie party. I listened to the audio novel version read by David Suchet. I read the hard copy novel. And I ended my excursion down the Nile with the 1978 film featuring Peter Ustinov as our Belgian sleuth. Definitely one of my top ten Christie excursions--I was thoroughly baffled on first reading and I love way she is able to make clues point in several directions with what seems to be little effort (though I know she carefully plotted these things out) and nothing & nobody is ever quite what they seem.
**************************
Review of Cards on the Table (8/22/21): The flamboyant Mr. Shaitana is well-known for his parties, his rather sly sense of humor, and his collections. When he meets Hercule Poirot at an art exhibition, he reveals that in addition to collecting objets d'art he also collects types of people. He is particularly interested in what he considers to be the art of murder and tells Poirot that he knows of several perfect murderers--those who have killed and gotten away with it. He is delighted when the idea for a new party occurs to him. He will invite four of his collection of murderers as well as four experts in crime for dinner and a bridge party. What fun!
In addition to Poirot, Shaitana invites Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard, Colonel Race (presumably of the Secret Service, though one mustn't say so), and Ariadne Oliver, the famous author of detective novels. The supposed murderers are Dr. Roberts, Mrs. Lorrimer, Major Despard, and Anne Meredith. Shaitana lets certain suggestive statements slip during the dinner and Poirot watches for sudden intakes of breath or widening of the eyes. Then, they all sit down to bridge with the suspected murderers at a table in one room and the sleuths at a table in another. Mr. Shaitana doesn't play bridge and sits down quietly by the fire. When the evening draws to a close and the guests approach their host to say goodbye, they find him dead--stabbed with a stiletto from his collection. One of the suspected murderers has definitely murdered Shaitana. The four detectives take up the case in their own way. Battle follows the dogged order of police procedure; Colonel Race uses his connections to dig up information on Major Despard; Mrs. Oliver uses her author's knack of picturing every possible scenario and her friendly personality to interview Miss Meredith; and Poirot uses psychology, particularly the psychology of the game of bridge, to find the killer.
This particular Christie never comes to my mind when I'm thinking of my favorites--and, honestly, I haven't read it as often as those I do list as favorites. I don't think I've read it since I first read it back in the early '80s. But it really is quite good. Dame Agatha piles on twist after twist. Just when you think we've finally gotten down to who really did it, she shakes the kaleidoscope and we get another view of what happened. Knowing there were still quite a few pages to go didn't prevent me from being surprised (repeatedly).
I really enjoyed the premise of this one--pitting the four detectives against the four possible suspects--suspects whom, if we believe Shaitana, have already gotten away with murder at least once. It was also fun to follow the various detectives and watch them investigate in their own way. It's a shame we didn't get to see more of Colonel Race. He pretty much hands over his report on Major Despard and goes away. But we did get to see quite a bit of Battle and Oliver in addition to, of course, Poirot. A most unusually entertaining mystery.
Reviews first posted on my blog at links above.
Despite the fact that Poirot does not usually dabble in divorce cases of any sort, he is intrigued and surprises Hastings by agreeing to visit Lord Edgware. But they both get a bit of a shock when Edgware declares that he can't understand what they're talking about--he's written to his wife telling her quite plainly that she's welcome to her divorce. Poirot senses that there is something peculiar going on even after he tells the delighted actress that all should be smooth sailing in the divorce department. He's proved right the next day when Inspector Japp tells him that Lord Edware has been murdered and both the butler and secretary declare that Lady Edgware did it.
It appears that a woman announcing herself as Lady Edgware arrived at the house, went into the library to speak with her husband, and left. Lord Edgware was discovered the next morning stabbed to death. Japp isn't worried about the case at all except for one small fact--he's been told that Poirot visited the dead man the day before his death and Japp wants to know just what's up. Well, he's a bit deflated to hear that Lady Edware's motive isn't nearly as strong--after all, she was going to get her divorce. But--still you can't deny the evidence of witnesses, now can you?
But then...he finds out that there's a roomful of witnesses prepared to swear that Jane Wilkinson spent the evening at a dinner party held at the home of Sir Montagu Corner. She never left the dinner table once except when she was briefly called to the phone for what seems to have been a prank phone call. So other suspects must be found. Lord Edware wasn't a particularly nice man--his daughter admits to hating him; he had thrown his nephew (and now the new Lord Edware) out of the house and cut off his allowance; and the butler and a sum of money recently withdrawn by the lord have now disappeared.
Poirot suddenly remembers Carlotta Adams and her very successful impersonation of Jane Wilkinson and becomes worried for her safety. He and Hastings rush to her rooming house, but are too late. Carlotta Adams is also dead from an apparent overdose of veronal. Somebody got Carlotta to impersonate Lady Edgware--but who? And whose hand held the knife that killed Lady Edware's husband? Poirot poses five questions that must be answered before he'll be able to identify the killer and he almost forgets about them when it looks like he finds the culprit by another means. Japp is happy with the initial solution, but Poirot is not and he goes back to his five questions once more.
