I got this book from Sapna Bookstore in Bangalore. I got back to reading one of Agatha Christie's book after a really long time. I was really craving to read a mystery and thought this book would be the best to feed the craving. This book is one of the author's most popular characters- Hercule Poirot, the Belgian.
The book is written as a narrative by Poirot's friend, Captain Hastings. There are some parts though, which are pieces of information that tie the story together and are not a part of Captain Hastings' narrative. Christie has clarified the same through the chapter titles.
The story revolves around a series of murders in an alphabetical order in terms of the location of the murder and the victims' surnames. Of course, Poirot's task at hand is to uncover the murderer. The murderer wrote letters to Poirot prior to committing them, giving him details of the location (only town, not the complete address) of the murder, challenging him to prevent the murders. The story gives an impression initially that the murderer held Poirot responsible for having him/her punished for a crime and that the murderer was now avenging the same. The book shows Poirot's mettle in uncovering the true murderer by scrutinising the seemingly simple and insignificant details as clues. There are also other characters in the book comprising of the relatives of the victims, the cops from Scotland Yard and few others (cannot reveal- will be a spoiler).
The book is written in a simple language with phrases of French scattered throughout the book mostly in Poirot's dialogues. The book also has amazing descriptions of food which, to be honest, either got me hungry or salivating sometimes. Those who know me well, know how much I love well-described food in books. I also loved how Poirot is able to relate to different human minds and the possible actions people would take based on their mental state. His study of human nature and getting inside the mind of the criminal was something that kept me really interested. I must admit though, that a few parts (very few!!) of the book seemed like a drag. I really cannot say that something was wrong with them, just that they bored me.
On a scale of 5 where 5 is excellent, I would rate this book 4/5.
The book is written as a narrative by Poirot's friend, Captain Hastings. There are some parts though, which are pieces of information that tie the story together and are not a part of Captain Hastings' narrative. Christie has clarified the same through the chapter titles.
The story revolves around a series of murders in an alphabetical order in terms of the location of the murder and the victims' surnames. Of course, Poirot's task at hand is to uncover the murderer. The murderer wrote letters to Poirot prior to committing them, giving him details of the location (only town, not the complete address) of the murder, challenging him to prevent the murders. The story gives an impression initially that the murderer held Poirot responsible for having him/her punished for a crime and that the murderer was now avenging the same. The book shows Poirot's mettle in uncovering the true murderer by scrutinising the seemingly simple and insignificant details as clues. There are also other characters in the book comprising of the relatives of the victims, the cops from Scotland Yard and few others (cannot reveal- will be a spoiler).
The book is written in a simple language with phrases of French scattered throughout the book mostly in Poirot's dialogues. The book also has amazing descriptions of food which, to be honest, either got me hungry or salivating sometimes. Those who know me well, know how much I love well-described food in books. I also loved how Poirot is able to relate to different human minds and the possible actions people would take based on their mental state. His study of human nature and getting inside the mind of the criminal was something that kept me really interested. I must admit though, that a few parts (very few!!) of the book seemed like a drag. I really cannot say that something was wrong with them, just that they bored me.
On a scale of 5 where 5 is excellent, I would rate this book 4/5.
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