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Hercule Poirot #29
Der Todeswirbel: Ein Fall für Poirot
Eine schrecklich abgründige Familie
Gordon Cloade war ein reicher Mann. So reich, dass er Zeit seines Lebens seinem gesamten Familienclan unter die Arme greifen konnte. Nun ist er tot und die Familie muss mit ansehen, wie sein Reichtum komplett an die Frau geht, die er gerade erst geheiratet hat. Womit das Erbe für die junge Witwe zu einer äußerst ungemütlichen Angelegenheit wird, zumal nicht nur der gesamte Clan hinter ihm her ist. Spätestens als ein Mord geschieht, sind die Dinge so verwickelt, dass nur noch einer sie lösen kann: Hercule Poirot.
Gordon Cloade war ein reicher Mann. So reich, dass er Zeit seines Lebens seinem gesamten Familienclan unter die Arme greifen konnte. Nun ist er tot und die Familie muss mit ansehen, wie sein Reichtum komplett an die Frau geht, die er gerade erst geheiratet hat. Womit das Erbe für die junge Witwe zu einer äußerst ungemütlichen Angelegenheit wird, zumal nicht nur der gesamte Clan hinter ihm her ist. Spätestens als ein Mord geschieht, sind die Dinge so verwickelt, dass nur noch einer sie lösen kann: Hercule Poirot.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1948
1091 people are currently reading
19511 people want to read
About the author
Agatha Christie
5,775 books75.5k 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 2,644 reviews
February 25, 2014
I was really enjoying this - in fact, I was thinking it was the best Poirot I had read - but then there was a three page epilogue which was COMPLETE AND UTTER BULLSHIT which undid every bit of characterisation and plot that had preceded it.
Christie had her 'heroine' go back to the man who had tried to murder her, with the immortal lines "When you caught hold of me by the throat and said if I wasn't for you, no one should have me - well - I knew then that I was your woman!"
WHAT. THE. FUCK.
I know, I know, different times and all that. But, seriously? A woman wrote this? About a woman who had served with the Wrens in WWII and been in conflict? That attempted murder and violence can be so easily shrugged off?
It's just fucking unbelievable.
Christie had her 'heroine' go back to the man who had tried to murder her, with the immortal lines "When you caught hold of me by the throat and said if I wasn't for you, no one should have me - well - I knew then that I was your woman!"
WHAT. THE. FUCK.
I know, I know, different times and all that. But, seriously? A woman wrote this? About a woman who had served with the Wrens in WWII and been in conflict? That attempted murder and violence can be so easily shrugged off?
It's just fucking unbelievable.
June 26, 2025
Most baffling, batshit crazy ending EVER.
When Gordon Cloade, the wealthy and generous uncle to a large coddled family, dies without updating his will, everything goes to his new wife (a young widow) and leaves his family wondering where their next meal is coming from.
Needless to say, people end up dead.
Thanks to a conversation Poirot was privy to at a club during an air raid years ago, he knows that the new Mrs. Cloade's first husband may not actually be dead.
But he probably is?
Obviously, if Husband #1 is still alive and kicking, then her marriage to Gordon Cloade wasn't legal. And if her marriage wasn't legal, then the old will that split his fortune up between his surviving family members would still be in effect.
As with a lot of Agatha Christe books, there's a bit of romance in this one.
My heart went pitty-pat for the unscrupulous Jeremy and Frances Cloade. To think that his wife had only married him because he was the lawyer who saved her father from going to jail, then to find out that she married him because she was madly in love with him? Very sweet.
The other love story was a bit...less so.
Lynn and Rowley have been engaged for years, but the newcomer David (brother to the rich widow, Rosaleen) has this new car smell about him that Lynn finds irresistible.
What's a girl to do?
And here's where the bananas ending comes in.
Girl, I don't even know what to say about that.
Everything but the ending was great. Including showing how Lynn craved more than just a domestic life after all the excitement of her time in service during the war.
You almost nailed it, Agatha. Almost.
Recommended for fans of Agatha Christie and domestic abuse.
When Gordon Cloade, the wealthy and generous uncle to a large coddled family, dies without updating his will, everything goes to his new wife (a young widow) and leaves his family wondering where their next meal is coming from.
Needless to say, people end up dead.
Thanks to a conversation Poirot was privy to at a club during an air raid years ago, he knows that the new Mrs. Cloade's first husband may not actually be dead.
But he probably is?
Obviously, if Husband #1 is still alive and kicking, then her marriage to Gordon Cloade wasn't legal. And if her marriage wasn't legal, then the old will that split his fortune up between his surviving family members would still be in effect.
As with a lot of Agatha Christe books, there's a bit of romance in this one.
My heart went pitty-pat for the unscrupulous Jeremy and Frances Cloade. To think that his wife had only married him because he was the lawyer who saved her father from going to jail, then to find out that she married him because she was madly in love with him? Very sweet.
The other love story was a bit...less so.
Lynn and Rowley have been engaged for years, but the newcomer David (brother to the rich widow, Rosaleen) has this new car smell about him that Lynn finds irresistible.
What's a girl to do?
And here's where the bananas ending comes in.
Girl, I don't even know what to say about that.
Everything but the ending was great. Including showing how Lynn craved more than just a domestic life after all the excitement of her time in service during the war.
You almost nailed it, Agatha. Almost.
Recommended for fans of Agatha Christie and domestic abuse.
November 11, 2022
Hercule Poirot, book #28 is a gripping affair, with the widow of a dead millionaire being both loathed and feted for her inherited wealth, by his wider family. Add in a murder and loads of disinformation and queer behaviour, and there's a very interesting case for Poirot to look into. One of my favourite cases. 8 out of 12!
2013 read
2013 read
December 22, 2025
Lunchtime Listen December 2025
Well I have to agree with my younger self, in that it was an excellent book, almost ruined by a bit of a tame ending. She just wouldn’t have married him, and he wouldn’t have got away without some form of prosecution. So there we go
I must admit I had forgotten a lot of the book, but had remembered certain key points, like the comment the major makes, a bit of a giveaway.
I have a vague memory of the tv adaptation which is slightly different but also very good.
Hercule Challenge read ending 2020
This was "so" heading for 5 stars and then somehow in the last few pages it wasn’t.
So why ? Well it's a really great story, well crafted and was in my opinion going to be one of my favourite Poirot stories, and then
So for me that sort of ruined the book in a way. I've given it 4 stars but it only just deserved that despite running at 5 stars most of the way.
Its a shame as it is an intricate but believable story, well woven together and wonderfully worked out by Poirot.
Well I have to agree with my younger self, in that it was an excellent book, almost ruined by a bit of a tame ending. She just wouldn’t have married him, and he wouldn’t have got away without some form of prosecution. So there we go
I must admit I had forgotten a lot of the book, but had remembered certain key points, like the comment the major makes, a bit of a giveaway.
I have a vague memory of the tv adaptation which is slightly different but also very good.
Hercule Challenge read ending 2020
This was "so" heading for 5 stars and then somehow in the last few pages it wasn’t.
So why ? Well it's a really great story, well crafted and was in my opinion going to be one of my favourite Poirot stories, and then
So for me that sort of ruined the book in a way. I've given it 4 stars but it only just deserved that despite running at 5 stars most of the way.
Its a shame as it is an intricate but believable story, well woven together and wonderfully worked out by Poirot.
October 18, 2018
"What a person really is, is only apparent when the test comes—that is, the moment when you stand or fall on your own feet."
This is a detective story and thus I rate it considering my enjoyment of the mistery and its resolution -absolutely stunning, so much that, hadn't the last chapter happened, I probably would have granted it five shining stars. But then the epilogue came and oh God my eyes are bleeding.
"When you caught hold of me by the throat and said if I wasn't for you, no one should have me - well - I knew then that I was your woman!"
Yes, Lynn. And to think that I even used to like you.
