One more Christie then I'll move on to other books for a while. This time around our detective is Superintendent Battle. While he's not as memorable as Poirot or Marple, he's a good guy and a solid detective.
The story starts with a variety of seemingly unrelated events. In the prologue, would-be murderer is plotting out a murder right down to the last detail. But then we meet a schoolgirl, Battle's daughter, who is accused of theft at school, and we hear the story of a man who attempted suicide but was saved and has found a new job, but not happiness. Then there's the tennis player who is staying at his benefactress' seaside home with his wife - and his ex-wife. Tensions are elevated and murder becomes inevitable.
We know a lot about the characters before the actual murder takes place, but that didn't help me solve it....
Miss Marple is staying at the luxurious and old-fashioned Bertram's Hotel as a gift from her nephew, author Raymond West. She find several other interesting characters staying there, including the rather colorful Lady Bess Sedgwick, a dithering old Colonel and his pretty ward, Elvira Blake. The famous racing car driver, Ladislav, is also hanging around. All things considered, Miss Marple sees trouble coming. Meanwhile, Chief Inspector Davies had been investigating a string of large, successful robberies with little progress. Add in an absent-minded cleric and we have an interesting, twisty, if slow-moving mystery.
I listened to the audio and the narrator did a great job with the variety of characters and kept the story moving along at an appropriate place. I wish I could go stay at Bertram's Hotel, or at least one like it was pretending to be. I think I need a vacation....
We all know I love Agatha Christie and Poirot has always been my favorite of her detectives, but I can't really pick a favorite when it comes to the stories. One, Two, Buckle My Shoe is not it, although it's a good one. A dentist dies of a gunshot wound in the middle of the day and it is believed to be a case of suicide by everyone, except Hercule Poirot who was a patient of his and had visited him the very same day. It's nice to have Poirot in at the very beginning, noticing potential suspects even before the crime is committed.
As usual, Poirot observes and suspects far more than the police and doesn't take anyone's word as gospel. The mystery is solid with a nice mix of family drama and international tension - this was originally published mid- WW2. The characters themselves are a bit forgettable though.
And, as always, Hugh Fraser does a fantastic job...
This time around Poirot happens to be passing through Iraq and is called upon by the local authorities to look into a suspicious death. Dr. Leidner is in charge of an archaeological dig. There are tensions among the members of the party and Dr. Leidner has hired a nurse, Amy Leatheran, to look after his wife, who has been overly nervous. Then, his wife ends up murdered.
Nurse Leatheran is our narrator this time around. She has not known the members of the dig for long and has her own opinions about their personalities and what's been going on. We also see Poirot and his investigation through her eyes and she's not always complimentary. The characters are drawn well, with their secrets, fears, and jealousies. The whodunnit is not great. It just seems rather unlikely all around, but I still enjoyed the book....
Crooked House is one of Christie's stand-alone mysteries. We have three generations of the Leonides family all living under the roof of the wealthy grandfather, Aristide. When Aristide is murdered, all the household comes under suspicion. His granddaughter Sophia tells our narrator and her fiancé, Charles Hayward, that they cannot marry until the killer is caught. Charles' father happens to be the Assistant Commissioner of Scotland Yard, so Charles investigates from the inside along with assigned detective, Chief Inspector Taverner.
The Leonides family members are an interesting, mostly unlikeable lot and any of them could have a motive - money, control. There are plenty of tensions and secrets. Charles makes a decent amateur sleuth and this one is more about uncovering family dynamics and tensions than concrete clues. The whodunnit is surprising, but makes total sense....
Most Agatha Christie's are rereads for me, including Cards on the Table. I remembered the setup. Mr. Shaitana invites Poirot to a dinner party, promising to introduce him to one of his collections, murders who have gotten away with their crimes. It turns out there are four "murderers" and four of Christie's detectives, Poirot, Colonel Race, Superintendent Battle, and Ariadne Oliver, at the dinner. After dinner, they play bridge and by the end of the night Shaitana is dead.
It's a clever mystery. We only have four suspects, but figuring out which one is guilty is not as easy as it seems. All of them have the same motive - Shaitana made several veiled references to the crimes and, if they were actually guilty, any of them may have been afraid he would go to the police. Poirot is the lead, but he does a nice job collaborating with the others. It's fun to see the different personalities and...
