"For God's sake, come!"
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In her second novel featuring Poirot, the peculiar private investigator from Belgium, Christie fails to illustrate the main trait that made her famous. The author had the ability to constantly "fool" us in connection with who the culprit was in each case and at the same time dangle the truth in front of our eyes, without us realizing it. In this novel, that is not the case, and as the story progresses we are immersed into a tangle of complicated connections that go against the aforementioned simplicity.
As is usually the case in Poirot's novels, the events are described by Hastings, a charming character, who serves as the punching bag that tries to make sense of things, only to be beaten down by Poirot's brilliant deductions. The Belgian detective is bored out of his mind, with obvious cases that present no challenge to him, until a letter from Monsieur Renauld arrives. The missive comes from France, and carries a palpable sense of urgency. The sender is convinced that his life is in danger and requests that Poirot gets there to assist him as soon as possible. Thus, the detective, together with Hastings, embarks on a journey to France, towards a new challenge.
Upon their arrival at the villa, they face the news that they got there too late, and that Renauld was murdered the night before. Naturally, Poirot offers to stay around and help solve the case. There are a good variety of suspects, including a lady that had visited the victim frequently, a wife that may feel disrespected, a son that fought with his father shortly before the murder and a mysterious young artist that had crossed paths with Hastings before.
As I already mentioned, the only drawback I found with this novel is the way in which the author twisted and turned the plot, but I understand that she was still at the beginning of her career. She does a few things very well though, like for example the way in which she continues to develop the character of Poirot. The detective's worship of the little gray cells and his preference for method and order over running around after clues make him a very special character; especially since in this case, he is pitted against a French detective from the Surete, Giraud, in a competition of contrasting styles that is exciting to witness.
Even though this is a sub par effort for Agatha Christie, it is still a decent novel. If this is by any chance your first attempt at reading her work, I recommend that you stick with it. The rewards are going to be worth it! - 3.5 stars
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Fantastic Book
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This was a brilliant book, and I find it difficult to find a flaw with it, as there is very little bad things to say about it. Towards the end I found it very difficult to put down.
The book is about a French man who calls Poirot to France, to investigate something, but by the time Poirot arrives, the man was dead, he was stabbed in the back and dumped in a shallow grave on a golf course. A while later another body is found, almost identically murdered. The case is a baffling one and you find out so much in the last section of the book, that it is difficult to keep up with all the revelations. I thought I had found out who did it, but I was very wrong.
The case is filled with clues such as, a short piece of pipe, how the murderer left the house, the connection with a 20 year old case, an argument between the murdered man and his son, who the second murdered man was and how he died, why the murdered man was wearing his sons jacket and who wrote the mysterious love letter in the pocket and the identity of the lady who wrote it. These are just some of the clues and there are a great number of red herrings aswell.
If you like exciting mystery books, based around a wealthy family, then you should definitely read this one, it's great.
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"You know very well that you cannot afford to turn your back on Papa Poirot."
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(3.5 stars) Written in 1923, Agatha Christie's third mystery features Poirot working with Capt. Arthur Hastings, who acts as his assistant, despite Hastings's greater interest in pursuing charming young ladies. In this novel, Poirot is summoned to France by Paul Reynaud, a wealthy businessman with interests in Chile. By the time Poirot arrives, however, Reynaud is dead, stabbed and then pushed into a makeshift grave on the golf course beside his house. Mme. Reynaud bears bruises from being tied up by two intruders, who, she says, forced her partly clothed husband from the house and then killed him. Soon another death takes place.
Poirot, investigating is not the Poirot of later novels. Here he is not so much a caricature as he later becomes, even poking fun of his relationship with Hastings, as in the title's quotation. His contempt for the local police is typical, as is his arrogance, but he seems somewhat more human than usual here. Unfortunately, the nature of the mystery prevents much character development for any of the characters. Three young women, all with dark secrets (slowly revealed in the conclusion), act as the love objects of Capt. Hastings and Jack Renaud (the victim's son), while the secret histories, going back twenty years, of several other characters, including the victim and his wife, complicate relationships and hide the solution to the murders.
The plot strains credulity, though that is not necessarily a fatal fault with Christie, whose primary interest is in developing devious plots with minimal clues which still allow Poirot to deduce the murderer. This mystery is so complex and has so many characters, however, that readers will be hard pressed to keep track of them, their secret identities, their look-alikes, and their past histories. Though the plot is clever, there is too little characterization to keep the reader involved in Poirot's adventures here. Not one of Christie's most memorable novels. n Mary Whipple
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VERY GOOD
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I think that this must be one of the most witty plots of Miss Christie's stories. Through obvious evidence it reveals to you the least likely murderer, yet the only possible one! Definately get this book. It was the first one I ever read and certeainly didn't put me off reading the rest of Agatha's titles.
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Classic whodunnit
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This was to be Hercule Poirot's 2nd 'major' case after the Mysterious Affairs at Styles. In this story a man who asked for Poirot's assistance in an unknown matter was found dead before Poirot arrived. Before Poirot has time to unmask the murderer a second body was found, killed in the same way as the first, at the same spot. The Murder on the Links was a very raw effort, but it is enjoyable because there is not much 'character-building' as in Christie's later works. The clues were straight to the point and you will have a fun time having a go at it too. One point to mention is that Hastings found the woman of his dream in this story too :o)
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