This is a detective story and thus I rate it considering my enjoyment of the mistery and its resolution -absolutely stunning, so much that, hadn't the last chapter happened, I probably would have granted it five shining stars. But then the epilogue came and oh God my eyes are bleeding.
"When you caught hold of me by the throat and said if I wasn't for you, no one should have me - well - I knew then that I was your woman!"
Yes, Lynn. And to think that I even used to like you.
March 19, 2020
Choose Your Own Adventure!
Your name is Lynn Marchmont, and you have come home from the war. Home to your predictable village of Warmsley Vale, your predictable fiancé, your predictable little life all laid out in front of you. Once upon a time, you loved it all.
You secretly long for the war: the excitement, the medical emergencies, the thrills and the danger. Instead you must contend with your tiresome upper crust family, their sudden loss of fortune, the scheming, that strange feeling of ill-will floating around you. But do not fear, young miss! You shall see your share of excitement again - danger and passion, a thrilling life of adventure on the horizon. And a man with his head savagely pulped is surely its own sort of medical emergency.
But are such things really what you crave? Do people ever truly change? Which path shall you take?
If your way leads homeward, then choose this path to a long and quiet life, well-lived... a life full of quiet, easy murder!
If your way leads to places unknown, then choose this path to mystery and menace - enough to unhinge your mind!
Your name is Lynn Marchmont, and you have come home from the war. Home to your predictable village of Warmsley Vale, your predictable fiancé, your predictable little life all laid out in front of you. Once upon a time, you loved it all.
You secretly long for the war: the excitement, the medical emergencies, the thrills and the danger. Instead you must contend with your tiresome upper crust family, their sudden loss of fortune, the scheming, that strange feeling of ill-will floating around you. But do not fear, young miss! You shall see your share of excitement again - danger and passion, a thrilling life of adventure on the horizon. And a man with his head savagely pulped is surely its own sort of medical emergency.
But are such things really what you crave? Do people ever truly change? Which path shall you take?
If your way leads homeward, then choose this path to a long and quiet life, well-lived... a life full of quiet, easy murder!
If your way leads to places unknown, then choose this path to mystery and menace - enough to unhinge your mind!
December 1, 2019
Whilst this Poirot novel isn’t one of Christie’s strongest mysteries, it certainly evokes the post war setting perfectly.
It’s a real time capsule that explores the cost and recovery during 1946 Britain.
The story itself is slightly overly complex with a vast array of characters who feel distinctly similar and easy to confuse, which explains why this mystery wasn’t as gripping as other Christie stories for me.
The Cloade family had always relied on Gordon to help them out financially, that was until he was killed in a bombing raid during the blitz.
Having just recently married Rosaleen and no new will written, the vast fortune is instantly inherited to the young bride.
That’s until the family question the legitimacy of the marriage and seeks Poirot’s assistance.
The inheritance that fuels the mystery certainly showed the complexities of a close knit family, but the drastic decline in the families lifestyle because of the war was the most interesting aspect of this Poirot story.
It’s a real time capsule that explores the cost and recovery during 1946 Britain.
The story itself is slightly overly complex with a vast array of characters who feel distinctly similar and easy to confuse, which explains why this mystery wasn’t as gripping as other Christie stories for me.
The Cloade family had always relied on Gordon to help them out financially, that was until he was killed in a bombing raid during the blitz.
Having just recently married Rosaleen and no new will written, the vast fortune is instantly inherited to the young bride.
That’s until the family question the legitimacy of the marriage and seeks Poirot’s assistance.
The inheritance that fuels the mystery certainly showed the complexities of a close knit family, but the drastic decline in the families lifestyle because of the war was the most interesting aspect of this Poirot story.
May 19, 2025
A rich man called Gordon Cloade died during the war and his wife Rosaleen inherited his entire fortune. This infuriated his relatives, who all desperately needed the money.
Two years later, it seems Rosaleen’s first husband could still be alive, thus her second marriage would not be legal and the inheritance should go to Gordon’s relatives. Poirot is asked to investigate.
Quite a complicated story with quite a few characters and twists so you do have to pay attention, but it’s a pretty good one. It’s a story that revolves around deception and greed, which means none of the characters come across as likeable per se. Though this does elevate the mystery plot. This also means that Poirot is both our and the other characters’ beacon of truth in a sea of lies.
There are a couple of things that keep this story from reaching its full potential.
First of all, the characters aren’t very likable and they’re very much rooted in their time. Though we need to be aware that this book is very much a product of its time and the characters are still quite interesting.
Second, Poirot is absent for like half the story. Though this is not necessarily a flaw as the other characters and the mystery plot are strong enough to carry the story without his help.
The third flaw is the ending. I must admit, the ending is quite good and there are some good twists. Though it’s also a bit problematic and this can hurt the story in my opinion. If it wasn’t for one thing that happened at the end, I probably would have rated this one higher.
It’s a good but flawed Poirot book with a rather complex but satisfying mystery.
Two years later, it seems Rosaleen’s first husband could still be alive, thus her second marriage would not be legal and the inheritance should go to Gordon’s relatives. Poirot is asked to investigate.
Quite a complicated story with quite a few characters and twists so you do have to pay attention, but it’s a pretty good one. It’s a story that revolves around deception and greed, which means none of the characters come across as likeable per se. Though this does elevate the mystery plot. This also means that Poirot is both our and the other characters’ beacon of truth in a sea of lies.
There are a couple of things that keep this story from reaching its full potential.
First of all, the characters aren’t very likable and they’re very much rooted in their time. Though we need to be aware that this book is very much a product of its time and the characters are still quite interesting.
Second, Poirot is absent for like half the story. Though this is not necessarily a flaw as the other characters and the mystery plot are strong enough to carry the story without his help.
The third flaw is the ending. I must admit, the ending is quite good and there are some good twists. Though it’s also a bit problematic and this can hurt the story in my opinion. If it wasn’t for one thing that happened at the end, I probably would have rated this one higher.
It’s a good but flawed Poirot book with a rather complex but satisfying mystery.
August 5, 2019
Weak plot. Too many coincidences that help Poirot solve the crime. There is little that Poirot does with his little grey cells. The first half of the novel is all over the place and at times it becomes difficult to pay attention to the story. I would place this novel at bottom 10% of all Poirot's novels. Avoidable
February 5, 2014
Then came a change, as all things human change.
--Tennyson, "Enoch Arden"
Interesting way to construct a mystery -- all the characters are plausible as the murderer! Great twist(s).
Point off for having one of the worst of generally-weak classic mystery romances.
Also, the presence of the detective is very haphazard and relies on the reader being familiar with the character from earlier volumes in the series.
May 11, 2013
This is a pretty good Christie mystery, but the character development at the end was such a betrayal. I felt personally offended. I should probably not get so involved in the characters, but still, I'm taking away a star out of spite.
Suggestion: don't read the last 3 pages. You'll be a happier person, and still know the end of the mystery.
Quotes
The thing that was different and that ought not to be different was herself. P14
Was that really and truly what people were secretly feeling everywhere? Was that what, ultimately, war did to you? It was not the physical dangers – the mines at sea, the bombs from the air, the crisp ping of a rifle bullet as you drove over a desert track. No, it was the spiritual danger of learning how much easier life was if you ceased to think. P99
Doctors, like every one else, are victims of the preconceived idea. P174
Can you love someone you don’t trust? P213
The wages of sin, Mademoiselle, are said to be death, But sometimes the wages of sin seem to be luxury. Is that any more endurable, I wonder? P218
What I say to you is this, there is no telling what a human character is, until the test comes. P235
Suggestion: don't read the last 3 pages. You'll be a happier person, and still know the end of the mystery.
Quotes
The thing that was different and that ought not to be different was herself. P14
Was that really and truly what people were secretly feeling everywhere? Was that what, ultimately, war did to you? It was not the physical dangers – the mines at sea, the bombs from the air, the crisp ping of a rifle bullet as you drove over a desert track. No, it was the spiritual danger of learning how much easier life was if you ceased to think. P99
Doctors, like every one else, are victims of the preconceived idea. P174
Can you love someone you don’t trust? P213
The wages of sin, Mademoiselle, are said to be death, But sometimes the wages of sin seem to be luxury. Is that any more endurable, I wonder? P218
What I say to you is this, there is no telling what a human character is, until the test comes. P235
July 25, 2024
There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.
