Thursday, June 07, 2012

One, Two Buckle My Shoe

One, Two Buckle My Shoe. Agatha Christie. 1940/2011. HarperCollins. 240 pages. 

I have such a hard time rating Agatha Christie novels. Do I rate it based on how it compares to just any book? Or do I just rate it based on how it compares to other mysteries? Or do I just rate it based on how it compares to other Agatha Christie mysteries? Or do I rate it based on how it compares just among the Marple mysteries or the Poirot mysteries as the case may be?

The truth is, I find Christie incredibly readable. I pick up one of her mystery novels, and, I'm almost always hooked. True, some mysteries may take two or three days instead of just one. Depending on so many factors. But. It's oh-so-easy to read Christie's mysteries in just one sitting. To just DELIGHT yourself in the experience of reading a good mystery.

Was One, Two, Buckle My Shoe the best, best, best mystery I've ever read? No, not really. This isn't by any stretch my favorite-favorite Agatha Christie mystery. It isn't even my favorite Hercule Poirot mystery. (And, yes, I do LOVE Poirot, just not as much as Miss Marple.) Yet. When I consider how unwilling I was to put it down, how much I enjoyed reading it while I was reading it, then I can definitely say it was a good book, a good mystery. Even a not-quite-the-best Christie mystery is better than many books...

Hercule Poirot visits the dentist in One, Two, Buckle My Shoe. Hours after his appointment, he receives a call from the Inspector. His dentist, Mr. Morley, is dead. At first, they weren't quite positive if it was murder or suicide. Poirot knew that it was murder--his instinct said it was. But others aren't ready to go that route--they feel suicide is a reasonable conclusion based on the evidence. But Poirot can't fathom why his dentist would do such a thing in such a way?

So Poirot conducts his own investigation, interviews all the patients that were there that day, etc.

This one may not be the best introduction to Agatha Christie or Hercule Poirot, but it is definitely worth a read. 

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

2 comments:

Pocketful of Books said...

Eeee I love Poirot! I think I have read all o Agatha Christie's books at some point and love them all! <3 x

missi said...

Hi. I love Agatha Christie too. I am currently reading her autobiography. It is wonderful and so interesting to read about her life and her writing. Thanks for all your book reviews.