This is a fine use of one of Dame Agatha's favorite ploys--impersonation. And getting to the bottom of who plotted the impersonation and to just what use it is put is the whole point and the fun of the thing. Of course, I've read this one before and have seen the Suchet version of it more recently, so I really wasn't fooled by the red herrings and distractions that Christie puts in the reader's way, but it was still enjoyable to watch her try. Christie is one of my many comfort reads and I am having a very good time working my way through her work (more or less in publication order).
*********
Review of Murder on the Orient Express/Murder in the Calais Coach (1/30/21)
I am currently trying to reread all of Agatha Christie's detective fiction in order of publication--something I have never done and have long wanted to try. When I first discovered her mysteries, I simply read them as I found them and didn't really pay attention to when they had been published. Some of her work I have read once and then never returned to--whether because I didn't like the particular plot as well or because I initially read it from the library and just hadn't added it to my personal collection. Others, such as this one, I have read and enjoyed many times. Some of these novels I can reread and her tricks still work on me if it has been long enough since the previous read--my memory gets more sieve-like as the years go by. Some are what I consider the "big" novels--where the solution is such that I would need to suffer from complete reading amnesia to be fooled again. This is one of the latter.
I last read this (under the Orient Express title) in 2015 and reviewed it in full at that time. For a much more in-depth look at my thoughts on the plot as well as on various formats (I had a regular train murder party--I read the book, listened to an audio version, and watched two filmed versions), please see the link above. This year's reading was pure indulgence. I didn't think deep thoughts about the plot or examine Christie's methods of clueing or look at all the subtle hints that were oh-so-obvious this time around (and think why on earth didn't I catch that when I read it the first time?). I just enjoyed watching Poirot do his thing and let his little grey cells do the work. I also had a running film going in my head with Suchet as Poirot (but not being so overly intense in his whole weighing of the guilt and justice thing as happens in his filmed version) and with the rest of the cast of characters as played in the 1974 movie. ★★★★★ every time I read it.
************
Review of The ABC Murders (8/26/20): Crime is terribly revealing. Try and vary your methods as you will, your tastes, your habits, your attitude of mind, and your soul is revealed by your actions. [Poirot]
A serial killer takes on Hercule Poirot and his little grey cells--sending taunting letters to announce their murders. The first letter tells Poirot to keep his eye on Andover on the 21st of the month. When the 21st arrives, Mrs. Ascher is is found bludgeoned to death in her tobacco shop. The next letter predicts a murder in Bexhill-on-sea...and Betty Barnard is found strangled to death on the beach. Each letter is signed A.B.C. and an ABC railway guide is found on or near the bodies. How far will the killer get through the alphabet before Poirot can bring his man to justice?
Relatives of the victims band together to form The Special Legion and offer their services to Poirot in an effort to help find the killer quicker. They have no faith in the police and, especially, in the rather arrogant Inspector Crome who seems to think he knows everything about everything. They gather together in Poirot's apartment to share what little information they have and to ask him to give them assignments to find out more.
The difficulty is that there are very few clues--other than a nagging feeling that Poirot has that there's something not right about the letters themselves. And then a possible villain--with the fateful initials A. B. C. is caught with numerous pieces of evidence on his person and in his room at a boarding house. But, again, Poirot believes there is something not quite right about the culprit they've been presented with. He has to go back to the beginning and discern just what it is about those letters that isn't right.
I enjoyed having Hastings come back from South American to go "hunting once more" (as Poirot puts it) with his old friend. The Poirot stories are so much better when he has his "Watson" by his side. Their exchanges were just humorous enough to prevent a serial killer mystery from getting too dark. It was also good to see Poirot show up the young, very-full-of-himself Inspector Crome who seems to think the elder detective is past it.
Christie tries something a little different with this one--switching periodically from Hasting's viewpoint to that of our possible villain. In fact, the whole thing has just a bit of difference--from the impersonal serial killings to the multiple viewpoints to Poirot working with The Special Legion. There are red herrings, but not quite in the way of things in a standard closed-circle mystery plot. It's really quite interesting and enjoyable.
********
Review of Death on the Nile (8/25/20): Linnet Ridgeway is the girl who has everything--looks, brains, money. And now she's got her best friend's fiancé. Jaqueline de Bellefort, poor in her own circumstances but desperately in love, had asked her friend to give Simon Doyle a job. Because as she declares to Linnet, "I shall die if I can't marry him! I shall die! I shall die! I shall die...!" She swears Simon is just perfect for the job of land manager for Linnet's new estate and Linnet agrees to look him over. When she does, she decides that he is just perfect...for her.
Next thing we know Linnet and Simon are married. They've chosen Egypt as their honeymoon destination and plan to spend a blissful month visiting the pyramids, looking at the Sphinx, and sailing down the Nile. But life doesn't always turn out as planned...there's little bliss to be found when everywhere they go, up pops Jackie. Annoying as can be, but not actually abusive or threatening. What can be done?