- William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
For the last few years I have been immersing myself in Louise Penny’s Armand Gamache series. Aside from being well crafted mysteries with quality writing, I view Inspector Gamache as a 21st century Hercule Poirot. I have been reading Christie’s Poirot cases for over thirty years, some multiple times, and the detective is a persona I come back to time and time again for both his empathy and the use of his little gray cells. Currently, I have gotten up to date with Inspector Gamache and am impatiently waiting for the publication of the next book in a few months. Thankfully, there is the Read Christie challenge that I discovered for the first time this year. The goal is for participants to read one pre selected Christie book each month for the year. Having read about half of the selections, I used this as an opportunity to fill in the gaps with books in her body of work I may not have gotten to yet. One Poirot case that has been on my radar for years is Taken at the Flood, a case that takes place shortly after World War II and features Poirot at the height of his powers.
In 1944 Gordon Cloade dies in a bombing during the Battle of London. Although a widower for many years, Cloade fell head over heels for one Rosaleen Hunter Underhaye on a boat returning to England. Although nearly forty years his junior, the two wed, leaving Rosaleen the sole beneficiary of the contents of Gordon Cloade’s will. This fortune originally went to Cloade’s family- his two brothers, one sister, and their children. Even though the two brothers Lionel and Jeremy did well on their own recognizance, the family unit depended on Gordon to organize their lives and take care of all their finances. It even appears that the two sisters-in-law, Frances and Kathie, turned away many potential suitors over the years- secretaries, maids, and the like- because if Gordon were to marry, the family would stand to lose thousands (perhaps millions) of pounds. In the 1940s, this was a fortune, and the Cloades knew it. It came as a shock to them that Gordon remarried and to a young lady no less. After the bombing, with Rosaleen and her brother David installed in Gordon’s home, the family treated Rosaleen with nothing short of animosity and disgust. How could this young lady steal their money? A few of the Cloades would stop at nothing short of murder if it meant seeing their fortune safely back in their hands.
It so happened that Hercule Poirot spent an evening in the same club in London as one Major Porter and Jeremy Cloade shortly after Gordon’s death. His death, marriage, and will were the main subject of conversation, Poirot soaking it up like a sponge and adding little of his own opinion. Two years later, the Cloades struggled financially, each of whom felt torn asking young Rosaleen for money that was supposed to be theirs. Cousins Rowley Cloade and Lynn Marchmont were supposed to marry, but the family had little money if any money to pay for a wedding. Lynn had returned from four years of serving in the Wrens during the war. Christie inserted herself here because she had served as a nurse during World War I and demonstrates her working knowledge of medicine, poisons, and a sense of women seeking adventure in many cases. Lynn, like Christie, had seen the world, and living in the country would be a let down. Rowley ran the family farm, losing a lot to his partner Johnnie who was killed in action, and at first glance appeared content with the rural lifestyle, even though Lynn had changed through the war. Rowley and Lynn were also hard up for money, and, like their aunts and uncles, probably at one time wished Rosaleen dead. Should she die, the money would revert back to the Cloades, and all would be well. As Kathie Cloade noted at one point, all turned out for the best. Poirot surmised to himself, even if it meant murder.
The first half of the case provided background information and the first murder. This is Christie’s twenty ninth full length book featuring Poirot, and, at this point, she could have him presented with all necessary information and wrap up a case in under one hundred pages. Poirot does not appear until part two, and then the case takes on new twists, or he would discovered whodunit in a few chapters. In the end, there is not one but three murders to solve. The motive for all three are linked- if Rosaleen Cloade dies or if it is discovered that her first husband is alive, Gordon Cloade’s money reverts back to the Cloade family. Every member of the family in the back or forefront of their mind wished Rosaleen Cloade dead at one point. It is up to Poirot to discover who killed a man at a local inn stating he is Rosaleen’s husband as well as two additional murders that had a hand in determining who would receive Gordon Cloade’s fortune. As per usual, there are many clues laid out as well as actors and false identities, components that occur often in Dame Christie’s cases. At first glance, these cookie crumbs are there so that the reader can discover whodunit, but, more often than not, she leaves out one or two key pieces of information so that Poirot and only Poirot can utilize his little gray cells and explain the entire chronology of crime to the assembled characters at the end. Although this can be a drawback to many readers, to me this is what sets Christie apart in that she at the time of writing constructed a puzzle with a missing piece and only the most astute would solve it. This is what made her the Queen of Crime and Poirot her most trusting messenger.
With the year more than half done, I have stuck to the Read Christie challenge. With five months left, I have one or two Poirot cases left, although there is always next year to read those as well, as I do enjoy variety. Now that I have gotten to the point where I am reading Inspector Gamache cases in real time, I need more of Hercule Poirot in my reading life. In this particular case I can see the similarities in the two detectives. Both are of sharp minds and well dressed, appearing more like a professor than a murder investigator. Gamache quotes poetry, literature, and history regularly, much to my delight and to his team’s chagrin. Perhaps Penny had an aha moment in creating Gamache by reading this particular book. Here, Poirot quotes both Tennyson and Shakespeare, noting to a local detective that this case is much like the Shakespearean stage, quoting the epithet that Christie used for the book’s title. Murder investigators with a conscience are why I have been drawn to Hercule Poirot for a large swath of my life and to Armand Gamache for the last five years. Suffice it to say, neither will be leaving my reading life any time in the near future, if it all.
🕵️♂️ 4 stars
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.
- William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
For the last few years I have been immersing myself in Louise Penny’s Armand Gamache series. Aside from being well crafted mysteries with quality writing, I view Inspector Gamache as a 21st century Hercule Poirot. I have been reading Christie’s Poirot cases for over thirty years, some multiple times, and the detective is a persona I come back to time and time again for both his empathy and the use of his little gray cells. Currently, I have gotten up to date with Inspector Gamache and am impatiently waiting for the publication of the next book in a few months. Thankfully, there is the Read Christie challenge that I discovered for the first time this year. The goal is for participants to read one pre selected Christie book each month for the year. Having read about half of the selections, I used this as an opportunity to fill in the gaps with books in her body of work I may not have gotten to yet. One Poirot case that has been on my radar for years is Taken at the Flood, a case that takes place shortly after World War II and features Poirot at the height of his powers.
In 1944 Gordon Cloade dies in a bombing during the Battle of London. Although a widower for many years, Cloade fell head over heels for one Rosaleen Hunter Underhaye on a boat returning to England. Although nearly forty years his junior, the two wed, leaving Rosaleen the sole beneficiary of the contents of Gordon Cloade’s will. This fortune originally went to Cloade’s family- his two brothers, one sister, and their children. Even though the two brothers Lionel and Jeremy did well on their own recognizance, the family unit depended on Gordon to organize their lives and take care of all their finances. It even appears that the two sisters-in-law, Frances and Kathie, turned away many potential suitors over the years- secretaries, maids, and the like- because if Gordon were to marry, the family would stand to lose thousands (perhaps millions) of pounds. In the 1940s, this was a fortune, and the Cloades knew it. It came as a shock to them that Gordon remarried and to a young lady no less. After the bombing, with Rosaleen and her brother David installed in Gordon’s home, the family treated Rosaleen with nothing short of animosity and disgust. How could this young lady steal their money? A few of the Cloades would stop at nothing short of murder if it meant seeing their fortune safely back in their hands.
