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Mrs. McGinty's Dead
(Hercule Poirot #30)
by
Mrs. McGinty is dead and everyone suspects James Bentley, her slightly shifty lodger, but Superintendent Spence is suspicious enough to ask for Hercule Poirot's assistance. Soon, the seemingly simple situation turns into a complex web of lies and hidden identities. Unabridged. 5 CDs.
Audio CD, 244 pages
Published
April 12th 2007
by AudioGO
(first published February 1952)
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Showing 1-30

Feb 24, 2015
carol.
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery,
should-buy
Alas, Mrs. McGinty; we hardly knew you.
Really. I mean that. She was a widow, a woman who cleaned houses and took in lodgers to make ends meet; had a niece whom she saw at holidays, and was perhaps a bit of a nosy parker; nothing extraordinary to fill the obituary. When Inspector Spence visits the retired Poirot, he shares his troubling concern that the man he arrested for murdering Mrs. McGinty, and who is now facing the death penalty, is not truly guilty. Yes, yes; the circumstantial evidence w ...more

Mrs. McGinty's Dead (Hercule Poirot, #28), Agatha Christie
Mrs. McGinty's Dead is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1952 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 3 March the same year. An old woman apparently struck dead by her lodger for thirty pounds that she kept under a floorboard. When, however, he is asked by the investigating officer to take another look at the case to stop an innocent man going to the gallows, ...more
Mrs. McGinty's Dead is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1952 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 3 March the same year. An old woman apparently struck dead by her lodger for thirty pounds that she kept under a floorboard. When, however, he is asked by the investigating officer to take another look at the case to stop an innocent man going to the gallows, ...more

‘I should, perhaps, madame, tell you a little more about myself. I am Hercule Poirot.’
The revelation left Mrs Summerhayes unmoved.
‘What a lovely name,’ she said kindly. ‘Greek, isn’t it?’
Now this is a Poirot novel that strays from the script a bit. It's fascinating but there seem to be three parts to this novel and the crime/mystery part is the weakest one. Yet, I really liked the book because first and foremost, Christie made me laugh out loud quite a few times.
Eh bien, let's start with the we ...more
The revelation left Mrs Summerhayes unmoved.
‘What a lovely name,’ she said kindly. ‘Greek, isn’t it?’
Now this is a Poirot novel that strays from the script a bit. It's fascinating but there seem to be three parts to this novel and the crime/mystery part is the weakest one. Yet, I really liked the book because first and foremost, Christie made me laugh out loud quite a few times.
Eh bien, let's start with the we ...more

Fussy. Fastidious. Vain. Brilliant. Poirot's back, but is a little bored, and spends his time carefully considering his meals. And then Superintendent Spence discusses a case with Poirot of a man who was convicted for bashing his landlady on the head. Spence isn't comfortable with the verdict, and gets Poirot to revisit the case for him. Poirot goes to the town of the murder and must stay in a dreadful bed & breakfast, while interviewing the neighbours and generally getting people agitated a
...more

Jul 02, 2017
David Schaafsma
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
christie,
mystery-detective-thriller
Mrs. McGinty's dead. How did she die?
Sticking her neck out, just like I."
“Had Mrs. McGinty a drab life?” (Poirot)
“Ghastly, I expect,” said Mrs. Summerhayes vaguely. “Always on your knees scrubbing. And then piles of other people’s washing-up waiting for you on the sink when you arrive in the morning. If I had to face that every day, I’d be positively relieved to be murdered. I really would.”
After 2-3 books of literary pretension (Hercules Poirot as Hercules, on a quest for detective greatness!), ...more
Sticking her neck out, just like I."
“Had Mrs. McGinty a drab life?” (Poirot)
“Ghastly, I expect,” said Mrs. Summerhayes vaguely. “Always on your knees scrubbing. And then piles of other people’s washing-up waiting for you on the sink when you arrive in the morning. If I had to face that every day, I’d be positively relieved to be murdered. I really would.”
After 2-3 books of literary pretension (Hercules Poirot as Hercules, on a quest for detective greatness!), ...more

“ The truth is I’m not very good with people.”
“I adore people, don’t you?” said Robin happily.
“No,” said Mrs. Oliver firmly.”
Mrs. McGinty's Dead is, as far as I can tell, a unique product of Christie's prolific mind. To begin with, it's unusually funny and ironic, far more (good-naturedly) mocking toward the Adorable Egg-Head than I would have expected from the book that initiates the final phase of his career. Secondly, in a few occasions it offers delicious examples of meta-talk between Christ ...more
“I adore people, don’t you?” said Robin happily.
“No,” said Mrs. Oliver firmly.”
Mrs. McGinty's Dead is, as far as I can tell, a unique product of Christie's prolific mind. To begin with, it's unusually funny and ironic, far more (good-naturedly) mocking toward the Adorable Egg-Head than I would have expected from the book that initiates the final phase of his career. Secondly, in a few occasions it offers delicious examples of meta-talk between Christ ...more