Also vacationing in Egypt is Hercule Poirot. When Jackie shows up again at the Cataract Hotel and Linnet spies Poirot out on the terrace, the heiress tries to hire him to get rid of Jackie. But there's nothing he can do (again, the broken-hearted girl isn't actually hurting anyone by vacationing in the same places as the honeymooners)...and he will not be hired by the imperious young woman whom he suspects feels more guilty than she will admit. He does, however, talk with Jackie about letting her anger go because he senses she is embarking on a dangerous journey.
Do not open your heart to evil....Because--if you do--evil will come...Yes, very surely evil will come...It will enter in and make its home within you and after a while it will no longer be possible to drive it out.
But Jackie is determined to make the honeymoon a miserable as possible. And, even, it seems, has contemplated murder. She shows Poirot a little pearl-handled pistol that sometimes she would love to put up against Linnet's head and just press the trigger--but as long as the persecution keeps rattling them, she won't.
The four of them wind up on the Karnak, sailing down the Nile with an assortment of interesting passengers. There is Linnet's maid (Louise) and her American trustee ("Uncle" Andrew Pennington) who just "happened" to run into the happy couple in Cairo. There is also a sex-obsessed romance novelist (Salome Otterbourne) and her unhappy daughter Rosalie; Tim Allerton and his mother; a member of the American high society (Mrs. Van Schuyler) and her entourage consisting of poor relation/companion Cornelia and a nurse, Miss Bowers; an offensively outspoken communist (Mr. Ferguson); an Italian archaeologist Guido Richetti; a solicitor Jim Fanthorp; and a famous Austrian physician Dr. Bessner. And..Poirot's old friend Colonel Race
One evening, a hysterical scene takes place between Jackie and Simon with the result that she shoots him in the leg. And then when Linnet Doyle winds up dead--from a pistol shot--suspicion naturally focuses on Jackie. But Jackie couldn't have done it. She was attended by the nurse all night after being dosed with morphine for her hysterics. Poirot and Race work together to investigate and soon learn that just about every passenger aboard has a possible motive for wishing Linnet dead. But who took the opportunity of a dropped pistol to make the wish reality?
Well, I wound up having a regular floating Christie party. I listened to the audio novel version read by David Suchet. I read the hard copy novel. And I ended my excursion down the Nile with the 1978 film featuring Peter Ustinov as our Belgian sleuth. Definitely one of my top ten Christie excursions--I was thoroughly baffled on first reading and I love way she is able to make clues point in several directions with what seems to be little effort (though I know she carefully plotted these things out) and nothing & nobody is ever quite what they seem.
**************************
Review of Cards on the Table (8/22/21): The flamboyant Mr. Shaitana is well-known for his parties, his rather sly sense of humor, and his collections. When he meets Hercule Poirot at an art exhibition, he reveals that in addition to collecting objets d'art he also collects types of people. He is particularly interested in what he considers to be the art of murder and tells Poirot that he knows of several perfect murderers--those who have killed and gotten away with it. He is delighted when the idea for a new party occurs to him. He will invite four of his collection of murderers as well as four experts in crime for dinner and a bridge party. What fun!
In addition to Poirot, Shaitana invites Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard, Colonel Race (presumably of the Secret Service, though one mustn't say so), and Ariadne Oliver, the famous author of detective novels. The supposed murderers are Dr. Roberts, Mrs. Lorrimer, Major Despard, and Anne Meredith. Shaitana lets certain suggestive statements slip during the dinner and Poirot watches for sudden intakes of breath or widening of the eyes. Then, they all sit down to bridge with the suspected murderers at a table in one room and the sleuths at a table in another. Mr. Shaitana doesn't play bridge and sits down quietly by the fire. When the evening draws to a close and the guests approach their host to say goodbye, they find him dead--stabbed with a stiletto from his collection. One of the suspected murderers has definitely murdered Shaitana. The four detectives take up the case in their own way. Battle follows the dogged order of police procedure; Colonel Race uses his connections to dig up information on Major Despard; Mrs. Oliver uses her author's knack of picturing every possible scenario and her friendly personality to interview Miss Meredith; and Poirot uses psychology, particularly the psychology of the game of bridge, to find the killer.
This particular Christie never comes to my mind when I'm thinking of my favorites--and, honestly, I haven't read it as often as those I do list as favorites. I don't think I've read it since I first read it back in the early '80s. But it really is quite good. Dame Agatha piles on twist after twist. Just when you think we've finally gotten down to who really did it, she shakes the kaleidoscope and we get another view of what happened. Knowing there were still quite a few pages to go didn't prevent me from being surprised (repeatedly).
I really enjoyed the premise of this one--pitting the four detectives against the four possible suspects--suspects whom, if we believe Shaitana, have already gotten away with murder at least once. It was also fun to follow the various detectives and watch them investigate in their own way. It's a shame we didn't get to see more of Colonel Race. He pretty much hands over his report on Major Despard and goes away. But we did get to see quite a bit of Battle and Oliver in addition to, of course, Poirot. A most unusually entertaining mystery.
Reviews first posted on my blog at links above.