It so happened that Hercule Poirot spent an evening in the same club in London as one Major Porter and Jeremy Cloade shortly after Gordon’s death. His death, marriage, and will were the main subject of conversation, Poirot soaking it up like a sponge and adding little of his own opinion. Two years later, the Cloades struggled financially, each of whom felt torn asking young Rosaleen for money that was supposed to be theirs. Cousins Rowley Cloade and Lynn Marchmont were supposed to marry, but the family had little money if any money to pay for a wedding. Lynn had returned from four years of serving in the Wrens during the war. Christie inserted herself here because she had served as a nurse during World War I and demonstrates her working knowledge of medicine, poisons, and a sense of women seeking adventure in many cases. Lynn, like Christie, had seen the world, and living in the country would be a let down. Rowley ran the family farm, losing a lot to his partner Johnnie who was killed in action, and at first glance appeared content with the rural lifestyle, even though Lynn had changed through the war. Rowley and Lynn were also hard up for money, and, like their aunts and uncles, probably at one time wished Rosaleen dead. Should she die, the money would revert back to the Cloades, and all would be well. As Kathie Cloade noted at one point, all turned out for the best. Poirot surmised to himself, even if it meant murder.
The first half of the case provided background information and the first murder. This is Christie’s twenty ninth full length book featuring Poirot, and, at this point, she could have him presented with all necessary information and wrap up a case in under one hundred pages. Poirot does not appear until part two, and then the case takes on new twists, or he would discovered whodunit in a few chapters. In the end, there is not one but three murders to solve. The motive for all three are linked- if Rosaleen Cloade dies or if it is discovered that her first husband is alive, Gordon Cloade’s money reverts back to the Cloade family. Every member of the family in the back or forefront of their mind wished Rosaleen Cloade dead at one point. It is up to Poirot to discover who killed a man at a local inn stating he is Rosaleen’s husband as well as two additional murders that had a hand in determining who would receive Gordon Cloade’s fortune. As per usual, there are many clues laid out as well as actors and false identities, components that occur often in Dame Christie’s cases. At first glance, these cookie crumbs are there so that the reader can discover whodunit, but, more often than not, she leaves out one or two key pieces of information so that Poirot and only Poirot can utilize his little gray cells and explain the entire chronology of crime to the assembled characters at the end. Although this can be a drawback to many readers, to me this is what sets Christie apart in that she at the time of writing constructed a puzzle with a missing piece and only the most astute would solve it. This is what made her the Queen of Crime and Poirot her most trusting messenger.
With the year more than half done, I have stuck to the Read Christie challenge. With five months left, I have one or two Poirot cases left, although there is always next year to read those as well, as I do enjoy variety. Now that I have gotten to the point where I am reading Inspector Gamache cases in real time, I need more of Hercule Poirot in my reading life. In this particular case I can see the similarities in the two detectives. Both are of sharp minds and well dressed, appearing more like a professor than a murder investigator. Gamache quotes poetry, literature, and history regularly, much to my delight and to his team’s chagrin. Perhaps Penny had an aha moment in creating Gamache by reading this particular book. Here, Poirot quotes both Tennyson and Shakespeare, noting to a local detective that this case is much like the Shakespearean stage, quoting the epithet that Christie used for the book’s title. Murder investigators with a conscience are why I have been drawn to Hercule Poirot for a large swath of my life and to Armand Gamache for the last five years. Suffice it to say, neither will be leaving my reading life any time in the near future, if it all.
🕵️♂️ 4 stars
November 9, 2019
If this had been a physical book that I owned I would have probably thrown this thing in the trash. The entire book was offensive towards women, women who have been abused, and just common sense in general.
The story begins by setting things up by exploring the current financial state of the Cloade family. Every one of them were dependent on Gordon Cloade for financial help, and he was glad to give it to his family. However, due to his death, his entire estate is inherited by his new wife (Rosaleen) due to Gordon not filing a will.
The Cloade family consists of Lynn Marchmont, her mother Adela. Lynn's fiance Rowley Cloade. Jeremy and Frances Cloade. And finally Lionel and Katherine Cloade.
Readers quickly find out that Lynn is back from being part of the Women's Royal Naval Service and finds herself feeling adrift from her family and Rowley.
Lynn's mother is still not quite recovered from what took place during the war and finds herself almost penniless.
Rowley stayed behind to manage his farm while his best friend and co-owner of the farm went off to war and died. Rowley feels left behind due to many of those around him doing what they could to support the war effort.
Jeremy and Frances are financially ruined and hoping for a handout from Rosaleen. The same goes for Lionel and Katherine.
Rosaleen is a meek character that barely seems able to get words out. Her brother, David, is overbearing and seems very malicious in his dealings with the Cloade family and is very eager to shove their faces into having no money due to his sister marrying Gordon.
So that said, there was no one to root for at all during this whole story. Poirot is once again introduced around the halfway mark. The main storyline is following the Cloade family and reading about how Lynn is attracted to David though he is awful.
And honestly I started to flat out loathe the character of Lynn and at the end was one hundred percent tired of her. Probably because she goes around acting as if her family is awful for daring to ask for help though I would say that Gordon Cloade was at fault for ensuring that his family came to him for every little thing because he liked it that way.
I had tons of sympathy for the character of Rowley until one action wiped that all out.
Poirot once again just swans around a lot and I don't really get how he is seen as the world's best detective (in Poirot's mind) he doesn't seem to have any aha moments until the end. I don't know if adding on Hastings would make things better or what. I think you need that person that stands in for the reader who is trying to figure things out. Instead you get Lynn as a audience stand in and that's about it.
The writing was typical Christie though this time more information is added about what happened to villages after the war. This is the first Poirot book I read that was post-war. It was interesting reading about how many things changed especially when you look at those who went off to war and came back. You can sympathize with Lynn a bit for feeling as if after the war things feel the same though she is not. Though I was all out of sympathy when she complained about how boring things were and how she thought of David (who is hateful) as being adventurous and better than Rowley who in her mind has stayed the same.
The flow was all over the place. I think the problem is that Christie tried to cram a lot into this book and since we had a ton of players on the scene so to speak it was a lot to do and keep all of the parts moving.
The setting of post-war England was interesting here and there, and I wish that we had gotten more details about it. It seemed in places that Christie was definitely mourning the loss of what England used to be and where it was presently.
The ending was flat out appalling. Besides it being appalling I can say that I hate it when Agatha Christie makes it that until the very end you as a reader can't figure out who did it.
I am going to spoil the ending for those who really want to know, but honestly the above combined with the ending was just too much for me to ignore and give this book anything but 1 star.
The story begins by setting things up by exploring the current financial state of the Cloade family. Every one of them were dependent on Gordon Cloade for financial help, and he was glad to give it to his family. However, due to his death, his entire estate is inherited by his new wife (Rosaleen) due to Gordon not filing a will.
The Cloade family consists of Lynn Marchmont, her mother Adela. Lynn's fiance Rowley Cloade. Jeremy and Frances Cloade. And finally Lionel and Katherine Cloade.
Readers quickly find out that Lynn is back from being part of the Women's Royal Naval Service and finds herself feeling adrift from her family and Rowley.
Lynn's mother is still not quite recovered from what took place during the war and finds herself almost penniless.
Rowley stayed behind to manage his farm while his best friend and co-owner of the farm went off to war and died. Rowley feels left behind due to many of those around him doing what they could to support the war effort.
Jeremy and Frances are financially ruined and hoping for a handout from Rosaleen. The same goes for Lionel and Katherine.
Rosaleen is a meek character that barely seems able to get words out. Her brother, David, is overbearing and seems very malicious in his dealings with the Cloade family and is very eager to shove their faces into having no money due to his sister marrying Gordon.
So that said, there was no one to root for at all during this whole story. Poirot is once again introduced around the halfway mark. The main storyline is following the Cloade family and reading about how Lynn is attracted to David though he is awful.
And honestly I started to flat out loathe the character of Lynn and at the end was one hundred percent tired of her. Probably because she goes around acting as if her family is awful for daring to ask for help though I would say that Gordon Cloade was at fault for ensuring that his family came to him for every little thing because he liked it that way.
I had tons of sympathy for the character of Rowley until one action wiped that all out.
