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aido_potato's review against another edition
4.0
Phenomenal mystery and final act, but with a slow and boring start. This book might have become my favorite Poirot adventure if it had matched the quality of the finale all the way through.
vailasleep's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mrsbooknerd's review against another edition
3.0
I mean, I'm sure we've all considered murdering a family member during the Christmas period but few of us have yet to cross the line...
There were elements of this book that I loved. Not heavy with a complex plot but mainly character driven, it was a great mental work out trying to work out what made each character tick and to determine their possible motivations and lies.
Everyone seemed suspicious, and yet this is one of the first Christie books where I've guessed the killer. It just felt quite heavy handed and obvious once it had been introduced. Each time something relating to it was mentioned I almost rolled my eyes - at Agatha Christie, can you imagine! There were red herrings but I felt that they were almost there to give us some variations on the killer's motivation or story than as a credible substitute for the actual killer.
There were elements of this book that I loved. Not heavy with a complex plot but mainly character driven, it was a great mental work out trying to work out what made each character tick and to determine their possible motivations and lies.
Everyone seemed suspicious, and yet this is one of the first Christie books where I've guessed the killer. It just felt quite heavy handed and obvious once it had been introduced. Each time something relating to it was mentioned I almost rolled my eyes - at Agatha Christie, can you imagine! There were red herrings but I felt that they were almost there to give us some variations on the killer's motivation or story than as a credible substitute for the actual killer.
thaurisil's review against another edition
4.0
While I read through Agatha Christie's novels with the Appointments with Agatha group, I'm putting a templated synopsis of each novel in my review. It has spoilers!
Book: 24 of Christie's novels, 19 of Hercule Poirot novels
Setting: Gorston Hall, a house in England
Detective and Companions: Hercule Poirot, Colonel Johnson, Superintendent Sugden
Crime: At a family reunion on Christmas Eve, a crash of furniture and a wailing scream is heard, and Simeon Lee, the proud, wicked patriarch in his old age, is found dead in his room in a pool of blood.
Suspects:
- Alfred Lee, Simeon's obedient son
- Lydia, Alfred's clever wife
- David Lee, Simeon's delicate son who hates his father for the affairs which caused his mother to suffer to her death
- Hilda, George's comforting, reassuring wife
- George Lee, Simeon's son and MP who is stingy with money
- Magdalene, George's young beautiful wife and a spendthrift
- Harry Lee, Simeon's irresponsible son who has just returned from South Africa
- Pilar Estravados, Simeon's Spanish orphaned granddaughter who is invited to England for the first time by Simeon
- Stephen Farr, the son of Simeon's old partner Ebenezer Farr in South Africa who has come to visit Simeon for the first time
Twists and Turns:
- The biggest twist of all was by far that Superintendent Sugden, the police superintendent in charge of investigating the case, was actually the murderer!
- Some of the characters were not who they said they were. Pilar was actually an acquaintance of the real Pilar who had died earlier, and who came to England to see if she could get money from Simeon. Stephen was not Ebenezer Farr's son but one of Simeon's illegitimate son. The biggest surprise of all was that Superintendent Sugden was another of Simeon's illegitimate sons.
- Throughout the story, Poirot stressed the importance of family heredity, but it was not clear what this meant until Superintendent Sugden's physical similarity to Harry Lee, Stephen and Simeon was revealed, and his ability to wait decades before exacting revenge was similar to Simeon's.
- There was a crash furniture, a scream, and when the family ran upstairs, they found Simeon Lee dead in a locked room. That seemed to pinpoint his death as the result of a violent altercation. But actually, he had been dead for ours, and Superintendent Sugden had set up a clever arrangement where a pull of a rope from the outside of the house would let down a crash of furniture at the right time, while unreleasing a peg from a balloon that would release a hellish wail.
Don't be fooled by the title. This is an extremely un-Christmassy book! The nature of the murder, the hatred and suspicion amongst the members of the dysfunctional family, and the paucity of Christmas cheer make this a book devoid of any Christmas feeling or goodwill. But as a murder mystery, it is excellent. Christie has played similar tricks on us before, but who would ever have thought that the stoic police superintendent investigating the case was actually the murderer, even after Christie gave us clues that he resembled Harry and Stephen physically?
Book: 24 of Christie's novels, 19 of Hercule Poirot novels
Setting: Gorston Hall, a house in England
Detective and Companions: Hercule Poirot, Colonel Johnson, Superintendent Sugden
Crime: At a family reunion on Christmas Eve, a crash of furniture and a wailing scream is heard, and Simeon Lee, the proud, wicked patriarch in his old age, is found dead in his room in a pool of blood.
Suspects:
- Alfred Lee, Simeon's obedient son
- Lydia, Alfred's clever wife
- David Lee, Simeon's delicate son who hates his father for the affairs which caused his mother to suffer to her death
- Hilda, George's comforting, reassuring wife
- George Lee, Simeon's son and MP who is stingy with money
- Magdalene, George's young beautiful wife and a spendthrift
- Harry Lee, Simeon's irresponsible son who has just returned from South Africa
- Pilar Estravados, Simeon's Spanish orphaned granddaughter who is invited to England for the first time by Simeon
- Stephen Farr, the son of Simeon's old partner Ebenezer Farr in South Africa who has come to visit Simeon for the first time
Twists and Turns:
- The biggest twist of all was by far that Superintendent Sugden, the police superintendent in charge of investigating the case, was actually the murderer!
- Some of the characters were not who they said they were. Pilar was actually an acquaintance of the real Pilar who had died earlier, and who came to England to see if she could get money from Simeon. Stephen was not Ebenezer Farr's son but one of Simeon's illegitimate son. The biggest surprise of all was that Superintendent Sugden was another of Simeon's illegitimate sons.
- Throughout the story, Poirot stressed the importance of family heredity, but it was not clear what this meant until Superintendent Sugden's physical similarity to Harry Lee, Stephen and Simeon was revealed, and his ability to wait decades before exacting revenge was similar to Simeon's.
- There was a crash furniture, a scream, and when the family ran upstairs, they found Simeon Lee dead in a locked room. That seemed to pinpoint his death as the result of a violent altercation. But actually, he had been dead for ours, and Superintendent Sugden had set up a clever arrangement where a pull of a rope from the outside of the house would let down a crash of furniture at the right time, while unreleasing a peg from a balloon that would release a hellish wail.
Don't be fooled by the title. This is an extremely un-Christmassy book! The nature of the murder, the hatred and suspicion amongst the members of the dysfunctional family, and the paucity of Christmas cheer make this a book devoid of any Christmas feeling or goodwill. But as a murder mystery, it is excellent. Christie has played similar tricks on us before, but who would ever have thought that the stoic police superintendent investigating the case was actually the murderer, even after Christie gave us clues that he resembled Harry and Stephen physically?
definitelynotacarrot's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
natalia86's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
4.0
Cómo de costumbre la pluma ágil de Agatha Christie, nos da una novela que se lee rápido, llena de intriga y con un final perfecto.
inquisitive_chap's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.5
Another excellent Poirot mystery. All the clues were there but I missed the subtlety of them and went down a carefully laid blind alley.
As ever, the character descriptions are excellent and vivid
As ever, the character descriptions are excellent and vivid
irenemg's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sandranir's review against another edition
4.0
I haven't read any Agatha Christie novel in a long time and this is a nice reminder of her distinctive writing. I've picked this book as part of my holidays reading list and I thoroughly enjoyed it.