Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.29 AVERAGE
3.29 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Death, Suicide
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Our dear little detective Hercule Poirot is put thru the ringer in this mashed together novel of racist, repetitive, superspy bullshit. The mysteries are not interesting, the plot twists are both outlandish and easily spotted. Agatha Christie herself described it as "that rotten book." In a better world this novel would have been unpublished; in this world, the best you can do is pretend it doesn't exist and read a better Poirot mystery.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
There was just SO much happening in this one (in so few pages)… I definitely think I prefer Poirot in the classic detective setting as opposed to more of the spy world, because this was all very far-fetched. But I still had a lot of fun with it. It was very Sherlock esque, very escape room esque. A quick, action packed read.
The things that counted as entertainment in the 1920s…
At first I thought Agatha Christie must have been experimenting with drugs. Then I realized she was writing Sherlock Holmes fan fiction. There is nothing here that rings true, but it is a very fun ride.
Poirot travels throughout Europe to chase down four mysterious supervillains, including one who is a master of disguise. The cohort is on the brink of developing diabolical wireless technology. The idiotic Hastings abandons his wife to help Poirot save the world from evil. Poirot makes use of his dopiness often, risking his friend's life and then laughing at how foolish he's been yet again.
Poirot travels throughout Europe to chase down four mysterious supervillains, including one who is a master of disguise. The cohort is on the brink of developing diabolical wireless technology. The idiotic Hastings abandons his wife to help Poirot save the world from evil. Poirot makes use of his dopiness often, risking his friend's life and then laughing at how foolish he's been yet again.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5*
Starting the new year with my monthly Agatha Christie read. This time, I went for a Poirot case, but this one turned out to be rather different.
First, our favourite Belgian investigator is not so much thrown in a crime mystery but a spy one, with international politics. This somehow felt weird, as if our characters had been placed in the wrong setting. Then, the nature itself of the narrative, which was put together from connecting together a series of short stories, resulting in repetitive, and sometimes inconsistent, mysteries. To be fair, Christie was going through some pretty tough events in her life, with the death of her mother and then the breakdown of her marriage. No wonder her heart was not in the act of writing. Still, the result was not bad, just a little ‘off’. I still enjoyed most of it and laughed at Hastings’s bumbling acts.
Starting the new year with my monthly Agatha Christie read. This time, I went for a Poirot case, but this one turned out to be rather different.
First, our favourite Belgian investigator is not so much thrown in a crime mystery but a spy one, with international politics. This somehow felt weird, as if our characters had been placed in the wrong setting. Then, the nature itself of the narrative, which was put together from connecting together a series of short stories, resulting in repetitive, and sometimes inconsistent, mysteries. To be fair, Christie was going through some pretty tough events in her life, with the death of her mother and then the breakdown of her marriage. No wonder her heart was not in the act of writing. Still, the result was not bad, just a little ‘off’. I still enjoyed most of it and laughed at Hastings’s bumbling acts.
The most action packed Poirot! This would make a great movie. I'm going to have to look and see if the BBC version does this book as an episode. Felt a bit bad for Captain Hastings throughout. Poor guy probably is not that dull, but next to Poirot he is just so bumbling.