Poirot once again just swans around a lot and I don't really get how he is seen as the world's best detective (in Poirot's mind) he doesn't seem to have any aha moments until the end. I don't know if adding on Hastings would make things better or what. I think you need that person that stands in for the reader who is trying to figure things out. Instead you get Lynn as a audience stand in and that's about it.
The writing was typical Christie though this time more information is added about what happened to villages after the war. This is the first Poirot book I read that was post-war. It was interesting reading about how many things changed especially when you look at those who went off to war and came back. You can sympathize with Lynn a bit for feeling as if after the war things feel the same though she is not. Though I was all out of sympathy when she complained about how boring things were and how she thought of David (who is hateful) as being adventurous and better than Rowley who in her mind has stayed the same.
The flow was all over the place. I think the problem is that Christie tried to cram a lot into this book and since we had a ton of players on the scene so to speak it was a lot to do and keep all of the parts moving.
The setting of post-war England was interesting here and there, and I wish that we had gotten more details about it. It seemed in places that Christie was definitely mourning the loss of what England used to be and where it was presently.
The ending was flat out appalling. Besides it being appalling I can say that I hate it when Agatha Christie makes it that until the very end you as a reader can't figure out who did it.
I am going to spoil the ending for those who really want to know, but honestly the above combined with the ending was just too much for me to ignore and give this book anything but 1 star.
July 9, 2017
Poirot sighed. ‘One should never struggle against the inevitable,’ he said. ‘If a middle-aged lady wearing sham Egyptian beads has made up her mind to see the famous Hercule Poirot, and has come up from the country to do so, nothing will deflect her. She will sit there in the hall till she gets her way. Show her in, George.’
This will contain spoilers.
Taken at the Flood had an interesting start to the story. We start the story in a gentlemen's club in London during an air raid. What is interesting is that Christie starts off with a show blatant xenophobia by one of the club's members who is deemed to be a bore, but also deemed to be a character of integrity (as shown later in the story).
From there on we get a story about dependencies in various forms. It was curious to watch Christie developing characters in this story, but I could not buy into the psychology of her characters: not that all of them would resign themselves to doom, not that none of them would question David Hunter constantly hanging around his sister. Was he there during her marriage, too? If the family was so closely dependent on Gordon Cloade, would they not have met his new wife or heard about her brother?
And what about the other members of the Cloade family, too? Could they really have been so inept and helpless? Could they really have been so ignorant of each others affairs and weaknesses?
I'm not sure the psychology really works in this book.
This is not helped by Poirot swanning around in the second half of the book and uttering nonsensical metaphors. I would expect this from Miss Marple, but not from Poirot. Come on!
Poirot is pretty annoying in this book whenever he appears. He is arrogant and a bit snobbish, and withholds information from the reader. I could have made peace with that, but then he turns into a complete idiot when he stands by to witness an attempted murder and does absolutely nothing to stop it. Well, not nothing. He politely coughs.
Wtf?
It's like a bad comedy sketch.
What was most annoying, tho, was the ending: As I said, the story is based on a lot of dependencies, some between the characters. Some sweet, but some are really dark and abusive. To have to book end with one of the characters, who had hitherto been described as a confident, self-reliant young woman, a former wren, agree to marry a guy she tried to leave for most of the book
, just defies all reason, and to not comment on this being a bad idea just seems like carelessness on Christies' part.
Oh, and the solution to the actual mystery is as equally far-fetched.
The only reason that redeemed the book somewhat is that I enjoyed one particular scene in all of this mess, and that was when Lionel confesses his financial ruin to his wife. That was a well written and touching moment:
She was looking at him with complete astonishment.
‘Really, Jeremy! What on earth do you think I married you for?’
He smiled slightly. ‘You have always been a most loyal and devoted wife, my dear. But I can hardly flatter myself that you would have accepted me in— er— different circumstances.’
She stared at him and suddenly burst out laughing. ‘You funny old stick! What a wonderful novelettish mind you must have behind that legal façade! Do you really think that I married you as the price of saving Father from the wolves— or the Stewards of the Jockey Club, et cetera?’
This will contain spoilers.
Taken at the Flood had an interesting start to the story. We start the story in a gentlemen's club in London during an air raid. What is interesting is that Christie starts off with a show blatant xenophobia by one of the club's members who is deemed to be a bore, but also deemed to be a character of integrity (as shown later in the story).
From there on we get a story about dependencies in various forms. It was curious to watch Christie developing characters in this story, but I could not buy into the psychology of her characters: not that all of them would resign themselves to doom, not that none of them would question David Hunter constantly hanging around his sister. Was he there during her marriage, too? If the family was so closely dependent on Gordon Cloade, would they not have met his new wife or heard about her brother?
And what about the other members of the Cloade family, too? Could they really have been so inept and helpless? Could they really have been so ignorant of each others affairs and weaknesses?
I'm not sure the psychology really works in this book.
This is not helped by Poirot swanning around in the second half of the book and uttering nonsensical metaphors. I would expect this from Miss Marple, but not from Poirot. Come on!
Poirot is pretty annoying in this book whenever he appears. He is arrogant and a bit snobbish, and withholds information from the reader. I could have made peace with that, but then he turns into a complete idiot when he stands by to witness an attempted murder and does absolutely nothing to stop it. Well, not nothing. He politely coughs.
Wtf?
It's like a bad comedy sketch.
What was most annoying, tho, was the ending: As I said, the story is based on a lot of dependencies, some between the characters. Some sweet, but some are really dark and abusive. To have to book end with one of the characters, who had hitherto been described as a confident, self-reliant young woman, a former wren, agree to marry a guy she tried to leave for most of the book
, just defies all reason, and to not comment on this being a bad idea just seems like carelessness on Christies' part.
Oh, and the solution to the actual mystery is as equally far-fetched.
The only reason that redeemed the book somewhat is that I enjoyed one particular scene in all of this mess, and that was when Lionel confesses his financial ruin to his wife. That was a well written and touching moment:
She was looking at him with complete astonishment.
‘Really, Jeremy! What on earth do you think I married you for?’
He smiled slightly. ‘You have always been a most loyal and devoted wife, my dear. But I can hardly flatter myself that you would have accepted me in— er— different circumstances.’
She stared at him and suddenly burst out laughing. ‘You funny old stick! What a wonderful novelettish mind you must have behind that legal façade! Do you really think that I married you as the price of saving Father from the wolves— or the Stewards of the Jockey Club, et cetera?’
March 14, 2023
وجدانی دختره روانیه! این چه تصمیمی بود لین؟ و چه معمای قتل پیچ در پیچی🚶🏻♀️
هرچقدر از قلم اگاتا بگیم کمه😅
هرچقدر از قلم اگاتا بگیم کمه😅
May 22, 2025
Pues me ha gustado bastante, si es cierto que Poirot tarda en aparecer, casi hasta mitad del libro, pero luego, de ahí al final, in crescendo en intriga y muertes, porque al final hay mas de una.
Y muy difícil de averiguar quien o quienes son los culpables.
Muy bueno.
Valoración: 8/10
Sinopsis: Tras morir Gordon Cloade sin testar, su viuda Rosaleen resultaba heredera universal del difunto, en perjuicio de los parientes del mismo. Un problema, sin embargo, surge frente a la muchacha: Rosaleen había enviudado antes de un primer esposo, oficialmente muerto pero que de pronto aparece vivo. Esta inesperada "resurrección" llena de esperanza a algunos parientes sumidos en la pobreza, pero también despierta la codicia de otras personas, que acaba por provocar un torbellino de mentiras, suplantaciones de personalidad, chantaje, perjurio, insultos, amenazas, accidentes y muertes violentas. Una conmoción cuya secuela en forma de criminal embrollo obligará a Hércules Poirot a exprimirse frenéticamente las células grises.
# 6. Un libro que cumpla tu categoría favorita del Reto Popsugar 2015. 10. Misterio o Thriller. Reto Popsugar 2025
Y muy difícil de averiguar quien o quienes son los culpables.