May 23, 2010
Perfect collection for any Agatha Christie newbie! Avenel Books have put together the very best Hercule Poirot stories in one collection. The stories found here are "Death on the Nile", "Murder on the Orient Express", "The ABC Murders", "Cards on the Table", and "Thirteen at Dinner". The only title that doesn't deserve a 5-star rating is "Cards"--that gets only a 2 or a 3. "Thirteen at Dinner" (the US title) is more commonly known as "Lord Edgware Dies". This is a great example of the best writing Agatha provides and treats us with the greatest plots!
June 10, 2016
Favorite Agatha Christie & Hercule Poirot Collection...
This is a collection of five Hercule Poirot mysteries by Agatha Christie. In 2013 I read all of her works and I enjoyed all of them. These five stories are some of my favorites of Poirot's. I normally don't re-read a lot of books but for my 2016 Summer Bingo Challenge I decided to read "Thirteen at Dinner" for my 'Favorite Re-Read' square. I'm so glad I did! It's made me realize I should re-read more often.
Thirteen at Dinner is a fun mystery about an actress, Jane Wilkinson, who asks Poirot to help her get rid of her husband so she can marry someone else. After her husband is murdered, she then asks Poirot again for his help when she is spotted at her husband's house, while also attending a dinner party with thirteen other very important guests, hence the title Thirteen at Dinner. I really can't tell you much else without giving too much away so I'll just say if you've never took the time to read Agatha Christie's books, you should put it on your list of things to do before you die! You won't find another mystery writer like her!
This is a collection of five Hercule Poirot mysteries by Agatha Christie. In 2013 I read all of her works and I enjoyed all of them. These five stories are some of my favorites of Poirot's. I normally don't re-read a lot of books but for my 2016 Summer Bingo Challenge I decided to read "Thirteen at Dinner" for my 'Favorite Re-Read' square. I'm so glad I did! It's made me realize I should re-read more often.
Thirteen at Dinner is a fun mystery about an actress, Jane Wilkinson, who asks Poirot to help her get rid of her husband so she can marry someone else. After her husband is murdered, she then asks Poirot again for his help when she is spotted at her husband's house, while also attending a dinner party with thirteen other very important guests, hence the title Thirteen at Dinner. I really can't tell you much else without giving too much away so I'll just say if you've never took the time to read Agatha Christie's books, you should put it on your list of things to do before you die! You won't find another mystery writer like her!
August 15, 2019
This is an excellent compilation of five of Agatha Christies most popular detective, the Hercule Poirot mysteries. This collection makes for wonderful summer reading.
September 18, 2009
This is my first Agatha Christie book and I'm really enjoying it so far. There is good humor in it, so much that I've laughed out a few times. :)
Finished Thirteen at Dinner last night (Sept 5). It was really good - had me guessing the whole time who the perp was. I like mysteries like that. Great character descriptions.
Finished Murder on the Orient Express and again enjoyed it a lot. I don't plan on reading the other 3 books in this set of novels because I have to return it to the library that was on loan from another area library. I am happy to have read some of Agatha Christie's novels and plan to read more in the future!
Finished Thirteen at Dinner last night (Sept 5). It was really good - had me guessing the whole time who the perp was. I like mysteries like that. Great character descriptions.
Finished Murder on the Orient Express and again enjoyed it a lot. I don't plan on reading the other 3 books in this set of novels because I have to return it to the library that was on loan from another area library. I am happy to have read some of Agatha Christie's novels and plan to read more in the future!
January 26, 2011
Convalescing from pneumonia, I've been on an Agatha Christie marathon. My children now accuse me of archaic turns of phrase and melancholy leisure hours spent consuming hot teas and fiction. I'd not remembered how refreshingly dignified and cultured Agatha Christie's tales are. Yet, offering a glimpse into the ethnic stereotyping of yesterday's society, written in the 1930'3 many of them, I ponder the influences and repercussions of those sentiments upon the great historical pages of the world. Taken lightly, however,they are a bit of sugar to season the healthful stimulation of my "little grey cells."
July 19, 2012
I became unhealthily obsessed with this book while bedridden with a cold in March. When my sister accidentally took it home with her, I realized I had a problem. This led to getting the all-star 1974 movie adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express on Netflix, which was totally hilarious ("I believe, when you said no, you really meant yes!") and features Lauren Bacall's amazing Art Deco sequined jacket.
October 7, 2024
So, this isn’t an NLS cartridge buster. This is a box set that a publisher released in print in 1980. I’m going to break this down and review each book. I thoroughly enjoyed all of these, and the narrator did a great job.
The first book in the compilation is Thirteen at Dinner. It’s also known as Lord Edgeware Dies. Poirot and his assistant, Hastings, are about to dine when a woman approaches his table and insists that she see him immediately. She even has his evening meal moved to her hotel suite so she can talk to him. She wants a divorce that her husband won’t give her. She insists that Poirot persuade her husband to grant the divorce. Naturally, he refuses, and she threatens to kill the guy if she can’t get the divorce.
