Reviews

This novel is a bad showing by the amazing Agatha Christie. The half star is for the inclusion of beloved characters Poirot and Ariadne Oliver. Otherwise there is nothing about this book to recommend it. This book reads like she dictated it and it was transcribed with no editing. First of all - almost nothing happens in this book - it is all a series of interviews. The reader is merely told a story. Christie repeats the elephant theme and even some of the (weak) clues ad nauseam. The mother-in-law starting the mystery by cornering Ariadne at a literary luncheon makes no sense. Ariadne telling her goddaughter that she "forgot" about the fact that the goddaughter's parents met a very public, tragic and mysterious end is the height of rudeness and makes no sense. Also, you can see the lazy"twist" ending a mile away. I recommend you forget about this book.

rainshtorm's review

Go to review page

4.75

Interesting mystery and lots of fun with Poirot and Mrs Oliver. I adore their friendship!

irrlichtwinter's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

1.5

the mystery is obvious, and the pro-eugenics talk makes me sick

raspberryicedtea's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

read in German translation

This was fun! Mrs Oliver is as always delightful with her wit and humor. The case was interesting and satisfyingly mysterious without being too complicated or constructed which is an issue i have had with some Agatha Christie novels in the past and I liked all the characters.
The end was alright, ofc it just had to have the mentally ill perpetrator trope which I am kind of sick of lol. It just seems like such a cop out to me.
Nevertheless I did enjoy the book and that´s one down from my list of books I have owned forever and never got around to read and am finally catching up on.

book_concierge's review against another edition

Go to review page

2.0

2.5 Stars

This is not her best work. Here she teams two memorable characters – Hercule Poirot and Mrs Ariadne Oliver to investigate a decades-old mystery. Did General Ravenscroft kill his wife and them himself, or did Lady Ravenscroft shoot her husband before committing suicide? Their daughter wants some answers, and she asks her godmother, Mrs Oliver, to try to find the truth for her. The audio version is narrated quite capably by John Moffatt.

I know I had an original hardback of this book (because of my elephant collection), but I don’t remember ever reading it.

More...