Muy bueno.
Valoración: 8/10
Sinopsis: Tras morir Gordon Cloade sin testar, su viuda Rosaleen resultaba heredera universal del difunto, en perjuicio de los parientes del mismo. Un problema, sin embargo, surge frente a la muchacha: Rosaleen había enviudado antes de un primer esposo, oficialmente muerto pero que de pronto aparece vivo. Esta inesperada "resurrección" llena de esperanza a algunos parientes sumidos en la pobreza, pero también despierta la codicia de otras personas, que acaba por provocar un torbellino de mentiras, suplantaciones de personalidad, chantaje, perjurio, insultos, amenazas, accidentes y muertes violentas. Una conmoción cuya secuela en forma de criminal embrollo obligará a Hércules Poirot a exprimirse frenéticamente las células grises.
# 6. Un libro que cumpla tu categoría favorita del Reto Popsugar 2015. 10. Misterio o Thriller. Reto Popsugar 2025
March 19, 2019
I pretty fun one.
December 24, 2020
“Poirot murmured:
‘There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at its flood, leads on to fortune. . .’ [Shakespeare]
‘Yes, the tide sweeps in—but it also ebbs—and may carry you out to sea.’”--Christie
I was not looking forward to Poirot 27--I am trying to mimic the US pattern here of calling Presidents by their numerical order, He Who Shall Not Be Named as 45 {clever? No?!] [no]—and so held my nose a little bit as I began. Couple of false starts, had to begin over. Part of it is that out of all 39 Poirot volumes, it is ranked 3rd lowest, at 3.70, so I was not expecting much. And, like many of these, I had never heard of it; not a good sign. Then, it has a Shakespearean title, as the now internationally famous Christie is trying to step up her game by doing what the Literary Authors do, using Shakespeare's work to title theirs, dropping Shakespeare quotes into the stew to raise its literary reputation [as opposed to Hickory Dickory Dock or One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, as she did earlier in her career]. Only in the last book did we discover that Poirot really doesn’t like to read the classics, isn’t much of a reader, so why/how is it here he now recites perfectly rendered Shakespearean text at conveniently appropriate moments? Pay attention to what you just wrote, Dame Christie!
So, well into it, I had low expectations. And then, to cut to the chase, Christie as usual comes through like the champ she is with the knockout punch, revealing a beautifully designed plot with everyone as suspects and a surprise culprit. In this one, published in 1948, (the escapist) Christie finally acknowledges there had actually been a war on, where rich [Christie writes mysteries about the rich, so they are always rich] Gordon Cloade was killed in the Blitz, money that was to go to his family goes to his young, resented wife whose first husband had died in Africa [hmm, can SHE have also killed her second husband??!]. Nothing much happens in the entire first half of the book, it sorta drags its way along, but then [spoiler alert, surprise, surprise] people die, and then the clockwork plot-making becomes evident, made so by Poirot, following clues of human nature as opposed to facts. There are true surprises galore as things proceed.
But there’s one glaring problem that may have been a factor in the low GR rating: Lynn, one of the Cloades, is engaged to dull Rowley, but having been to the war, now she likes adventurers, bad boys, violent men, so picks obvious suspect David, who has anger management issues. Lynn’s own mother sees this trend also in Rosaleen, who was bored with her first husband in Africa:
“If he’d been a hearty sort of fellow who drank and beat her, it would have been all right. But he was rather an intellectual who kept a large library in the wilds and liked to talk metaphysics.”
This sort of theorizing is interesting, in identifying an historical cultural trend to endorse spousal abuse. But honestly, "a hearty sort of fellow who drank and beat her, it would have been all right"???! It looks like Christie could be making a critique here, but the issue is highlighted problematically and disturbingly in the last three pages, where Lynn says to the formerly dull Rowley:
"When you caught hold of me by the throat and said if I wasn't for you, no man should have me--well--I knew I was your woman!"
Spoiler alert: Lynn is here referring to a recent time when she has been nearly strangled by Rowley, and not because of some s/m play they engaged in. And we are left to believe this is a good match! So if Christie was trying to make a cultural critique about how women sometimes choose men against their best interests, that critique finally goes poof. And besides, Christie is not a decent writer of romance; she almost never seems to write romantic relationships realistically. Overall, one might think of this as a 4 rating, in the place of mysteries that have ever been written, but point off for the bad ending and that particular line that can only have you grimace in consternation.
‘There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at its flood, leads on to fortune. . .’ [Shakespeare]
‘Yes, the tide sweeps in—but it also ebbs—and may carry you out to sea.’”--Christie
I was not looking forward to Poirot 27--I am trying to mimic the US pattern here of calling Presidents by their numerical order, He Who Shall Not Be Named as 45 {clever? No?!] [no]—and so held my nose a little bit as I began. Couple of false starts, had to begin over. Part of it is that out of all 39 Poirot volumes, it is ranked 3rd lowest, at 3.70, so I was not expecting much. And, like many of these, I had never heard of it; not a good sign. Then, it has a Shakespearean title, as the now internationally famous Christie is trying to step up her game by doing what the Literary Authors do, using Shakespeare's work to title theirs, dropping Shakespeare quotes into the stew to raise its literary reputation [as opposed to Hickory Dickory Dock or One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, as she did earlier in her career]. Only in the last book did we discover that Poirot really doesn’t like to read the classics, isn’t much of a reader, so why/how is it here he now recites perfectly rendered Shakespearean text at conveniently appropriate moments? Pay attention to what you just wrote, Dame Christie!
So, well into it, I had low expectations. And then, to cut to the chase, Christie as usual comes through like the champ she is with the knockout punch, revealing a beautifully designed plot with everyone as suspects and a surprise culprit. In this one, published in 1948, (the escapist) Christie finally acknowledges there had actually been a war on, where rich [Christie writes mysteries about the rich, so they are always rich] Gordon Cloade was killed in the Blitz, money that was to go to his family goes to his young, resented wife whose first husband had died in Africa [hmm, can SHE have also killed her second husband??!]. Nothing much happens in the entire first half of the book, it sorta drags its way along, but then [spoiler alert, surprise, surprise] people die, and then the clockwork plot-making becomes evident, made so by Poirot, following clues of human nature as opposed to facts. There are true surprises galore as things proceed.
But there’s one glaring problem that may have been a factor in the low GR rating: Lynn, one of the Cloades, is engaged to dull Rowley, but having been to the war, now she likes adventurers, bad boys, violent men, so picks obvious suspect David, who has anger management issues. Lynn’s own mother sees this trend also in Rosaleen, who was bored with her first husband in Africa:
“If he’d been a hearty sort of fellow who drank and beat her, it would have been all right. But he was rather an intellectual who kept a large library in the wilds and liked to talk metaphysics.”
This sort of theorizing is interesting, in identifying an historical cultural trend to endorse spousal abuse. But honestly, "a hearty sort of fellow who drank and beat her, it would have been all right"???! It looks like Christie could be making a critique here, but the issue is highlighted problematically and disturbingly in the last three pages, where Lynn says to the formerly dull Rowley:
"When you caught hold of me by the throat and said if I wasn't for you, no man should have me--well--I knew I was your woman!"
Spoiler alert: Lynn is here referring to a recent time when she has been nearly strangled by Rowley, and not because of some s/m play they engaged in. And we are left to believe this is a good match! So if Christie was trying to make a cultural critique about how women sometimes choose men against their best interests, that critique finally goes poof. And besides, Christie is not a decent writer of romance; she almost never seems to write romantic relationships realistically. Overall, one might think of this as a 4 rating, in the place of mysteries that have ever been written, but point off for the bad ending and that particular line that can only have you grimace in consternation.
May 22, 2022
Even though I'm a big fan of Agatha Christie's and I've read many of her books over the years it's the first time I've read this installment of her Hercule Poirot series!
It is very smartly written and intriguing! Questions arise with every new chapter and it's not easy to find the right answers!
I can't say I liked the characters that where involved in this mystery with only one or two exceptions!