When Poirot meets with the recalcitrant husband, he immediately agrees to the divorce, insisting that his views have changed. He insisted he sent her a letter to that intent, but Jane Wilkinson, the would-be divorcee, claims she never got such a letter. Poirot surmises that someone doesn’t want the marriage dissolved, and that could be why Jane never got the letter.
This is full of suspects and possibilities, and I bounced from character to character—something Poirot takes a dim view of in this book—and the ending surprised me. But it made sense. This was an easy-to-follow, excellent mystery.
Murder On the Orient Express is the second book in the compilation. It’s arguably one of Christie’s most famous mysteries. They did a 2017 movie version, and while I’m not part of the old-time radio cognoscenti, I can’t imagine there isn’t an old-time radio version of it out there somewhere. For all I know the CBS Radio Mystery Theater may have even taken a crack at it.
Poirot boards a train in Syria that takes him to Turkey where he changes to the Orient Express. It is unusually full for winter, and a cold winter it is. Among the passengers is Samuel Ratchett, an American who attempts to convince Poirot that someone wants to murder him. Something about the man disturbs Poirot enough that he refuses to help protect the man. A few pages later, while the train is stuck in snow, someone murders Ratchett.
This is a wonderful locked-room mystery. There are no footprints in the snow outside the train that would indicate a killer’s escape. Poirot assumes the killer remains on the train, and he must figure out who the killer is. This is Christie at her best. There’s no way I figured out that ending. If the book had any drawback, it is that the list of characters was so extensive that I had to take notes on their names and relationships to one another. That’s rare for me to have to do that, but it was necessary with this book. Still, Christie crafted the ending so cleverly you can’t miss reading it even if you must pay a bit more attention than normal to some of the characters.
The third book in the compilation is The A.B.C. Murders. This is unusual in that it portrays a serial killer who murders people based on the first letter in their last name and leaves a railroad schedule on each of the bodies. It’s largely told from the perspective of Poirot’s long-time friend, Hastings, who returns to England after some time in Argentina. The two friends catch up, and Poirot shows hastings the first letter he receives. It announces a murder on a specific day. When that day arrives, Alice Asher brutally dies. The cops want the husband to be guilty, and there are plenty of reasons why that makes sense, but that’s not how it works.
There’s something creepy about receiving letters that announce the day and location of upcoming murders. Naturally, Poirot is under pressure to solve this one as quickly as he can.
Christie’s plots may feel formulaic, but they’re so different from one another that you can’t help but immerse yourself in the storyline and celebrate her excellence as each book ends.
The fourth book in the compilation is Cards on the Table. In this book, Mr. Shaitana invites Poirot to a party at which are four people whom Shaitana claims have committed murder in the past. Poirot is reluctant to go, as you might expect, and while the guests play bridge, someone murders Shaitana in full view of the attendees.
Fortunately for Poirot, he knows some of the guests, and he’s sure they aren’t the killers. Ariadne Oliver, A FEMINIST AND MYSTERY WRITER, Colonel Race, who worked in British intelligence, and Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard didn’t do it. But there are four other people in the room who could have, and rumor has it that all four of them had murdered before.
I loved the drama of this book. Imagine it! You’re in a room, everyone is playing Bridge, it’s quiet in there, and one of the players steps away from the game long enough to stab the host of the party to death. Wow! That scene will stay with you a long time.
I’ve never played, nor do I understand the game of Bridge. It might have helped to have that understanding. Still, I loved the nature of the investigation. The plus-sized Ariadne Oliver fascinated me. She talks candidly in the book about life as a female mystery writer, and you can’t help but wonder if Christie isn’t speaking through Ariadne Oliver here.
My guess at who killed the host of the party was accurate to my surprise. But that didn’t take away the sheer fun of investigating with these four people. None of the interviews get too deep in the weeds, and they provide you with good information that will help you stay engaged with the mystery.
The final book in the compilation is Death on the Nile.
I loved this book because I could easily follow the characters and because the ending completely evaded me until the little mustachioed egghead chose to empty his little gray cells and fill me in.
Jacqueline de Bellefort is fiercely in love with Simon Coyle. She assumes he feels the same, but Simon is far less amorous than she is, and the prospect of marrying her without money leaves him largely unsettled.
Linnet Ridgeway is a remarkable young heiress who has it all or so it seems. She is highly attractive, has a remarkable head for business, is managing her assets well, and is a brilliant, lovely 20-year-old as the book opens. Her best friend in all the world is Jacqueline de Bellefort. Eager to introduce love-of-her-live Simon to her bestie, Jacqueline arranges the meeting. Simon is smitten with Linett’s money; Linett is smitten with Simon. She ignores that twinge of conscience that warns her she’s about to step into something deeper and uglier than she should. She brings Jacqueline’s hopes and dreams to a screaming halt when she deliberately steals Simon for herself.
It's honeymoon time for the young couple who has it all, and it is rage and bitter grief time for the once-and-former bestie who now has nothing. Jacqueline rather publicly threatens to murder Linett, and while the newly weds are on their honeymoon on a cruise down the Nile River, someone does exactly that. The person puts a gun to Linett’s head while she’s asleep and kills her instantly.
