From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

The Clocks

Agatha Christie

Start date: October 1, 2020

Finish date: October 31, 2020

Discussion: Archive: Poirot Buddy Reads

Why we're reading this: One of 2 Poirot reads this month.
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Archive: Poirot Buddy Reads

* Reading Order for the Unofficial Poirot Buddy Reads
By Jessica-sim · 54 posts · 155 views

last updated Dec 27, 2020 08:20AM

Poirot Buddy Read 40: SPOILER THREAD Curtain
By Jessica-sim · 20 posts · 35 views

last updated Feb 05, 2021 06:12PM

What Members Thought

Aug 22, 2014 Christine PNW rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: vintage-women

This is the 34th Hercule Poirot mystery, although he doesn't appear in it until about 1/2 way in.

I really enjoy Dame Agatha's books. However, this one was really rather forgettable and isn't one of her exceptional mysteries. Her best, to my mind, are Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, and Peril at End House (at least of the ones I have read). I am also rather attached to The Cat Among The Pigeons.

If you are looking for some golden age mystery entertainment to while away a ...more

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Jun 13, 2020 Bev rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audionovel, british-mystery, mount-tbr-2020, agatha-christie, mystery, silver-age-mystery, bought-2019

Sheila Webb, a typist for the Cavendish Secretarial and Typewriting Bureau, is sent on assignment to the home of Miss Millicent Pebmarsh in Wilbraham Crescent. A phone call requesting a typist particularly asked for Sheila Webb and gave instructions that if Miss Pebmarsh were not yet home that Sheila enter the house and wait in the sitting room. Sheila arrives early and does as instructed. At first she's simply intrigued by the fact that Miss Pebmarsh keeps six clocks in the same room and four o Sheila Webb, a typist for the Cavendish Secretarial and Typewriting Bureau, is sent on assignment to the home of Miss Millicent Pebmarsh in Wilbraham Crescent. A phone call requesting a typist particularly asked for Sheila Webb and gave instructions that if Miss Pebmarsh were not yet home that Sheila enter the house and wait in the sitting room. Sheila arrives early and does as instructed. At first she's simply intrigued by the fact that Miss Pebmarsh keeps six clocks in the same room and four of them register 4:13--nearly an hour later than the actual time. But then she's horrified to realize that there's a dead man behind the sofa. Miss Pebmarsh, who Shelia immediately realizes is blind, nearly steps on the body when she comes home and the horror of the situation sends Shelia screaming out of the house....

...Straight into the arms of Colin Lamb--who is not nearly as innocent as his name would suggest. Colin, who works for Special Branch, is scanning the addresses in the crescent in search of Number 61 (which just possibly may be of interest to those who are hunting communist sympathizers). He immediately becomes interested in the murder once he realizes that Miss Pebmarsh's house is situated so its back garden connects with the house he's looking for. Is it too much to hope that the mysterious dead man may have something to do with his own business?

Inspector Hardcastle takes up the case and every clue (what few there are) seems to lead to a dead end. Colin finally takes the problem to his friend Hercule Poirot who has often boasted that one need not run and to and fro gathering clues or examining with a magnifying glass. One can just be given all the facts, sit back and let the little grey cells do their thing, and, voila, the solution becomes apparent. That almost works--Poirot doesn't run to and fro, but he does have Colin to do that (and to relay any tidbits that Hardcastle discovers since Colin and the Inspector are old friends). It is interesting that Poirot does not actually interview anybody in the case and successfully identifies the culprit.

I picked out this audio version of Christie's mystery to take along with me for my trip back home last week. I don't do a lot of audio novels--because I like to review my books here on the blog and it's more difficult for me to get details when I listen rather than read. So, generally when I do listen to audio novels I try to choose stories that I'm already familiar with. It had been quite some time since I read The Clocks, so while Christie's writing was familiar I was still able to enjoy the mystery. I immediately fastened onto the correct culprit, though I didn't get the motive right.

In my defense, Christie has a lot going on in this one. We've got the central murder of the unknown man and the mystery of who he is, why he was found in Miss Pebmarsh's house, and why Sheila Webb was deliberately brought there to discover him. But we've also got the side-story with Colin Lamb and his hunt for a communist spy headquarters. It's no wonder I was a bit confused about who might be responsible for what. It's an interesting little mystery, but I do think there were a few too many coincidences for this to be one of Christie's best work.

Robin Bailey does an excellent job with the reading. He manages to juggle voices for a dozen or so different characters--giving them all different intonations and enabling the listener to keep them all straight. My one slight quibble with his performance comes with his rendition of Poirot. Perhaps it is because I tend to have David Suchet's voice in my head--but it seems to me that Bailey's Poirot is too deep and brusque. But that is minor. Overall, the reading is highly entertaining and kept me in thrall the entire time I was in the car. ★★★ for the story itself. ★★★★ for the audio performance. That makes for a 3.5 average, but I've rounded up to 4 here.

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

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12/30/21

This is a reread for me (as are nearly all Christie stories) and I reviewed it in detail last year. (above) So, I'm not going to do so here. This will be more of a story about listening to the story.

When traveling up to my parents' house in Wabash, I like to listen to audio novels to make the three hour trip go by quickly. My preference for audio novels (especially when driving and concentrating on traffic) is to listen to stories I've already read so if I miss a bit here or there it won't matter so much. And when my son goes with me, it's especially fun to take an Agatha Christie along to see him react to various clues and red herrings. It was great fun to listen to him point out certain features that I knew were leading him astray and the experience also gave me more time to appreciate some of the humor in Christie's narrative that I had missed before. What is really interesting is that just like last time--I remembered the main culprit (of the murder portion of the plot), but Christie still fooled me on the motive. I'd completely forgotten about that connection.

The best part of this audio experience was sharing it with my son. He is definitely not his mother's child when it comes to books and I treasure every time we can connect over novels like this. Road trips to his grandparents seem to make for good times for sharing a story and I'm pleased that he enjoys the Christie mysteries enough to listen along with me. He even asked to have the remaining disks so he could finish the book (six hours wasn't quite enough time to reach the grand finale). A definite win for his book-loving mom!

I stand by the ★★★ and 1/2 rating (average of book and audio performance ratings) that I gave this last June and which was rounded up to four ...more

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May 18, 2019 Zander rated it really liked it · review of another edition

After slogging through some inferior Ngaio Marsh mysteries including one about Cold War spies it was delightful to read this Poirot story. While Poirot's part is small I liked both of the other male protagonists Colin Lamb and Hardcastle who may not have been as smart as Poirot but are far from dumb. I figured out the who pretty quickly and because of the fantastical murder scene and a description of a work place and of course since I knew from jump to look for a murderer. There were some lucky ...more

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Oct 11, 2017 Laura rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-mystery-fiction, british-golden-age-mysteries

This one had a great premise and likeable characters. Poirot's involvement in the story is negligible. She must have really been getting sick of him at this point. ...more

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