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Five Little Pigs (Hercule Poirot, #25)

Agatha Christie

Start date: January 1, 2020

Finish date: January 31, 2020

Discussion: Archive: Poirot Buddy Reads

Why we're reading this: Next in our continuing series of Poirot buddy reads in order.
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Archive: Poirot Buddy Reads

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What Members Thought

May 05, 2015 Kavita rated it really liked it

Shelves: uk, mystery, golden-age-mystery

This little piggy went to market,
This little piggy stayed home,
This little piggy had roast beef
This little piggy had none,
And this little piggy cried wee wee wee all the way home.

Another nursery rhyme book! Poirot solves a cold case in this one. The daughter of a convicted murdereress, Carla Lemarchant, approaches him to find the truth behind the murder of her father. Poirot takes it only because of his passion for the truth, but it is not an easy journey. He interviews everyone connected with t This little piggy went to market,
This little piggy stayed home,
This little piggy had roast beef
This little piggy had none,
And this little piggy cried wee wee wee all the way home.

Another nursery rhyme book! Poirot solves a cold case in this one. The daughter of a convicted murdereress, Carla Lemarchant, approaches him to find the truth behind the murder of her father. Poirot takes it only because of his passion for the truth, but it is not an easy journey. He interviews everyone connected with the case - police officers and lawyers, as well as the people present at the Crales' house party at the time of his death. As always, it is the small things that are often overlooked by the majority of people that leads Poirot to the truth.

Amyas and Caroline Crale are not very sympathetic people and I just disliked both of them. If left to myself, I would have just brushed my hands and said 'good riddance'. Amyas is a sexist womaniser, who goes around the place sleeping with whomever takes his fancy, but expects his wife to be still there when he returns to his senses and goes back to her. Caroline Crale, on the other hand, goes through life fighting and screaming over her husband's infidelity, but refuses to leave him, because 'love'. This is depicted as a passionate love between two people who enjoy bickering. Yeah, right!

But murder is murder, and even the most unpleasant person deserves justice. So you feel motivated to follow Poirot's train of thought towards the inevitable end. (view spoiler)

The other characters are very well-drawn and each had their own distinct way of looking at life. I enjoyed the book, especially since it clearly showed how (i) people see only what they want to see, (ii) people all give different versions of the same event, even if they are all speaking the truth, and (iii) everyone has something to hide. It's a great example of how a cold case can be solved and still retain the emotional and human elements that are of such interest to the mystery reader. ...more

24 likes · Like · see review

Feb 27, 2017 Christine PNW rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: vintage-women

An outstanding entry in the Poirot canon. This book is a master class in mystery plotting.

10 likes · Like · see review

Jun 08, 2014 Susan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is the 24th novel featuring Hercule Poirot; preceded by the classic “Evil Under the Sun,” followed by the magnificent “The Hollow” and published in 1942. Even a mere mention of the Poirot titles written around that time show us that Christie – always my favourite author of all time – was on a real roll. Five Little Pigs is not one of her best known Poirot mysteries, which is a shame, as this is a wonderful read.

Carla Lemarchant was only five when her mother, Caroline Crale, was found guilty ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

May 21, 2019 Lemar rated it it was amazing

“There is a Spanish proverb I’ve always liked. Take what you want and pay for it, says God.” It’s been along time since I’ve read an Agatha Christie and I am reminded how fresh and real her writing is.

6 likes · Like · see review

Sep 28, 2022 Bev rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: bought-2018, british-mystery, mystery, vintage-mystery, mount-tbr-2022

Sixteen years ago Carla Crale's mother Caroline was tried and convicted of the murder of her husband, the artist Amyas Crale. She allegedly doctored his afternoon beer with spotted hemlock after being told that Amyas planned to divorce her so he could marry the much younger woman who has been sitting for his latest painting. Amyas had fooled around before, but he had always returned to his devoted wife. They often fought like cats and dogs, but they always came back together. But this last fling Sixteen years ago Carla Crale's mother Caroline was tried and convicted of the murder of her husband, the artist Amyas Crale. She allegedly doctored his afternoon beer with spotted hemlock after being told that Amyas planned to divorce her so he could marry the much younger woman who has been sitting for his latest painting. Amyas had fooled around before, but he had always returned to his devoted wife. They often fought like cats and dogs, but they always came back together. But this last fling was different. It wasn't just a flirtation or a bit of lust. Amyas fell head over heels and said he really planned to leave the marriage.

Various guests at the house overheard Caroline threaten that she'd sooner kill her husband than let him leave her. So, when he's found dead--poisoned from a bottle found among Caroline's things--his wife becomes suspect number one. Well...the only suspect really. Despite her protest of innocence and a declaration that he must have taken the stuff himself, her trial didn't go well at all. Her counsel did the best he could for her, but as we later learn, she didn't really help him put up a fight. What she did do was leave a letter for her daughter that was to be opened when Carla turned twenty-one. A letter that told her daughter that she was innocent in no uncertain terms. Carla takes the letter and her belief that her mother would never lie to her--no matter how unpalatable the truth may be--to Hercule Poirot and asks him reinvestigate the case and tell her once and for all if her mother was really innocent. Poirot won't promise that innocence will be the outcome, but the more interviews he has with the five other people on the spot at the time the more convinced he becomes that someone may have gotten away with the perfect (until now) murder.