This is major fun because you get to really apply yourself to figuring out who could have killed her. Before you hit the back cover, two more people will needlessly and brutally die.
The plot to this kept me fully engaged. Some reviewers think it’s maybe a couple of hours too long, and I guess you could have trimmed an hour or so off without much loss, but I’m glad the edition I read from the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled was full and unabridged.
The first book in the compilation is Thirteen at Dinner. It’s also known as Lord Edgeware Dies. Poirot and his assistant, Hastings, are about to dine when a woman approaches his table and insists that she see him immediately. She even has his evening meal moved to her hotel suite so she can talk to him. She wants a divorce that her husband won’t give her. She insists that Poirot persuade her husband to grant the divorce. Naturally, he refuses, and she threatens to kill the guy if she can’t get the divorce.
When Poirot meets with the recalcitrant husband, he immediately agrees to the divorce, insisting that his views have changed. He insisted he sent her a letter to that intent, but Jane Wilkinson, the would-be divorcee, claims she never got such a letter. Poirot surmises that someone doesn’t want the marriage dissolved, and that could be why Jane never got the letter.
This is full of suspects and possibilities, and I bounced from character to character—something Poirot takes a dim view of in this book—and the ending surprised me. But it made sense. This was an easy-to-follow, excellent mystery.
Murder On the Orient Express is the second book in the compilation. It’s arguably one of Christie’s most famous mysteries. They did a 2017 movie version, and while I’m not part of the old-time radio cognoscenti, I can’t imagine there isn’t an old-time radio version of it out there somewhere. For all I know the CBS Radio Mystery Theater may have even taken a crack at it.
Poirot boards a train in Syria that takes him to Turkey where he changes to the Orient Express. It is unusually full for winter, and a cold winter it is. Among the passengers is Samuel Ratchett, an American who attempts to convince Poirot that someone wants to murder him. Something about the man disturbs Poirot enough that he refuses to help protect the man. A few pages later, while the train is stuck in snow, someone murders Ratchett.
This is a wonderful locked-room mystery. There are no footprints in the snow outside the train that would indicate a killer’s escape. Poirot assumes the killer remains on the train, and he must figure out who the killer is. This is Christie at her best. There’s no way I figured out that ending. If the book had any drawback, it is that the list of characters was so extensive that I had to take notes on their names and relationships to one another. That’s rare for me to have to do that, but it was necessary with this book. Still, Christie crafted the ending so cleverly you can’t miss reading it even if you must pay a bit more attention than normal to some of the characters.
The third book in the compilation is The A.B.C. Murders. This is unusual in that it portrays a serial killer who murders people based on the first letter in their last name and leaves a railroad schedule on each of the bodies. It’s largely told from the perspective of Poirot’s long-time friend, Hastings, who returns to England after some time in Argentina. The two friends catch up, and Poirot shows hastings the first letter he receives. It announces a murder on a specific day. When that day arrives, Alice Asher brutally dies. The cops want the husband to be guilty, and there are plenty of reasons why that makes sense, but that’s not how it works.
There’s something creepy about receiving letters that announce the day and location of upcoming murders. Naturally, Poirot is under pressure to solve this one as quickly as he can.
Christie’s plots may feel formulaic, but they’re so different from one another that you can’t help but immerse yourself in the storyline and celebrate her excellence as each book ends.
The fourth book in the compilation is Cards on the Table. In this book, Mr. Shaitana invites Poirot to a party at which are four people whom Shaitana claims have committed murder in the past. Poirot is reluctant to go, as you might expect, and while the guests play bridge, someone murders Shaitana in full view of the attendees.
Fortunately for Poirot, he knows some of the guests, and he’s sure they aren’t the killers. Ariadne Oliver, A FEMINIST AND MYSTERY WRITER, Colonel Race, who worked in British intelligence, and Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard didn’t do it. But there are four other people in the room who could have, and rumor has it that all four of them had murdered before.
I loved the drama of this book. Imagine it! You’re in a room, everyone is playing Bridge, it’s quiet in there, and one of the players steps away from the game long enough to stab the host of the party to death. Wow! That scene will stay with you a long time.
I’ve never played, nor do I understand the game of Bridge. It might have helped to have that understanding. Still, I loved the nature of the investigation. The plus-sized Ariadne Oliver fascinated me. She talks candidly in the book about life as a female mystery writer, and you can’t help but wonder if Christie isn’t speaking through Ariadne Oliver here.
My guess at who killed the host of the party was accurate to my surprise. But that didn’t take away the sheer fun of investigating with these four people. None of the interviews get too deep in the weeds, and they provide you with good information that will help you stay engaged with the mystery.
The final book in the compilation is Death on the Nile.
I loved this book because I could easily follow the characters and because the ending completely evaded me until the little mustachioed egghead chose to empty his little gray cells and fill me in.
Jacqueline de Bellefort is fiercely in love with Simon Coyle. She assumes he feels the same, but Simon is far less amorous than she is, and the prospect of marrying her without money leaves him largely unsettled.
