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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Finally! An Agatha Christie novel with espionage that I actually found fun to read.
The first few chapters were honestly a bit confusing with the amount of characters but I ended up liking this whole novel. Havingmore than one murderer was expected but the reveal about it was unexpected (at least for me). The red herrings did their job and, as pompous as Poirot always is, his reveal at the end was actually satisfying (and not at all long winded like in other works).
The bit at the very end was the cherry on top. Navigating through the names and personalities in Cat Among Pigeons was well worth it.
The first few chapters were honestly a bit confusing with the amount of characters but I ended up liking this whole novel. Having
The bit at the very end was the cherry on top. Navigating through the names and personalities in Cat Among Pigeons was well worth it.
This is my favorite Christie mystery. Set in a prestigious girls’ school, with students on the cusp of womanhood, it’s a very woman dominated world. A cast of females - mothers, teachers, the magisterial director Miss Bulstrode, and students, including the keen-minded Julia and her tennis-obsessed friend Jennifer - have created almost a closed, self-sufficient world - a world that's been infiltrated by a killer. Poirot doesn’t appear until late in the book, when he works his accustomed magic, figures out what’s what and who’s who and then makes his gentlemanly exit, leaving the school once again in the hands of the more-than-capable women.
I love the world Christie creates here - the girls haven't yet awakened to the distracting charms of men, the women are putting into practice their ideals, pursing their dreams and goals, with a few falls from grace along the way - some forgivable, others deadly.
I love the world Christie creates here - the girls haven't yet awakened to the distracting charms of men, the women are putting into practice their ideals, pursing their dreams and goals, with a few falls from grace along the way - some forgivable, others deadly.
mysterious
fast-paced
I absolutely loved this book! Intrigue, mystery, and missing jewels, all wrapped up in a posh girls’ boarding school - what else could you want?
mysterious
fast-paced
I don’t like the trend lately where Poirot doesn’t make an appearance until the final chapters of a book. I read once that Christie was tired of Poirot by this point so maybe that’s the explanation. I thought the book was good, but not great. The final ending was fantastic though.
I was undecided as to whether to rate this 3 or 4 stars. It took a while for me to get into the book but about half way through it became gripping! I loved the explanation but some areas were a little confusing. Also didn’t like how I had to get two thirds of the way through to finally see Poirot! Love his personality so was missing that for a while. Still a good read - just not a favourite Christie book of mine!
A hugely readable mixture of domestic murder mystery and international thriller with a solution that reflects both situations. In this unmasking of two completely different killers and many murders, it's a very unique Christie! Although a wee-bit far-fetched the plot is very satisfying - even if I would have rather seen Miss Marple take this case on, but apparently the several novels prior to this were Miss Marple mysteries so Christie didn't want to deprive the public of Poirot (who is more adept at the international aspects of this novel than Miss Marple would be). Perhaps that is why the female characters are so wonderfully seen and the men are all peripheral (even Poirot - even thought he would totally disagree). 3.5/5 stars!
mysterious
medium-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
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Listened to the audiobook with the great Hugh Frazier, who has exactly the right voice for Agatha Christie - even a story set in a girls school in which Capt. Hastings does not appear.
Hercule Poirot makes his entrance fairly late in this one, brought in after two deaths and a kidnapping. And he wraps it up fairly quickly.
The story starts in Ramat, a vague Mid-Eastern country having a revolution. The prince entrusts a cache of jewels to his best friend, an English pilot, who must arrange for them to get out of the country before attempting to get the prince out. He turns to his sister, in Ramat visiting with her daughter, but when he visits her hotel, she is not there - but he spends a fairly bit of time in her room anyway. He hides the stones in his niece's tennis racket handle, and is seen doing so -
The tennis racket and niece end up at Meadowbanks, a girls school, on their return from Ramat. The prince and pilot are both dead, and many different groups of people are eager to get their hands on the jewels: but where are they? First one schoolmistress then another ends up dead -- three by the end of the book.
Very fun to listen to in bad traffic on the way home. Nothing too tense, and an interesting plot to keep one's mind off the traffic.
Hercule Poirot makes his entrance fairly late in this one, brought in after two deaths and a kidnapping. And he wraps it up fairly quickly.
The story starts in Ramat, a vague Mid-Eastern country having a revolution. The prince entrusts a cache of jewels to his best friend, an English pilot, who must arrange for them to get out of the country before attempting to get the prince out. He turns to his sister, in Ramat visiting with her daughter, but when he visits her hotel, she is not there - but he spends a fairly bit of time in her room anyway. He hides the stones in his niece's tennis racket handle, and is seen doing so -
The tennis racket and niece end up at Meadowbanks, a girls school, on their return from Ramat. The prince and pilot are both dead, and many different groups of people are eager to get their hands on the jewels: but where are they? First one schoolmistress then another ends up dead -- three by the end of the book.
Very fun to listen to in bad traffic on the way home. Nothing too tense, and an interesting plot to keep one's mind off the traffic.