Review: Poirot Investigates

Poirot Investigates (Hercule Poirot #3)
by Agatha Christie
Mystery
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Plot Summary:

The very first collection of superb short stories featuring Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings...

First there was the mystery of the film star and the diamond! then came the 'suicide' that was murder! the mystery of the absurdly chaep flat! a suspicious death in a locked gun-room! a million dollar bond robbery! the curse of a pharoah's tomb! a jewel robbery by the sea! the abduction of a Prime Minister! the disappearance of a banker! a phone call from a dying man! and, finally, the mystery of the missing willl. What links these fascinating cases? Only the brilliant deductive powers of Hercule Poirot!

Review:

This is a wonderful short story collection!  Every story features a mystery that is well set-up, difficult to solve, and an utter surprise when Poirot explains it all in the end.  It's still so astonishing to me how inventive Agatha Christie can be, and how well she can craft a solid mystery in only a few pages.  In this book there is more to learn of Poirot and his quirks, as well as a finer shading of Hastings' character as you see how low-key petty he can be in the face of Poirot's delightful arrogance.  I feel bad for Hastings sometimes, but I also find it amusing how he can almost want to see Poirot fail just because Poirot is so self-assured.

There are many stand out stories in this book, but I think my favorite is The Kidnapped Prime Minister.  The misdirection, and the stakes of the story gives it a lot of interest.  And there is something satisfying in seeing Poirot poised for failure, but triumphant in the end.  I have to note the last story in the book - The Chocolate Box - which is a story that Poirot tells Hastings of a past case when he was still in Belgium, where he 'failed', and it's so interesting to have that side of him in this book.  Obviously Poirot is still a marvel, but I like that this story humanized him a bit more.

I love this particular collection of Poirot short stories because it is early days for Poirot, and the later mysteries can get a bit sadder and more poignant.  And because these are short stories, the mysteries come off as more of a romp and are thoroughly enjoyable for it.

Review: The Murder on the Links

The Murder on the Links (Hercule Poirot #2)
by Agatha Christie
Mystery
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Plot Summary:

An urgent cry for help brings Hercule Poirot to France. But he arrives too late to save his client, whose brutally stabbed body now lies facedown in a shallow grave on a golf course.

But why is the dead man wearing an overcoat that is too big for him? And for whom was the impassioned love letter in the pocket? Before Poirot can answer these questions, the case is turned upside down by the discovery of a second, identically murdered corpse.…

Review:

This is another ingenious mystery of course.  Even though I'm re-reading this (albeit many years later), there was a shocker moment when the real murderer was revealed.  I was just not expecting it at all.  And I love that Christie can always surprise in her mysteries!

The building of this mystery was especially good I think.  Because there are so many details to go over, and Christie masterfully parcels out all the information and then gradually starts explaining parts of it.  Yet there is still that surprise in the end.  The story also introduces a French detective - Giraud  - who is a counterpoint to Poirot and his methods, and it's fun to read about their antagonism.  Especially when you know Poirot will triumph in the end.

This story is also an important one for the character of Captain Hastings.  I thought the romance was a little swift between him and his 'Cinderella', but it is very sweet and I love that Poirot is always looking out for Hastings, even if Hastings is not exactly up to doing the same for Poirot.  That point was a bit sad for me actually - that Hastings could not trust Poirot enough.  But their friendship has always had a bit of an edge, because Poirot can be exasperating sometimes.  But in a good way to me!

This is a well crafted and mystifying mystery and it is so easy to fall in love with the setting, the storytelling and the character of Poirot.

Review: The Mysterious Affair at Styles

The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Hercule Poirot #1)
by Agatha Christie
Mystery
Amazon  /  Goodreads

Plot Summary:

In her first published mystery, Agatha Christie introduced readers to her Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. Poirot, a Belgian refugee of the Great War, is settling in England near the home of Emily Cavendish, who helped him to his new life. His friend Hastings arrives as a guest at her home. When the woman is killed, Poirot uses his detective skills to solve the mystery.

The story is told in the first person by Hastings, and features many of the elements that have become icons of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, largely due to Christie's influence. It is set in a large, isolated country manor. There are a half-dozen suspects, most of whom are hiding facts about themselves. The plot includes a number of red herrings and surprise twists.

Review:

This book is momentous alone for being Agatha Christie's first mystery, and for it being the first case for her famous detective Hercule Poirot.  The atmosphere, the eclectic mix of characters and British sensibilities, makes this a wonderful read as well.  There is something so immersive about a Christie novel - she is adept at setting up a story and the characters quickly, and weaving up a mass of details and drama.  This is rather a short book for a Christie novel, so even though the characters feel natural and realistic, they are sort of only there to prop up the mystery.