So...I finished this about five days ago and planned to write the review in my spare time while I was at my mom & dad's. But unexpected events threw a wrench into that little plan and now all my brilliant observations (trust me--they were the most scintillating bits of reviews I've had going in a long time) have vanished under the anxiety of a car emergency 150 miles away from home. We'll see what I can salvage. First off, while I have watched the David Suchet adaptation of this novel, I don't remember ever having read it before. My Goodreads record tells me I did--sometime in the mists of time--but I'm not sure I believe it. I think I may have chosen the wrong tag when I loaded the book.

This reading was excellent. I enjoyed the retrospective quality of the book with Poirot investigating a cold-case murder. He must really rely on his interview skills and the psychology of those involved to help him get to the truth of the matter. He always says that these things plus his little grey cells is all that is necessary to solve a mystery and this case allows us to see how well this works for him. There are little clues that Christie hides so well that anyone encountering the story for the first time can easily miss them. I remembered how the filmed version played out--but I wasn't sure if this would be a situation where the filmed version changed up motives or even culprits, as sometimes happens. I was pleased to see everything work out the way I expected it to. One of Christie's best. ★★★★ and 1/2. (rounded up here)

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before resposting portions of review. Thanks. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

May 22, 2018 Amy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-as-an-audiobook, 2018, brit-trip

One of my top five AC books. I'm shocked I haven't read it before now. Very clever and different from her other stories. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Jul 13, 2013 Lady Clementina ffinch-ffarowmore rated it it was amazing

Five Little Pigs (1942) was the #ReadChristie2025 choice for January under its theme of Characters and Careers, and so of course, I’m getting to my review now—in February!

Poirot’s equivalent of Miss Marple’s Sleeping Murder and which also preceded the latter, in Five Little Pigs, a young woman in her twenties, Carla Lemarchant approaches Poirot with a case, but not an ‘open’ one, rather one from 16 years ago where her mother Caroline Crale (after whom she is named) was convicted of the murder of Five Little Pigs (1942) was the #ReadChristie2025 choice for January under its theme of Characters and Careers, and so of course, I’m getting to my review now—in February!

Poirot’s equivalent of Miss Marple’s Sleeping Murder and which also preceded the latter, in Five Little Pigs, a young woman in her twenties, Carla Lemarchant approaches Poirot with a case, but not an ‘open’ one, rather one from 16 years ago where her mother Caroline Crale (after whom she is named) was convicted of the murder of her father Amyas Crale, an artist. Known for his somewhat radical art as also for his philandering ways, it was supposed that Caroline finally got fed up and poisoned her husband, when he was about to leave her for another woman, the much younger and attractive Elsa Greer. But Carla has a letter from her mother in which she claimed she was innocent and Carla is convinced whatever else her mother was, she was neither sentimental nor a liar.

Poirot agrees to look into the matter and begins by interviewing all those involved in the trial who are still available, the investigating officer, the prosecuting barrister as also that for the defence besides the solicitors in the matter. All appear convinced that Caroline was guilty, influenced by among other things the fact that she put up no fight at all. However, all of them also present pictures of Caroline very different to each other. Then Poirot moves on to talking to the five people most closely connected with the case, those present at Crale home, Alderbury at the time of the murder—Philip Blake, a banker and Amyas’ best friend, his older brother Meredith whose hobby was studying herbs including dangerous ones, Elsa Greer, the young woman Amyas feel in love with and was also painting at the time, Angela Warren, Caroline’s half-sister and Miss Williams, the governess hired to teach Angela—each fitting perfectly a line of the Five Little Pigs rhyme!

Besides speaking to them, Poirot asks each to give him a written account of all they remember of the incident, mostly the day when it unfolded and the day preceding but what he gets from each has much more information, throwing up possible clues and more light on each person’s character.

Based on the conversations and accounts, Poirot sets up his characteristic denouement scene inviting all the little pigs; secrets and inferences are revealed but does he manage to find who murdered Amyas Crale?

Being a mystery from the past, Five Little Pigs is structured differently than Poirot’s usual mysteries, in three sections, covering the initial conversations Poirot has with those involved, the individual accounts of the five ‘suspects’, and another short round of questions before Poirot reveals all. As we read, one can see each character might meet the impressions that we get of them in their descriptions by others or in the conversations with Poirot, yet each also has facets to them not as apparent at first glance. Likewise is the light they throw on both the events that unfolded and Caroline (and Amyas’)’s character as well—some of this coloured by their own feelings and perceptions but also revealing aspects that enable Poirot (and us, if we are clever enough) to reach a truer picture.

Christie is fair as always and gives us some clues but even though this was a revisit and I picked up some of them, I didn’t quite take in their import in every case. And while I remembered whodunit, as always I didn’t remember many of the nuances and details or how Poirot worked out whodunit so I enjoyed myself reading it. This is a book as much about the characters as the events and their various shades and complexities add an extra layer of depth and substance to the story.

An engrossing mystery with plenty of twists and shades which I loved on this revisit too!
...more

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 12, 2021 Grisette rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 3rd-pers-narration, my-kind-of-detective-thriller

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

⏳ [Re-read project #8 of 2025, 1st proper review, rating maintained]

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🔹️ Number of death/s: 2
🔹️ Motive for the crime: Passion, Condemned and died in prison
🔹️ Method of crime: Poison
🔹️ Main location: England
🔹️ Notable element: I love when AC gets her detectives investigate into cold cases, it's amazing how the crimes get painstakingly reconstructed from fragments. I am convinced that this novel themes were recycled (adroitly so, with fresh takes) into Elephants Can Rememb