Sep 22, 2011
Nandakishore Varma
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery,
agatha-christie
"Mrs. McGinty's dead. How did she die?
Sticking her neck out, just like I."
Dame Agatha's penchant to use children's rhymes as an underlying theme for mysteries, enhancing the creepy aspect of many of them, coming to the fore once again. (Really, I hope someone would do a monograph on this quirky aspect of her novels one day.)
Mrs. McGinty was a charwoman - at the beginning of the story, she is dead, bludgeoned to death apparently by her lodger who has been convicted of the crime. But Superintenden ...more
Sticking her neck out, just like I."
Dame Agatha's penchant to use children's rhymes as an underlying theme for mysteries, enhancing the creepy aspect of many of them, coming to the fore once again. (Really, I hope someone would do a monograph on this quirky aspect of her novels one day.)
Mrs. McGinty was a charwoman - at the beginning of the story, she is dead, bludgeoned to death apparently by her lodger who has been convicted of the crime. But Superintenden ...more

This was a fun read to start the year. Once more we are faced with a puzzling murder. Was the man arrested and charged the murderer, or was he framed? The latter of course, which brings our favourite mustachioned Belgian detective to the scene. As you expect, Agatha offers us plenty of red herrings...
However, the reason I enjoyed this novel was for the whole comic angle the author added. Our poor Poirot has to suffer by staying in accommodations that are less than suitable, with nothing that co ...more
However, the reason I enjoyed this novel was for the whole comic angle the author added. Our poor Poirot has to suffer by staying in accommodations that are less than suitable, with nothing that co ...more

I mean the title kind of gives it away: Mrs. McGinty's Dead. Dead as a door nail. She was a rather boring woman who lead a boring life in a seemingly boring town. There was literally nothing that made her special, she was just a charwoman with no close family and few friends. And yet her murder just didn't seem to add up to Superindendent Spence who, finding his old friend Hercule Poirot otherwise unengaged, enlists his help to figure out just what happened and why. and the stakes are high, her
...more

This was only my second time reading this book - the first time I read it, I remember being extremely underwhelmed. Like other Christie's, this one improved the second time I read it. This makes me wonder if rereading Passenger to Frankfurt will somehow turn it into The ABC Murders (kidding, kidding). I attribute this to the fact that I'm less concerned with Christie's high-wire mystery act, and rather I allow myself to be absorbed into her world.
Mrs. McGinty's dead has several wonderful side ch ...more
Mrs. McGinty's dead has several wonderful side ch ...more

This book went on forever. Past the point of anything making sense with so many things thrown at the reader I was past the point of keeping straight anything that was happening. It was a relief when the end came just because I was heartily sick of reading this book at that point. The only saving grace I really found was that we had Poirot in this book from beginning to end and not just his usually "spotlight" appearances in the book.
We begin with Hercule Poirot being visited by Superintendent Sp ...more
We begin with Hercule Poirot being visited by Superintendent Sp ...more

This is really a *fun* mystery--I don't normally think of Dame Agatha as funny, but she is quite capable of delightfully dry British humor, and by the time she wrote this novel (in the 1950s) she was well into her long career and comfortable/confident enough to play with a lighter tone when she felt like it. I don't mean that poor Mrs. McGinty's death is treated lightly; it isn't. In fact, few of Dame Agatha's novels feature working-class protagonists, and so I was struck by her sympathetic port
...more

Come un libro ti possa tenere incollato fino all'ultimissima pagina.
Agatha Christie era un genio. Un genio della trama. È capace di creare dal nulla, ma veramente dal nulla, un meccanismo che ti porta all'esasperazione, all'incredulità. Vorresti sapere chi è l'assassino, vorresti capirlo anche tu, insieme a Poirot, chi è questo benedetto assassino. Ma spesso gli indizi sono comprensibili solo all'autore stesso, il lettore non può far altro che seguire, sconcertato, il succedersi degli eventi, ch ...more
Agatha Christie era un genio. Un genio della trama. È capace di creare dal nulla, ma veramente dal nulla, un meccanismo che ti porta all'esasperazione, all'incredulità. Vorresti sapere chi è l'assassino, vorresti capirlo anche tu, insieme a Poirot, chi è questo benedetto assassino. Ma spesso gli indizi sono comprensibili solo all'autore stesso, il lettore non può far altro che seguire, sconcertato, il succedersi degli eventi, ch ...more

