You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
paguilera 's review for:
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding
by Agatha Christie
A very solid collection containing some of my favorite Hercule Poirot short stories. I saw HarperCollins was putting out this anthology as part of their new line of Agatha Christie favorites, and decided to get it for a festive Christmas read. I really enjoyed it.
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding might be my favorite Hercule Poirot short story. I read it within the past year and decided to reread it again when Christmas rolled around. It's wonderfully festive and sweet. Old-fashioned, yes, and imperfect in some of its regrettably antiquated ideas, but not everything old is bad. There are still very old things that remain good and true in this story, like the warmth of a family coming together for a special holiday, Christmas in this case, reveling in its best traditions and reliving the joy of past glories in the present ritual. This is hardly a wonder when you read Christie's foreword for this collection, wherein she explains that it was the fond remembrance of her own childhood Christmas that inspired it. 5 stars.
Note: This story is also known as the The Theft of the Royal Ruby (I believe this is its title in American printings, probably because "a Christmas pudding" would be a foreign thing to American audiences). Also, this story is an expanded version of "Christmas Adventure," which I haven't read yet.
The Mystery of the Spanish Chest is an expanded version of "The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest." Agatha Christie has several such stories where a short story is later expanded and published under the different name. Often when I read these, I don't necessarily like them better than their original version. I think this is because often it feels like the additional details only lengthen and don't necessarily improve on the first version. However, in this case, I did enjoy the expanded version, which adds depth to all the characters, including Poirot himself and the efficient Miss Lemon (I too miss Hastings, Poirot). 4 stars.
The Under Dog was not a bad story but not my favorite either. It was a little slow, which is explained as being a conscious strategic choice on Poirot's part to catch the murderer. But well, it still drags a bit, and that keeps it from being entirely enjoyable. I will say I really enjoyed the appearance of George, Poirot's valet, as he adds to the humor of the story, which it certainly needs. 3 stars.
Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds has a cozy feel from how much of it takes place in a restaurant, and from how important food is to the story. However, I've now read it twice and both times I forgot the actual details of the solution, lol. This is a story where I enjoyed the telling of it more than the conclusion. 3 stars.
The Dream is another favorite of mine. It has great atmosphere, and I think the solution is satisfyingly clever. Also, I do love that classic set up where a patriarch/matriarch dies, leaving a substantial inheritance, and the sharks-I mean family- gather round. Who couldn't wait for natural death to get their share? Who was getting disinherited? The rich family murder mystery never gets old. 4.5 stars.
Greenshaw's Folly is a Miss Marple mystery and another story I'd read in the past year, so I'll just include my previous review here: "[It] was a fun, if short, little mystery. I guessed whodunnit pretty quick, so it wasn't as interesting as it might have been." 3 stars.
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding might be my favorite Hercule Poirot short story. I read it within the past year and decided to reread it again when Christmas rolled around. It's wonderfully festive and sweet. Old-fashioned, yes, and imperfect in some of its regrettably antiquated ideas, but not everything old is bad. There are still very old things that remain good and true in this story, like the warmth of a family coming together for a special holiday, Christmas in this case, reveling in its best traditions and reliving the joy of past glories in the present ritual. This is hardly a wonder when you read Christie's foreword for this collection, wherein she explains that it was the fond remembrance of her own childhood Christmas that inspired it. 5 stars.
Note: This story is also known as the The Theft of the Royal Ruby (I believe this is its title in American printings, probably because "a Christmas pudding" would be a foreign thing to American audiences). Also, this story is an expanded version of "Christmas Adventure," which I haven't read yet.
The Mystery of the Spanish Chest is an expanded version of "The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest." Agatha Christie has several such stories where a short story is later expanded and published under the different name. Often when I read these, I don't necessarily like them better than their original version. I think this is because often it feels like the additional details only lengthen and don't necessarily improve on the first version. However, in this case, I did enjoy the expanded version, which adds depth to all the characters, including Poirot himself and the efficient Miss Lemon (I too miss Hastings, Poirot). 4 stars.
The Under Dog was not a bad story but not my favorite either. It was a little slow, which is explained as being a conscious strategic choice on Poirot's part to catch the murderer. But well, it still drags a bit, and that keeps it from being entirely enjoyable. I will say I really enjoyed the appearance of George, Poirot's valet, as he adds to the humor of the story, which it certainly needs. 3 stars.
Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds has a cozy feel from how much of it takes place in a restaurant, and from how important food is to the story. However, I've now read it twice and both times I forgot the actual details of the solution, lol. This is a story where I enjoyed the telling of it more than the conclusion. 3 stars.
The Dream is another favorite of mine. It has great atmosphere, and I think the solution is satisfyingly clever. Also, I do love that classic set up where a patriarch/matriarch dies, leaving a substantial inheritance, and the sharks-I mean family- gather round. Who couldn't wait for natural death to get their share? Who was getting disinherited? The rich family murder mystery never gets old. 4.5 stars.
Greenshaw's Folly is a Miss Marple mystery and another story I'd read in the past year, so I'll just include my previous review here: "[It] was a fun, if short, little mystery. I guessed whodunnit pretty quick, so it wasn't as interesting as it might have been." 3 stars.