It's worth reading!
It is very smartly written and intriguing! Questions arise with every new chapter and it's not easy to find the right answers!
I can't say I liked the characters that where involved in this mystery with only one or two exceptions!
It's worth reading!
September 14, 2025
Not my favourite Christie – fascinating historical insight but a disappointing ending.
August 22, 2023
Not exactly like other AC books I have read. There were too many characters. While few were described well, few others did not get the required mileage and I was left asking for more e.g. Jeremy & Lionel Cloade characters were not explored much and same about their wives. Why would you include them in the first place in the plot - just to introduce more kin so that mystery element is maintained? Explanation towards the end felt very rushed & I was able to predict the killer which was a dampener.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 6, 2012
On my second tour with Agatha Christie -- in middle age as opposed to high school -- I find that I am preferring Miss Marple's psychology to Poirot's little grey cells. The mystery itself was interesting, but the female characters appalled me. I could not believe a woman would write such an ending!
August 4, 2024
Agatha Christie presents yet another Hercule Poirot novel that keeps the mystery high as the reader tries to solve a murder. When a young woman’s new-found riches are in jeopardy, retired detective Hercule Poirot takes up the case to determine if murder might have pushed things along. Truths tied to a spirit visit could be the key to understanding the truth and allow Poirot to point to the actual killer. Christie dazzles as she brings the story to life in yet another of her mysteries.
After marrying a young widow, Gordon Claude is as happy as he ever could be. However, a bomb blast sees Mr. Claude die and leaves his new wife rich with the family fortune. While the tragedy of death is apparent, Madam Claude can rest happily as she knows the riches will keep her safe for years to come.
Not long thereafter, retired Belgian police detective Hercule Poirot is called upon to help with a mystery. Gordon Claude’s sister-in-law comes with news that she had been visited by a spirit that explains that the first husband of the recent widow is still alive and well. Poirot is confused to learn this and rushes to make sense of what he has been told, especially as it relates to the spirit world.
Rushing to make sense of it all, Poirot explored the mysterious death and discovers that nothing is quite as it seems. He probes and examines, only to learn that there is more to the original death than meets the eye. Alibis overlap and truths blur, as the actual killer is soon identified and the motive uncovered. Christie offers up another stellar story that keeps the reader guessing.
Agatha Christie has done well to spin many stories together and provides the reader with a wonderful mystery that does not present in a completely straightforward manner. Working with a strong narrative, Christie weaves the story together and builds on half-truths, falsehoods, and tricks of the spirit world. With a story than clips along, great characters help flavour the piece well. Plot points are left to thicken things and provide the reader with some great surprises. Short and to the point, Christie uses the series to advance more dazzling storytelling that is sure to impress!
Kudos Madam Christie, for another strong detective mystery.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
After marrying a young widow, Gordon Claude is as happy as he ever could be. However, a bomb blast sees Mr. Claude die and leaves his new wife rich with the family fortune. While the tragedy of death is apparent, Madam Claude can rest happily as she knows the riches will keep her safe for years to come.
Not long thereafter, retired Belgian police detective Hercule Poirot is called upon to help with a mystery. Gordon Claude’s sister-in-law comes with news that she had been visited by a spirit that explains that the first husband of the recent widow is still alive and well. Poirot is confused to learn this and rushes to make sense of what he has been told, especially as it relates to the spirit world.
Rushing to make sense of it all, Poirot explored the mysterious death and discovers that nothing is quite as it seems. He probes and examines, only to learn that there is more to the original death than meets the eye. Alibis overlap and truths blur, as the actual killer is soon identified and the motive uncovered. Christie offers up another stellar story that keeps the reader guessing.
Agatha Christie has done well to spin many stories together and provides the reader with a wonderful mystery that does not present in a completely straightforward manner. Working with a strong narrative, Christie weaves the story together and builds on half-truths, falsehoods, and tricks of the spirit world. With a story than clips along, great characters help flavour the piece well. Plot points are left to thicken things and provide the reader with some great surprises. Short and to the point, Christie uses the series to advance more dazzling storytelling that is sure to impress!
Kudos Madam Christie, for another strong detective mystery.
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
August 10, 2017
After listening to The Sittaford Mystery on the drive TO a vacation destination, my daughter and I needed an audiobook for the return home trip. This is NOT one of my favorite Christie's, but it is one that she has not read, so we jointly decided on this one.
Plot point reveal below (although not whodunit)
We listened to around the first half of the book on the drive home on 1/1/17, and then she finished reading it upon our return. I kept up with the listen and finished it just this morning. There is some to like, and much to deplore, in this book. The deplorable part sort of overtakes the rest of the story. Christie had, I suppose, a rudimentary understanding of the cycle of domestic violence based upon her character study of Lynn Marchmont, but her treatment of DV is, quite simply, abominable.
It is neither sexy or romantic when a woman's fiance says "if I can't have you, no one can," and then proceeds to try to kill her. And what the actual fuck, Agatha, letting Poirot give basic cover to this kind of serious and significant episode of attempted murder.
HE INTERRUPTS A CHARACTER IN THE ACT OF TRYING TO KILL A YOUNG WOMAN, and his response is to cough delicately and look embarrassed that he has walked into a strangling.
Pardonnez-moi, monsier, je suis desole! I did not mean to interrupt you while you were attempting to murder Mademoiselle Marchmont. (imagine these lines being delivered in Suchet's Poirot voice)
This whole thing is unfortunate, because the mystery here is actually pretty good, which is why it still gets two stars. Nonetheless, fuck this book.
Plot point reveal below (although not whodunit)
We listened to around the first half of the book on the drive home on 1/1/17, and then she finished reading it upon our return. I kept up with the listen and finished it just this morning. There is some to like, and much to deplore, in this book. The deplorable part sort of overtakes the rest of the story. Christie had, I suppose, a rudimentary understanding of the cycle of domestic violence based upon her character study of Lynn Marchmont, but her treatment of DV is, quite simply, abominable.
It is neither sexy or romantic when a woman's fiance says "if I can't have you, no one can," and then proceeds to try to kill her. And what the actual fuck, Agatha, letting Poirot give basic cover to this kind of serious and significant episode of attempted murder.
HE INTERRUPTS A CHARACTER IN THE ACT OF TRYING TO KILL A YOUNG WOMAN, and his response is to cough delicately and look embarrassed that he has walked into a strangling.
Pardonnez-moi, monsier, je suis desole! I did not mean to interrupt you while you were attempting to murder Mademoiselle Marchmont. (imagine these lines being delivered in Suchet's Poirot voice)
This whole thing is unfortunate, because the mystery here is actually pretty good, which is why it still gets two stars. Nonetheless, fuck this book.
May 12, 2020
I have no idea why the title was changed from "There is a Tide..." to "Taken at the Flood" for the American edition; both are lines from the same haunting quotation from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and provide a motif throughout this fine post-WWII mystery. An English village seething with homicidal impulses plus Poirot equals a classic Christie. I felt thoroughly outfoxed at the end, for surely this novel takes the prize for the most red herrings ever--enough to open a fishmonger's shop! As a longtime Christie fan, I was canny enough to pick up on the significance of many elements, such as one small remark from a character and the smoke from a train. I also was able to guess why certain people died in the Air Raid and others did not. But even though I was on the right track in some regards, I was blindsided by the ending. I don't think I ever would have figured out who the mysterious girl with the orange scarf was, and I had completely the wrong idea of whodunnit, due to the apparent lack of motive for all but two characters.
I think my error lay in assuming that Christie had planned a particular sort of happy ending for some of her characters; she does like to tie things up neatly by marrying off whoever didn't do the crime. However, this assumption caused me to misinterpret certain scenes. I freely admit that the last two pages left me furious, thinking that surely, surely Christie didn't think this was a happy ending! But on reflection, I don't think she intended it to be. After Poirot's scathing remarks about the character flaws common to the entire Cloade clan, I think she intended the ending to be true to character rather than happy per se.