Linnet Ridgeway is a remarkable young heiress who has it all or so it seems. She is highly attractive, has a remarkable head for business, is managing her assets well, and is a brilliant, lovely 20-year-old as the book opens. Her best friend in all the world is Jacqueline de Bellefort. Eager to introduce love-of-her-live Simon to her bestie, Jacqueline arranges the meeting. Simon is smitten with Linett’s money; Linett is smitten with Simon. She ignores that twinge of conscience that warns her she’s about to step into something deeper and uglier than she should. She brings Jacqueline’s hopes and dreams to a screaming halt when she deliberately steals Simon for herself.
It's honeymoon time for the young couple who has it all, and it is rage and bitter grief time for the once-and-former bestie who now has nothing. Jacqueline rather publicly threatens to murder Linett, and while the newly weds are on their honeymoon on a cruise down the Nile River, someone does exactly that. The person puts a gun to Linett’s head while she’s asleep and kills her instantly.
This is major fun because you get to really apply yourself to figuring out who could have killed her. Before you hit the back cover, two more people will needlessly and brutally die.
The plot to this kept me fully engaged. Some reviewers think it’s maybe a couple of hours too long, and I guess you could have trimmed an hour or so off without much loss, but I’m glad the edition I read from the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled was full and unabridged.
December 27, 2020
Delightful collection, and looking forward to those haven't yet read.
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ABC Murders
What one recalls vividly, after several decades and more - not half a century yet, perhaps - of having read most of Christie, including this, is about how a good detective reads about the alphabetical order of three murders happening, manages to guess the next, and solves which was the real one, thereby solving who was behind it all - alphabetical twist being merely to throw dust in the eye, so to speak.
If one recalls correctly, D was real, E was prevented, and case solved.
December 27, 2020.
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Cards on the Table
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Death on the Nile
One of the most famous from this writer, not the least due to the spectacular film - the story does lend itself to a spectacular film, rather. A beautiful young woman who is a rich heiress, with a brand new handsome bridegroom, setting out on her honeymoon - only, he had unceremoniously ditched his previous lover when he saw the beauty he married, and it so happened the two young women had been best friends, in fact that is how the couple had met. Now, the spurned lover is haunting them on the honeymoon, she is there everywhere they can and do go, no matter how carefully they camouflage their plans. Finally they are on a cruise on the Nile together, and she joins the cruise just as they are congratualting each other. Now there is no escape. And then begin the deaths...
October 21, 2008.
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Murder on the Orient Express
Another one from the writer that lends to a spectacular film - with the spectacular setting and the high profile story of a murder on the famous Orient Express from Istanbul to Paris, discovered while the snow has made the train stop, since a pass in the mountains in untraversable. There are a whole lot of charcters that could have done it - and the story unfolds to say what motive who had, as Monsieur Poirot happens to be at hand travelling on the train, willing and ready to conduct the investigation.
October 18, 2008.
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Thirteen at Dinner
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ABC Murders
What one recalls vividly, after several decades and more - not half a century yet, perhaps - of having read most of Christie, including this, is about how a good detective reads about the alphabetical order of three murders happening, manages to guess the next, and solves which was the real one, thereby solving who was behind it all - alphabetical twist being merely to throw dust in the eye, so to speak.
If one recalls correctly, D was real, E was prevented, and case solved.
December 27, 2020.
.................................
Cards on the Table
.................................
Death on the Nile
One of the most famous from this writer, not the least due to the spectacular film - the story does lend itself to a spectacular film, rather. A beautiful young woman who is a rich heiress, with a brand new handsome bridegroom, setting out on her honeymoon - only, he had unceremoniously ditched his previous lover when he saw the beauty he married, and it so happened the two young women had been best friends, in fact that is how the couple had met. Now, the spurned lover is haunting them on the honeymoon, she is there everywhere they can and do go, no matter how carefully they camouflage their plans. Finally they are on a cruise on the Nile together, and she joins the cruise just as they are congratualting each other. Now there is no escape. And then begin the deaths...
October 21, 2008.
.................................
Murder on the Orient Express
Another one from the writer that lends to a spectacular film - with the spectacular setting and the high profile story of a murder on the famous Orient Express from Istanbul to Paris, discovered while the snow has made the train stop, since a pass in the mountains in untraversable. There are a whole lot of charcters that could have done it - and the story unfolds to say what motive who had, as Monsieur Poirot happens to be at hand travelling on the train, willing and ready to conduct the investigation.
October 18, 2008.
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Thirteen at Dinner
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September 16, 2020
I've long been a fan of Hercule Poirot, but my experience was limited to the BBC versions. This was my first dip into the stories behind the theatricals. This book includes "Death on the Nile," "Murder on the Orient Express," "The ABC Murders," "Cards on the Table," and "Thirteen at Dinner." The stories are just purely a pleasure to read. Christie is a master of the pared down mystery - she's clearly having fun, and the reader does, too. I appreciated the democratic stance Christie takes towards her characters - the poor, the downtrodden, the uneducated, the racial minority, the women - all are clever enough to commit the crimes Poirot investigates. Not your existential modern mystery, these are stories of integrity - Poirot only works for people he can respect, and even the murderers come across as lucid - their motivation is exposed and is even understandable, if not legal. Once the murderer is confronted (always one of my favorite parts), they capitulate in a very pleasing well mannered, British way that is rather unrealistic but pleasing none the less.