In this mystery, there really is a sense that the reader is being given all the clues (through the delightfully clueless Arthur Hastings) - even with drawings of the rooms, and facsimiles of the tangible evidence.  Every detail is given, but in the end it is Poirot who must unite and clarify and this is all done so skillfully through Christie's writing.  I felt just as Hastings did, a little awed and a little abashed that I couldn't draw the right conclusions.

Poirot, with all of his eccentricities and quirks, seems fully formed and riveting in this book.  It is interesting to me that Poirot is so completely what he will be in the next books of his series - he's so unique too in his fastidious and exacting manner that it surprises me that Christie had such a grip on his character from the very first.  Poirot is a character who has always delighted me, and I love the sense that he is a formidable personality, while also being kind and generous to everyone.  Hastings, too, has always appealed to me - he's the perfect foil to Poirot - very British and correct, and observant enough of Poirot to be of aid to him.  And there is such a droll sense of humor in how many times Hastings dismisses Poirot's words or actions when it doesn't fit in with his own ideas and conclusions.  Hastings is so well meaning, but completely unaware of how badly he follows in Poirot's detective footsteps.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles is a wonderful mystery too - it's pretty impossible to guess the murderer I think, and the twist in the end is absolutely genius.  The methodology of the murder is so clever as well - this is a mystery that is packed with incident and suspense, and is a perfect beginning for Poirot.

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[This book is a reread for me - when I was in high school and into college, I read all of Poirot's mysteries, but lately I've had a longing to reread his stories, so I plan to read and review them for my blog - in order of publication.  It's a long oeuvre, so I won't rush to complete it - I'll just sprinkle in a Poirot mystery now and again!]

Agatha Christie Poirot: The Big Four

When I was in high school I became majorly obsessed with Agatha Christie's mysteries - specifically the ones featuring Hercule Poirot.  And of all his mysteries The Big Four is my favorite.  It might be because I read it as a teenager because I know it is a bit cliched and over the top, but I still remember not being able to put it down because there was so much going on in it.  I even remember the class I was waiting for after lunch when I finally finished the book.  I think I found the format (a bunch of mysteries within a larger one) irresistible and the fact that Poirot and Captain Hastings are constantly in danger made this story so appealing to me.  So I was ecstatic when I heard they were finally filming this as a TV movie!

David Suchet has been playing Poirot since 1989.  And now they have finally gone through the Christie canon - with two more episodes airing after The Big Four to complete it.  Then David Suchet would have played Poirot in pretty much every single story.  It's an amazing achievement, and I'm so glad David Suchet will complete the oeuvre since he is the definitive Poirot.  Unfortunately not all the main characters from the books has appeared consistently in the adaptations.  Hastings was there in the beginning, but I suppose the actor moved on, and the role he plays in the mysteries has been mostly replaced by other characters in the subsequent adaptations.  And Hastings is one of my very favorite characters.  He's not the brightest, but his good old English bonhomie always won me over.  And he was a perfect foil to Poirot.  Their close friendship was also a lovely part of every mystery they investigated together.  But finally Hastings is in another Poirot adaptation with "The Big Four"!  So I was determined to watch this as soon as possible!!

So all the above was just prelude to my review of the show!  If you really don't want to know anything about how they adapted the story, you should probably stop here.  I don't get too spoilery but there are quite a few changes made in this adaptation and I do touch on that.

To create more of a dramatic opening the adaptation begins with Poirot's funeral and a reunion of his close friends.  Although it is odd that if this is really his funeral, wouldn't Ariadne Oliver have shown up?  But I didn't mind that they moved that part of the book to the beginning.  What I did mind was the lack of Captain Hastings.  It makes sense because he's been away for so long, but I really wanted to see him team up with Poirot in this!!  At least maybe, one little mystery?  But Japp did a good job as Poirot's right-hand man and of course the mysteries are just as intriguing.  There are some of the mysteries I missed, and the way things were moved around made this story more mystifying than I would have thought since I had read the book.  The real reason why it was so mystifying became clearer in the end, when it was revealed just how much was changed from the original novel.  The ending had a completely different spin and outcome to the book which so disappointed me!  I was hoping to see Achille and the face off in the mountains!  What I got was considerably different and not quite as believable to me.  It was a very elaborate scheme for a madman.  Oh well.

But I did enjoy the episode - the little puzzles of mysteries were great to see portrayed on screen at last.  And the final scene where Poirot and Hastings were reunited almost, almost made up for the fact that Hastings got such little screen time.  And also that scene that showed Hasting's drive to serve justice was so great to see.  I realize how much I miss mon ami Hastings.  I have to say too, that for such a different interpretation of the novel, this adaptation was really clever.  It can't have been easy to twist the events of the story to fit a new solution.  While this is not really the story I love, I appreciate it as an adaptation and I was glad to see so many wonderful characters come back.