Agatha Christie: Five Little Pigs

Hi

Five Little Pigs is another novel by Agatha Christie in her Hercule Poirot-series.
The book has 336 pages and I got it second-hand in Brighton.
You can find all my Agatha Christie reviews here.

“Beautiful Caroline Crale was convicted of poisoning her husband, but just like the nursery rhyme, there were five other “little pigs” who could have done it: Philip Blake (the stockbroker), who went to market; Meredith Blake (the amateur herbalist), who stayed at home; Elsa Greer (the three-time divorcée), who had her roast beef; Cecilia Williams (the devoted governess), who had none; and Angela Warren (the disfigured sister), who cried all the way home.
Sixteen years later, Caroline’s daughter is determined to prove her mother’s innocence, and Poirot just can’t get that nursery rhyme out of his mind.”

It’s rather difficult to write reviews about a series where all the books are more or less the same.
There’s always a murder. Poirot talks with the suspects at least two times. After that he reveals to them when they are gathered together who murdered the deceased.
That’s the basic outline of every Christie novel.

Every novel is well-written, easy to read and funny at times. Sometimes I know who did it before Poirot reveals it but even if I can’t always figure out how he or she did it. So it is always pleasant and amusing to read these novels.

This one isn’t any different.

I liked it and I enjoyed it. For once I knew who did it, but not how.
It’s pure entertainment.

Happy reading!
Helena 

Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile

Hi

Death on the Nile is one of Agatha Christie’s novels about Hercule Poirot I’ve read before from my mom.
It has 416 pages and I got it second hand.
You can find all my Agatha Christie reviews here.

“The detective Hercule Poirot is on holiday in Egypt when he is drawn into the mysterious affair of the newlywed couple: society's beauty, Linnet, and Simon Doyle. Linnet had allegedly stolen Simon from his former fiancee, Jacqueline de Bellefort, who is enraged. As a method of revenge, Jacqueline follows the Doyles anywhere they go, and when Linnet and Simon arrive at their honeymoon destination in Egypt, Jacqueline is waiting for them. She follows them onto the river cruise up the Nile, just when the Doyles had believed that she'd stopped. Linnet is extremely scared, and speaks to Poirot of how she is surrounded by enemies. Some days later, Linnet is found shot through the head in her cabin and Poirot is under pressure to find the killer, before they strike again...”

Poirot is as cocky as ever and I really like it. He doesn’t care what others think because he knows, in the end they’ll feel the same about him.
This novel has it all; jealousy, murder, love, hope, despair and lots of gossip.
It took almost half of the book to get our murder but I can’t say it really bothered me. Sure, it starts out rather slow because of that, but it’s so much fun to read the gossiping and the talking of the guests.
Really, fun and entertaining. It just sucks you right in and it doesn’t let go until you finished it.

Happy reading!
Helena

Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders

Hi

This short review is about The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie. The main character in this book is her Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.
This novel is 331 pages long and I got it second-hand.
You can find my other review of a Patrick Rothfuss novel here.

 “There's a serial killer on the loose, bent on working his way through the alphabet. And as a macabre calling card he leaves beside each victim's corpe the ABC Railway Guide open at the name of the town where the murder has taken place. Having begun with Andover, Bexhill and then Churston, there seems little chance of the murderer being caught - until he makes the crucial and vain mistake of challenging Hercule Poirot to frustrate his plans.”

Agatha Christie writes fluent and her novels are very easy to read.
This one differs from her usual pattern of having a murder followed by two rounds of questions and the reveal while everyone is present. We are chasing the murderer in this novel.
The narration is very different from her other works. This novel jumps back and forth between Hastings telling the story from Poirot’s point of view and the occasional third person narration.
The characterization is great; the humor is to the point and it’s a very fast read.
But, in my opinion, it's not one of her best works.

Happy reading.
Helena

Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express

Hi

My mother owns every novel by Agatha Christie and that’s why I started reading them when I was young. When I saw four of Christie’s Hercule Poirot novels in a second-hand shop in Brighton I had to get them.
Murder on the Orient Express has 347 pages.

“The famous Orient Express, thundering along on its three-day journey across Europe, came to a sudden stop in the night. Snowdrifts blocked the line at a desolate spot somewhere in the Balkans. Everything was deathly quiet. "Decidedly I suffer from the nerves," murmured Hercule Poirot, and fell asleep again. He awoke to find himself very much wanted. For in the night murder had been committed. Mr. Ratchett, an American millionaire, was found lying dead in his berth – stabbed. The untrodden snow around the train proved that the murderer was still on board. Poirot investigates. He lies back and thinks – with his little grey cells...”
The murdered man turns out to be the kidnapper and murderer of the child Daisy Armstrong, thereby killing her mother and father in their grief. As you might guess, a lot of people still bear grudges against him.

This novel is exactly what you can expect from Christie, it is fast and easy, it has funny, exaggerated characters and an almost insoluble murder.

3 stars

Happy reading.
Helena

The first day at work after a short holiday is always the hardest. Luckily I have a cure; tea and a book!