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Hickory Dickory Dock (Hercule Poirot, #34)

Agatha Christie,

Hugh Fraser (Narrator)

Start date: July 1, 2020

Finish date: July 31, 2020

Discussion: Archive: Poirot Buddy Reads

Why we're reading this: Latest in our series of Poirot buddy reads.
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Oct 18, 2017 BrokenTune rated it liked it

Shelves: reviewed

Hercule Poirot frowned.
"Miss Lemon," he said.
"Yes, M. Poirot?"
"There are three mistakes in this letter."
His voice held incredulity. For Miss Lemon, that hideous and efficient woman, never made mistakes. She was never ill, never tired, never upset, never inaccurate. For all practical purposes, that is to say, she was not a woman at all. She was a machine - the perfect secretary. She knew everything, she coped with everything. She ran Hercule Poirot's life for him, so that it, too, functioned lik Hercule Poirot frowned.
"Miss Lemon," he said.
"Yes, M. Poirot?"
"There are three mistakes in this letter."
His voice held incredulity. For Miss Lemon, that hideous and efficient woman, never made mistakes. She was never ill, never tired, never upset, never inaccurate. For all practical purposes, that is to say, she was not a woman at all. She was a machine - the perfect secretary. She knew everything, she coped with everything. She ran Hercule Poirot's life for him, so that it, too, functioned like a machine.
Order and method had been Hercule Poirot's watchwords from many years ago. With George, his perfect manservant, and Miss Lemon, his perfect secretary, order and method ruled supreme in his life. Now that crumpets were baked square as well as round, he had nothing about which to complain.

Square crumpets?! Have I missed these so far?

Anyway, to the book... Hickory Dickory Dock was a fun read, in which Miss Lemon gets some page time. The story is set in 1955 in London and Miss Lemon is worried about her sister and the strange goings on at the hostel where her sister works: Things have gone missing.

In order to return to a life of normalcy and perfection, Poirot offers to help Miss Lemon's sister solve the mystery of the disappearing items.

Hickory Dickory Dock is a great story to note the differences in Christie's writing between the pre- and post-war periods. This story is set in the 50s, and the bright young things are now less decadent and more international. The youth comes across in Christie's dialogues reasonably well, but the international aspect made me cringe.
Let's face it, despite her efforts, Christie just was not great at writing characters from non-English backgrounds.

Still, it was fun watching Poirot solve this, even if sometimes you just want to kick Poirot in the shins.

Hercule Poirot nodded understandingly. It seemed to him appropriate that Miss Lemon's sister should have spent most of her life in Singapore. That was what places like Singapore were for. The sisters of women like Miss Lemon married men in business in Singapore, so that the Miss Lemons of this world could devote themselves with machine-like efficiency to their employers' affairs (and of course to the invention of filing systems in their moments of relaxations). ...more

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Sep 05, 2021 Kavita rated it it was amazing

Shelves: uk, mystery, golden-age-mystery

In this book, Christie goes truly international with Indian and African characters. *gasp* They all live merrily in a student hostel run by Miss Lemon's sister, Mrs. Hubbard, until there is a spate of senseless robberies. Poirot is astounded when he sees four mistakes in Miss Lemon's work, unheard of ever before. She confides that she is worried about her sister, which shocks Poirot even more to hear that she has a sister! Good ole Poirot takes up the case to ensure Miss Lemon makes no furth ...more

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Feb 10, 2017 Damaskcat rated it it was amazing

A spate of minor thefts in a student hostel isn't Hercule Poirot's usual sort of case but the hostel is managed by his secretary's sister - Mrs Hubbard - and he wants to help. On the face of it the thefts are all trivial - apart from the diamond ring - and that turns up in someone's soup. The other thefts are one evening shoe, some boracic acid, a silk scarf cut into ribbons, a rucksack destroyed and someone's study notes are damaged by having ink poured over them.

The culprit is soon uncovered a ...more

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Apr 25, 2024 ShanDizzy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It all started when the uber efficient Miss Lemon makes a typing error…

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Mar 30, 2015 Ellen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-sleuth, christie, poiror

Hickory Dickory Dock by Agatha Christie.

I took my time in reading this classic by the Dame herself, Agatha Christie. Enjoyed the read and stayed with it until the very end.

Hercule Poirot's secretary, Miss Lemon, is efficient and precise in every way. One couldn't ask for a more perfect secretary. that is until one morning Poirot notices a few errors on a paper. Miss Lemon confesses she has her sister on her mind and is quite concerned. It seems her sister is managing a hostel for students in wh ...more

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Jun 22, 2020 Jill rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: agatha-christie

Poirot wasn't so much to the fore as he is in other books of the series, but it was still a captivating read. Miss Lemon has made mistakes which is unheard of, and seems that her mind has been on troubles of her sister's workplace. Poirot, naturally decides to look into these troubles and from then on the story is centered on the students hostel where the sister works and lives. At this stage the problem is one of items going missing, but then escalates to more serious trouble. We meet all the s ...more

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