Feb 17, 2018
Vikas Singh
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
review-of-the-year
Hercule Poiroit at his best. A gripping story that leaves you in amazed at how skillfully the ace detective with little luck to support manages to solve the crime. Agatha Christie paints a rich tapestry of a small English village with its distinct population. Slowly and slowly she builds each character and as a reader you feel satiated that the author could fulfill your desire to know the real characters. That a crime could be solved after so many years tells a lot about the author's ability to
...more

Dec 08, 2010
mark monday
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
choose-ur-adventure
Choose Your Own Adventure!
You are Mrs. McGinty.
If you are not Mrs. McGinty, choose https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
If you are not Mrs. McGinty, and you killed Mrs. McGinty, choose
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
You are Mrs. McGinty.
If you are not Mrs. McGinty, choose https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
If you are not Mrs. McGinty, and you killed Mrs. McGinty, choose
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

él primer libro que leo de Agatha Christie. y la verdad me esta gustando como escribe.
Un libro magnifico, no he descubierto quien era el asesino hasta que lo ha dicho Poirot.
Un libro magnifico, no he descubierto quien era el asesino hasta que lo ha dicho Poirot.

So why didn't I love this!? The writing for this was brilliant; Poirot was brilliant; Mrs. Oliver, who is a recurring character in the Poirot books, was hilarious! Her moments all made me laugh out loud so I enjoyed all of that. So what were the negative things that overpowered those positive points?
The suspects and the mystery itself felt very rushed. The reason for this is that if we step back and look at it, there aren't any definitive suspects other than James Bentley and so Poirot has to i ...more
The suspects and the mystery itself felt very rushed. The reason for this is that if we step back and look at it, there aren't any definitive suspects other than James Bentley and so Poirot has to i ...more

Not as intriguing as many of Christie's books: I'd never heard of the title before I stumbled upon it going cheap in a second hand bookshop and it's not nearly as good as some of her other work. That doesn't mean that it's a bad book though just that it seems decidedly run of the mill when compared to some of her more original mystery plots. The reader is led astray as usual and suspects nearly everyone but the eventual unmasked murderer of killing the Scottish charlady of the title. When the mu
...more

A solid mystery. I thought I had it figured out at one point; I actually had a very Agatha/Poirot idea for who did it and why and how Poirot would handle it. But...I was wrong. I was actually surprised by the resolution, which I enjoyed. The book moves a little too slowly for me. The first murder has already happened when the book opens, and the second one happens too late in the story for my liking, but overall, the progress is paced well, and the resolution is semi-climactic. It's a good, thre
...more

Apr 22, 2018
Racheli Zusiman
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
british-thrillers
אין על אגת'ה כריסטי! ספר בלשי מעולה, עם עלילה מתעתעת ובלתי צפויה. היה תענוג לקרוא. ממש חיכיתי בכיליון עיניים שיום העבודה יסתיים ואוכל לחזור הביתה ולסיים את הספר. אהבתי גם את הקריצה האירונית והמבודחת בדמותה של אריאדנה אוליבר, סופרת ספרי המתח.

Awalnya tidak berekspektasi banyak ketika memulai membaca buku ini. Dan ternyata, saya sangat suka! bahkan menyelesaikan buku ini dalam waktu kurang dari 2 hari.
Yang saya suka dari buku ini: Kerja sama antara Poirot dengan Inspektur Spence. Di banyak buku detektif yang saya baca, kebanyakan polisi akan berpuas dengan kesimpulan mereka dan tidak mau tahu hal-hal kecil yang terlihat tidak signifikan. Inspektur Spence berbeda.
Hal kedua yang saya suka: latar cerita yang begitu solid dan menarik, te ...more
Yang saya suka dari buku ini: Kerja sama antara Poirot dengan Inspektur Spence. Di banyak buku detektif yang saya baca, kebanyakan polisi akan berpuas dengan kesimpulan mereka dan tidak mau tahu hal-hal kecil yang terlihat tidak signifikan. Inspektur Spence berbeda.
Hal kedua yang saya suka: latar cerita yang begitu solid dan menarik, te ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Agatha Christ...: July 2017: Mrs. McGinty's Dead | 2 | 13 | Aug 14, 2017 06:23PM | |
What's the Name o...: SOLVED!: Agatha Christie book - Poirot [s] | 3 | 20 | Sep 27, 2007 07:44AM |
Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.
Agatha Christie is the best-selling author of all time. She wrote eighty crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and several other books. Her books have sold roughly four billion copies and have been translated into 45 languages. She is t ...more
Agatha Christie is the best-selling author of all time. She wrote eighty crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and several other books. Her books have sold roughly four billion copies and have been translated into 45 languages. She is t ...more
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Hercule Poirot
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“Authors were shy, unsociable creatures, atoning for their lack of social aptitude by inventing their own companions and conversations.”
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