Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Hercule Poirot's Christmas

Hercule Poirot's Christmas. Agatha Christie. 1938/1939. Black Dog & Leventhal. 272 pages.

Stephen pulled up the collar of his coat as he walked briskly along the platform.

Christmas can be stressful for families--especially unhappy families. For one family, the holidays led to quite a few heated arguments and a very violent death. But which of the family did the old man in?

Simeon Lee, the victim, was a MEAN old man who didn't always treat his children right. (And he never, ever treated his wife right.) And perhaps some of the grown children should have been suspicious when their father invited them for a big family Christmas get-together. After all, he wasn't one for being sociable and nice and loving and happy. But could anyone really have predicted that someone wanted him dead?

Hercule Poirot has his opinions on the crime...and readers are in for a treat with this one.

While this wouldn't be my favorite Agatha Christie, while it wouldn't be my favorite Poirot novel, I did enjoy reading this one!

"The character of the victim has always something to do with his or her murder. The frank and unsuspicious mind of Desdemona was the direct cause of her death. A more suspicious woman would have seen Iago's machinations and circumvented them much earlier. The uncleanness of Morat directly invited his end in a bath. From the temper of Mercutio's mind came his death at the sword's point." (125-126)

"If a human being converses much, it is impossible for him to avoid the truth." (148)

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

3 comments:

hopeinbrazil said...

I hope to read some Agatha Christie in 2012.

Arun said...

Great Review, Becky. I am a big fan of Poirot and have seen all of the dramatizations starring David Suchet as the Belgian sleuth.

Anonymous said...

Which is your favorite Hercule Poirot mystery?