From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

Peril at End House (Hercule Poirot, #8)

Agatha Christie

Start date: September 1, 2018

Finish date: September 30, 2018

Discussion: Archive: Poirot Buddy Reads

Why we're reading this: The latest in our monthly Poirot buddy reads.
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Archive: Poirot Buddy Reads

* Reading Order for the Unofficial Poirot Buddy Reads
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What Members Thought

Mar 12, 2021 Grisette rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: my-kind-of-detective-thriller

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
3.7 stars

⏳ [Re-read project #7 of 2023, 1st proper review, rating maintained]

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🔹️ Number of death/s: 1
🔹️ Motive for the crime: Money
🔹️ Method of crime: Gunshot
🔹️ Main location: St. Loo, England
🔹️ Notable element: This book references one of the most recurrent theme used by AC - that of the criminal playing the victim and asking for Poirot's help... guess who outsmarts who at the end 😅?
🔹️ Book type: Novel, H. Poirot
🔹️ Reference to SH: Mention of detectives in disguises 😆!

=========

3.7 stars

⏳ [Re-read project #7 of 2023, 1st proper review, rating maintained]

==================

🔹️ Number of death/s: 1
🔹️ Motive for the crime: Money
🔹️ Method of crime: Gunshot
🔹️ Main location: St. Loo, England
🔹️ Notable element: This book references one of the most recurrent theme used by AC - that of the criminal playing the victim and asking for Poirot's help... guess who outsmarts who at the end 😅?
🔹️ Book type: Novel, H. Poirot
🔹️ Reference to SH: Mention of detectives in disguises 😆!

==================

When I first read this book, I thought that the plot was both gripping and with a nice, swift pace. On this second read, my opinion has not changed. So, I concentrated on the clues and with the benefit of hindsight, enjoyed to see where each time little Nick played up the great Poirot! Of course, with Poirot's obsession with order and method, he was bound to want answers to his nagging questions and as clever as Nick was, she was no match for Poirot! As a bonus, a book with Hastings is always a treat.

To my mind, the force of the plot was the quick wits of Nick to orchestrate her plans in a matter of days - a really magnificent actress! In my first read, I had imagined a sort of jealousy of being superseded by her plain cousin, but this second read showed Nick in a much colder light: envious of others yes, but above all, obsessed to get everything for her beloved house. She was indeed a very ruthless killer.

And on this second read, I was surprised to find key similar themes between this book and Lord Edgware Dies. There is of course the theme of the criminal unwisely dragging Poirot into his case, but more than that, there is the use of letters, cleverly misused to convey a false version of events that is convenient to the criminal's objectives. When I checked and found that Lord Edgware Dies was published a year after, I was even more surprised. Of course, AC was able to twist these elements into different directions.

There are some tiny subplots which however felt superfluous, most prominently that bit about Frederica's husband final outburst (missed gunshot and suicide), and Ellen the housekeeper's behaviour.

#readchristie2023, Gunshot ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Feb 24, 2016 Laura rated it liked it

Shelves: crime-mystery-fiction, audiobooks, anglophilia, mystery-series, cozy-mystery, british-golden-age-mysteries

Eh, I had the mystery mostly figured out by about halfway through the book. Maybe I had read this one before and forgotten to log it? The audiobook was fun.

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 24, 2017 Ruskoley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

The fun of this one is the big twist in the characters' rôles. I did not see it coming because Christie convinces the reader of whatever she wants. Christie really ought to have been in the CIA/Foreign Office.

Otherwise, the story is wonderful for the bickering, bantering, best chum relationship between Poirot and Hastings. The novel is nearly more about them than the mystery. Poor Hastings....!

A solid return to form after "Blue Train." Great for all the Agatha fans, all mystery fans, and for fol ...more

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Jan 12, 2015 Sonia rated it really liked it

Reread

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Jan 24, 2021 Teri-K rated it it was ok

Shelves: mystery-golden-age

Honestly, this isn't my favorite Christie novel. The puzzle is excellent, but the story itself is melodramatic and I just can't enjoy it that much. The second richest man in England, drug addicts, snipers hiding in trees, etc. It doesn't work for me. ...more

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