Along with the myriad twists and turns, this is a fine example of Christie's ability to come up with more than one solution. She didn't always know, when she began, which one she would use, and often included more than one scenario that would work (with Poirot deducing the correct one, of course). "There is a Tide" has possible endings in spades. Although it could be classified as a "cozy" due to the English village setting, it is rather an odd one...without naming names that would spoil anything, I had the thought that it was more like an episode of Jerry Springer: domestic abusers, cross-dressers, secret relations, and the people who love or hate or kill them!
I think my error lay in assuming that Christie had planned a particular sort of happy ending for some of her characters; she does like to tie things up neatly by marrying off whoever didn't do the crime. However, this assumption caused me to misinterpret certain scenes. I freely admit that the last two pages left me furious, thinking that surely, surely Christie didn't think this was a happy ending! But on reflection, I don't think she intended it to be. After Poirot's scathing remarks about the character flaws common to the entire Cloade clan, I think she intended the ending to be true to character rather than happy per se.
Along with the myriad twists and turns, this is a fine example of Christie's ability to come up with more than one solution. She didn't always know, when she began, which one she would use, and often included more than one scenario that would work (with Poirot deducing the correct one, of course). "There is a Tide" has possible endings in spades. Although it could be classified as a "cozy" due to the English village setting, it is rather an odd one...without naming names that would spoil anything, I had the thought that it was more like an episode of Jerry Springer: domestic abusers, cross-dressers, secret relations, and the people who love or hate or kill them!
May 7, 2024
رائعة أخري من روائع العبقرية المذهلة أغاثا كريستي
بطلها المحقق هيروكيول بوارو .. ثاني افضل محقق بالنسبة لي بعد الرائع شارلوك هولمز
هناك عيب واحد فقط في تلك الرواية وهو أن الأحداث كانت في بعض الأوقات تكون مفككة وخصوصا في البداية حيث ظهر بوارو فجأه ثم إختفي فجأه مما جعلني اتسائل في البداية هل حقا المحقق هو بوارو ام ظهور كضيف فقط أم انها مجموعة قصص مجتمعه ترتبط ببعضها البعض بشكل ما
في الثلث الأخير من الرواية كل ما كنت افعله هو الإبتسام فقط لا غير وانا مذهولة من النتيجة وحل اللغز
توقعت أن يكون هناك فعليا وصية مفقودة والتي لم تظهر ابدا بعد ذلك
النهاية غير متوقعه بالمره ابدااا .. اثناء القراءة اتهمت كل الشخصيات بأن كل فرد منهم هو المجرم الحقيقي .. وأكثر أشخاص لم يختروا علي بالي ولم أفكر بهم هم المجرمين الفعليين
شخصيات العائلة جمعيا كلها من السذاجة بمكان أن تجعلهم كلهم أبرياء أو حتي متهمين في نفس الوقت بطبيعة الحال وذلك لحاجتهم جميعا للمال
لين ورولي لم يخطروا علي بالي بالطبع فرولي يهتم بالحقل ولا يتدخل في شئ سوي ذهابه لبوارو ليطلب منه المساعدة لحل اللغز القائم وهو قتل آردين
دايفيد هنتر واخته روزالين لن أتحدث عنهم ابدا يكفي أن يتعرف عليهما القارئ اثناء القراءة بنفسه أفضل بكثير
من لم يقرأ لكريستي فقد فاته كثير في أدب الجريمة .. بل فاته كل شئ .. أنتظر قراءة المزيد من رواياتها مع المحقق العبقري بوارو شبية كونان وهولمز
تستحق نجوم كثيرة وتستحق الترشيح
لكن سأحذف نجمة واحده من التقييم وذلك للتفكك الذي شعرت به في البداية فقط
March 7, 2020
At the twenty-eighth installment, I fear that Poirot series is heading for a fall. The murder-mystery which was the center of these stories has been torn from its proper place and send to a corner while the background story that leads to the crime has taken the center. As Poirot himself so often says "it is all seems wrong". Yes, dear Poirot, it seems all wrong. And that is dragging you down, unfortunately.
I wouldn't say that the murder-mystery in this particular installment is a poor one. It is cleverly written although not one of Christie's best. But it took half the book for the first crime to happen (there were more), and quite honestly, it tried my patience to the extreme. Once the first crime committed and Poirot entered the scene, the story picked up and kept me going with a good sense of enjoyment. But the anticlimax was a good slap on my face. Dear Agatha Christie, the blow is too, too hard.
I wouldn't say that the murder-mystery in this particular installment is a poor one. It is cleverly written although not one of Christie's best. But it took half the book for the first crime to happen (there were more), and quite honestly, it tried my patience to the extreme. Once the first crime committed and Poirot entered the scene, the story picked up and kept me going with a good sense of enjoyment. But the anticlimax was a good slap on my face. Dear Agatha Christie, the blow is too, too hard.
June 25, 2023
One of Agatha's less known books. The start is a promising one, as characters have more deepness than usual and have a natural look. But the action is slow, there is a lot of talk, so you have to be very careful to see what is hidden behind facts and words. I didn't try to spot the killer(s), as I know that he (she) will be the less suspected one, but the final has surprised me anyway, which is a good thing. Nonetheless, that surprise alone wasn't big enough to raise the mark more than three stars...
March 23, 2022
Taken at the Flood (aka There is a Tide), by Agatha Christie.
The adaptation for the TV by Guy Andrews was a lot better than the original novel by Dame Christie.
I read this book during my teens (an edition translated into Portuguese) and I couldn’t remember anything about it. No wonder. There is nothing remarkable or memorable.
Don’t get me wrong.
The writing is good and the storyline, with some great twists, was quite interesting. The problem was its development, which was very slow and not gripping. And I dislike convenient coincidences, something that I do not recall in a book by Dame Christie but that exists here.
Poirot appears very quickly in the beginning and disappears until the middle of the book.
The ending was, as expected, quite brilliant, except the romantic part, which I found cheesy.
As in most of her books, here we also have a character who makes racists and xenophobic remarks, something that was quite common those years.
Definitely not my favourite but I do recommend the adaptation for the TV, with the terrific David Suchet, as Hercule Poirot.
The adaptation for the TV by Guy Andrews was a lot better than the original novel by Dame Christie.
I read this book during my teens (an edition translated into Portuguese) and I couldn’t remember anything about it. No wonder. There is nothing remarkable or memorable.
Don’t get me wrong.
The writing is good and the storyline, with some great twists, was quite interesting. The problem was its development, which was very slow and not gripping. And I dislike convenient coincidences, something that I do not recall in a book by Dame Christie but that exists here.
Poirot appears very quickly in the beginning and disappears until the middle of the book.
The ending was, as expected, quite brilliant, except the romantic part, which I found cheesy.
As in most of her books, here we also have a character who makes racists and xenophobic remarks, something that was quite common those years.
Definitely not my favourite but I do recommend the adaptation for the TV, with the terrific David Suchet, as Hercule Poirot.
April 9, 2019
Per me la Christie vale sempre 5☆. Adoro Poirot anche se nell'introduzione si dice che non era il suo personaggio preferito ma visto che vendeva ... e già quello mi fa voler leggere la sua autobiografia. Ve l'ho detto adoro la Christie.
Comunque non è un libro per chi vuole molto Poirot in quanto appare nei primi due capitoli del prologo, niente nella prima parte e poi riappare a partire dalla seconda parte. Un bell'effetto diverso dopo aver letto poco prima Assassinio sull'Orient Express ma per me Poirot è Poirot. E come sempre lo immagino come Suchet cioè l'unico e vero Poirot.
Comunque non è un libro per chi vuole molto Poirot in quanto appare nei primi due capitoli del prologo, niente nella prima parte e poi riappare a partire dalla seconda parte. Un bell'effetto diverso dopo aver letto poco prima Assassinio sull'Orient Express ma per me Poirot è Poirot. E come sempre lo immagino come Suchet cioè l'unico e vero Poirot.
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