September 29, 2023
Nobody does red herrings and brilliant epiphanies like Agatha Christie. Even though I've read Murder On The Orient Express about five times now, it's still thrilling when Poirot says, "And then, Messieurs, I saw light. They were all in it." In retrospect, it seems obvious from the beginning, but that's the whole point of these mysteries: we are all given the same information as Poirot and we could proceed along the same lines, but we don't use our "little grey cells" as efficiently as he does. Of course, it's all Christie putting the whole thing together ahead of time and giving her Belgian detective the advantage of being in the right head space at the right time, but it still works. It really does. I had not read Cards On The Table or The ABC Murders before, so I was surprised by the sudden deliveries of many revelations right at the end, before the actual murderer (or, in the case of Cards, more than one murderer) is identified. Also, in both those mysteries, it was interesting to see Poirot create evidence so the murderer condemned himself (a fortuitous window cleaner and a thumbprint on a typewriter key) because the actual evidence was not convincing enough for the courts. It's certainly convincing enough for us. These stories are getting older by the day, of course, but they are wonderful period pieces that recall the interwar years in marvellous detail. Enjoy!
August 6, 2021
More than one of these books includes racist slurs, but I have no doubt that the English in this era really did talk like that. Thirteen at Dinner is the worst for racism. The books themselves are ingenious and worth re-reading to see how the clues are spread out and down-played. Murder on the Orient Express deserves to be a classic. Death on the Nile has the most incredibly surprising solution that makes sense in spite of all the clues pointing elsewhere. Cards on the Table has the best case for the most suspects. (I wonder how much Mrs Oliver has in common with Agatha!) ABC murders is intriguing.
June 18, 2022
Agatha Christie is a master, and Hercule Poirot is one of her best detectives. If plot truly is the most important part of a mystery, then these four novels are perfect (albeit contrived) puzzles. Thirteen at Dinner is definitely the lesser of these novels, with the other four rightly earning their praise for showcasing the Belgian's little gray cells.
August 8, 2023
I loved the character Hercule Poirot...
When I read a mystery involving murder I would expect a serial killer or one killer..
The fact that there are more than one killer and why they have come together to commit the final deed..it left me with tears at the end.
And Mr.Hercule Poirot lying at the end was hilarious but I am glad he did that 😂
When I read a mystery involving murder I would expect a serial killer or one killer..
The fact that there are more than one killer and why they have come together to commit the final deed..it left me with tears at the end.
And Mr.Hercule Poirot lying at the end was hilarious but I am glad he did that 😂
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 15, 2017
Classic Agatha Christie stuff. Each novel in this collection can be completed in a day.
My favorite among the 5 was 'ABC Murders' closely followed by 'Cards on the Table'. Agatha Christie is a master at building intricate plot-lines and drawing a satisfactory conclusion at the end of the tale.
My favorite among the 5 was 'ABC Murders' closely followed by 'Cards on the Table'. Agatha Christie is a master at building intricate plot-lines and drawing a satisfactory conclusion at the end of the tale.
March 15, 2019
Haha, so it might have been a bit much to read five mysteries in a weekend, but I enjoyed this collection! Up until this point, the only Agatha Christy I had read was “Murder on the Orient Express” so it was fun to get more of a sense of her writing style and form of mysteries.
September 18, 2017
Poirot does it again! Always a pleasure to read and try to figure out who dunnit before Poirot and to watch him untangle the most complex murder mysteries.
September 8, 2018
Cunningly atmospheric. There’s a reason her books are never to be found by the time I make it to a library sale.
May 27, 2020
Please see the titles of the novels for my reviews. Thank you.
September 2, 2020
Agatha es inolvidable y cada libro me sorprende más
January 9, 2021
4 stars due to Death on the Nile. The others are very famous stories in their own right, but Hercule Poirot feels less sophisticated in them somehow. Not a fan of the purposefully failed idioms.
July 25, 2021
My first experience with Dame Christie. I was surprised at how well these stories have aged. Still entertaining.
September 8, 2021
Excellent, this is one of the best compilations
January 30, 2023
A compilation. After reading 3 and a half of them, I stopped. Blatant racism and derogatory terminology was intolerable.
July 22, 2024
What I expected from Agatha Christie, a story full of unpredictable events!
October 16, 2024
Fun mystery. Fun vocab.
August 19, 2025
This took a while to get through, because I was reading other books between stories, but it was an excellent collection for this Poirot-lover.
November 7, 2025
Didn't even try - my daughter is anxious for mysteries, and too many books, not enough time.
Maybe someday in the future - after reading Sherlock Holmes....
Maybe someday in the future - after reading Sherlock Holmes....
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews