Mrs. McGinty's Dead by Agatha Christie Narrator: Hugh Fraser
Series: Hercule Poirot #29, Ariadne Oliver #3
Published by Harper Collins on July 3, 2012 (first published 1952)
Source: Library
Genres: Vintage Mystery
Length: 6 hrs 8 mins
Pages: 272
Format: Audiobook
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In Mrs. McGinty’s Dead, one of Agatha Christie’s most ingenious mysteries, the intrepid Hercule Poirot must look into the case of a brutally murdered landlady.
Mrs. McGinty died from a brutal blow to the back of her head. Suspicion falls immediately on her shifty lodger, James Bentley, whose clothes reveal traces of the victim’s blood and hair. Yet something is amiss: Bentley just doesn’t seem like a murderer.
Could the answer lie in an article clipped from a newspaper two days before the death? With a desperate killer still free, Hercule Poirot will have to stay alive long enough to find out. . . .
I thoroughly enjoyed Mrs. McGinty’s Dead. This time around Superintendent Spence brings Poirot a case. A man has been convicted of Mrs. McGinty’s murder based on Spence’s investigations, but Spence is convince the man is not guilty. Poirot heads to the small town of Broadhinny to investigate. He stays in a poorly run guest house, which leads to several entertaining moments. We know how much Poirot loves comfort and good food, neither of which he gets here. Ariadne Oliver is also in town, working with a young playwright to adapt one of her books for the stage. Ariadne just makes me smile. She’s the opposite of Poirot and yet they get along well. I love how Ariadne talks about her fictional detective, giving us a bit of insight into how Christie feels about Poirot.
The plot was put together well, of course. The killer has to be one of the village residents, but Mrs. McGinty herself is rather uninteresting. Poirot, of course, picks up on a couple of important clues Spence and his crew missed. The whodunnit it was perhaps a little far-fetched, but with such entertaining characters, who cares?
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.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
This is one I haven’t read yet, and am so looking forward to.
I hope you enjoy it!