Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie Narrator: Hugh Fraser
Series: Hercule Poirot #25
Published by Harper Audio on July 3, 2012
Source: Purchased
Genres: Vintage Mystery
Length: 6 hrs 40 mins
Pages: 288
Format: Audiobook
Purchase at Bookshop.org or Audible
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In Agatha Christie’s classic, Five Little Pigs, beloved detective Hercule Poirot races to solve a case from out of the past.
Beautiful Caroline Crale was convicted of poisoning her husband, but just like the nursery rhyme, there were five other “little pigs” who could have done it: Philip Blake (the stockbroker), who went to market; Meredith Blake (the amateur herbalist), who stayed at home; Elsa Greer (the three-time divorcée), who had her roast beef; Cecilia Williams (the devoted governess), who had none; and Angela Warren (the disfigured sister), who cried all the way home.
Sixteen years later, Caroline’s daughter is determined to prove her mother’s innocence, and Poirot just can’t get that nursery rhyme out of his mind.
I do love a good Poirot mystery and this one is interesting because each of our potential suspects gets to tell their story exactly as they remember it.
Poirot is asked by a young woman to solve the murder of her father, Amyas, a famous painter who was killed 16 years ago. Although her mother, Caroline, was tried, convicted, and died in prison, she left her daughter a note claiming she was innocent. Poirot agrees to look into it and happily, the five other people at the house at the time are all still alive. Poirot visits each of them and asks them to write down how they remember the events of that time. They all oblige. Through those accounts, we learn more about Caroline and Amyas Crale, but also about everyone else concerned. Everyone sees the others just a bit differently and layers and layers are added to the timeline and the characters, some obvious, others surprising. We do end up with a fair amount of repetition here, seeing the same events from different viewpoints, but that also makes us gloss over the pieces that should stand out. Poirot of course puts all the pieces together. The solution is not surprising, but how the whole thing works together is so well done.
This time around I listened to the audio. Hugh Fraser does a wonderful job as the narrator, as always. Although he played Hastings in the tv series, he makes a perfect Poirot.
About Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English crime novelist, short story writer and playwright. She is best known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around her fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world’s longest-running play, a murder mystery, The Mousetrap, and six romances under the name Mary Westmacott. In 1971 she was elevated to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her contribution to literature.
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