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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
As I am mostly a plot driven person, I really liked this!! Hastings didn’t irritated me and Poirot was actually doubting himself, which is quite fresh. Poirot’s lack of humility is the most annoying of this novel as well as his habit of humiliating Hastings.
I also dislike this constant mention that Poirot is retired, when he obviously isn’t and what a huge coincidence it is that he’s somewhere were there is a muder. Those were the reasons I couldn’t rate it higher.
I also dislike this constant mention that Poirot is retired, when he obviously isn’t and what a huge coincidence it is that he’s somewhere were there is a muder. Those were the reasons I couldn’t rate it higher.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
While this was one of my favorite plots, I’m getting quite tired of Poirot and Hastings stagnant characters, and Christie reliably pinning the crimes on international people, people with disabilities, or modern young people.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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:
No
Some issues with plot construction. I am perennially frustrated by Christie’s writing mysteries that it is not really possible for the reader to solve.
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
inspiring
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Much like Roger Ackroyd, the reveal in this one took me completely by surprise. She does such a great job of giving you all the pieces to solve the mystery and adding in just enough mis-guidance to throw you off the track. I should absolutely have picked up on the fact that “Nick” and her cousin Maggie are both named Magdala, but Christie subverts the thoughts by throwing out how Margaret is a name that has a lot of nicknames, so she subtly tricks the reader into assuming that Maggie is a Margaret. And that name doubling is the biggest clue to figuring out everything.
Nick is broke and in desperate need of funds, her cousin Maggie has a secret engagement to an extremely wealthy airman who has gone missing. His will left everything to his fiancée though. An then he’s declared not just missing but presumed dead. Now cold-hearted Nick just needs to off Maggie and pretend that she was the secret fiancée. By surrounding herself with less charming and questionable friends, Nick comes off as affable and kind. It’s a perfect cover. We believe her when she talks about the various accidents that nearly killed her rather than the friends who talk about her propensity to exaggerate or outright lie . And it means that we believe she was the intended target when she kills poor Maggie rather than seeing that she was the murderer.
It’s very cleverly done and I don’t understand why this one isn’t held up in the pantheon of other great Christie works. The solution has no coincidences, there’s a fabulous derelict house in a resort town, dissipated and beautiful people, and a twisty mystery that is hard to unpick. I gasped when I realized it was Nick all along.