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Taken at the Flood (Hercule Poirot, #29)

Agatha Christie

Start date: April 1, 2020

Finish date: April 30, 2020

Discussion: Archive: Poirot Buddy Reads

Why we're reading this: Latest in our series of Poirot buddy reads.
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What Members Thought

Jan 06, 2017 Christine PNW rated it it was ok

Shelves: vintage-women

After listening to The Sittaford Mystery on the drive TO a vacation destination, my daughter and I needed an audiobook for the return home trip. This is NOT one of my favorite Christie's, but it is one that she has not read, so we jointly decided on this one.

Plot point reveal below (although not whodunit)

We listened to around the first half of the book on the drive home on 1/1/17, and then she finished reading it upon our return. I kept up with the listen and finished it just this morning. There ...more

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Jul 14, 2022 Bev rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mount-tbr-2024, british-mystery, vintage-mystery, bought-2010, mystery

During the war, Gordon Cloade had met a young widow and married her. Just two weeks into the marriage a bomb hit his London home--killing everyone but Rosaleen Cloade and her brother David Hunter. Previous to his marriage, Cloade had served as the financial buffer for his family. He provided capital for new ventures, money for unexpected expenses, and promised to see everyone taken care of in his will. But he hadn't had a chance to write a new will since marrying Rosaleen...which means his widow During the war, Gordon Cloade had met a young widow and married her. Just two weeks into the marriage a bomb hit his London home--killing everyone but Rosaleen Cloade and her brother David Hunter. Previous to his marriage, Cloade had served as the financial buffer for his family. He provided capital for new ventures, money for unexpected expenses, and promised to see everyone taken care of in his will. But he hadn't had a chance to write a new will since marrying Rosaleen...which means his widow scooped the pot. Rosaleen seems inclined to help her inlaws, but she is firmly under brother David's thumb and he believes in "finders keepers."

During another air raid, Hercule Poirot is sheltering with men from the Concordia Club and listens to Major Porter comment on the death of Cloade. Cloade's widow was previously married to Porter's best friend, Robert Underhay. The marriage wasn't a happy one and while Robert supposedly died in Africa, he had confided to Porter that "If a report of my death gets back that will make Rosaleen a widow, which is what she wants...maybe a Mr. Enoch Arden will turn up somewhere a thousand miles or soa away and start life anew."

So...when a Mr. Enoch Arden shows up in the village where the Cloades live and Rosaleen and David have taken up residence, one wonders if Underhay has come back. And when Arden is found murdered one evening after having met with David in the morning, one wonders if David has silenced the one man who could throw a spanner into the inheritance works. But more death follows and it will take Hercule Poirot to figure out the twists and turns that lead to the real killer.

I read this once before...long ago and far away when a pre-teen and I was making my way through every Agatha Christie our Carnegie Library had on the shelves. At the time, I awarded four stars (with no explanation because past Bev didn't believe in reviews). Present Bev does not disagree. The plot is very nice and twisty. Just when I thought I'd figured it out, Dame Agatha would throw another curve ball and I'd change mind. So, actually, I would give the mystery plot five stars. But...there are two quibbles. First, Poirot does not show up (after the initial scene with the club bore telling his story about Underhay) until way late in the book. And then there's not quite enough of him. Two--that ending. (view spoiler) Agatha, honey, I'm not buying it.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. ...more

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Mar 23, 2023 Teri-K rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: zz-2023-my-book-club, mystery

This is a very difficult book to rate. The text itself is split into two parts, and my feelings split the same way. I loved the fact that the plot is convoluted and twists and turns on itself. No matter what you think you've figured out there will be some "I should have seen that" surprises, and all those turns kept me engaged throughout.

I also loved the strong sense of time, which is unusual for a Christie book. Set about a year after WWII ended, we find ourselves surrounded by exhausted, depr This is a very difficult book to rate. The text itself is split into two parts, and my feelings split the same way. I loved the fact that the plot is convoluted and twists and turns on itself. No matter what you think you've figured out there will be some "I should have seen that" surprises, and all those turns kept me engaged throughout.

I also loved the strong sense of time, which is unusual for a Christie book. Set about a year after WWII ended, we find ourselves surrounded by exhausted, deprived English folks who are wondering what it was all about and why they don't feel happy now that it's over. But, in contrast to the US experience to the war's end, in the U?K there were many shortages, a dpressed economy, and lots of adjustments to be made by those who participated int he war and those who stayed behind to keep the country going. Everyone is confused about what happens now and being confronted with how much everything - and everyone - has changed.

Another theme Christie uses is how unsettled the populace is after the war. Folks don't just go back to their home villages, but strangers pop up everywhere, and have to be accepted on face value. Are they really who they say they are? All of these disturbances make fertile ground for a mystery writer, and Christie mines them here.

One thing that doesn't work for me is Poirot. Though present at the beginning of the book, he disappears for about half of it, and when he comes back in he has no personality. There's none of his drive for truth, and I really missed Hastings, who brings out a side of Hercule we don't often see when he's absent. I also didn't understand his handling of the culprit when it was finally discovered.

Then there are all the stock characters littering this book. Readers who insist on likable characters will be disappointed in this story, as everyone is a cardboard cheat or deadbeat or liar. Only one couple manages to feel real or be interesting, and their story was moving and poignant. I would have loved to read more of Frances and Jeremy. They felt like real people.

Then there's the relationship between Lynn, Rowley and David. It was disturbing all the way through, but especially bad at the end. I can't decide if Christie was going for the worn-out romance trope or wanting to show the reader that were no happy endings in England at this time. Either way, it's nasty and left a very bad taste in my mouth.

When I first finished reading this I thought I hated it - mostly because of the ending, including how Poirot chooses to handle the revelations. But as I pondered it I decided it is very well crafted, strongly anchored in time and place, and kept me happily reading - until the end. So I gave it three stars, not willing to hand out any more, though, due to several real problems.

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Aug 24, 2012 Ruth rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery

Oh, I hate it when I spot crucial clues, but don't get it! But, don't get me wrong -- I still love Christie. Taken at the Flood is a wonderufl yarn-- twistier than her usual I think, but no less satisfying. ...more

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