A review by lavenderlilacs1912
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe follows Hercule Poirot on another interesting mystery involving espionage, finance, and disguises. Starting with the murder of Poirot's dentist, he is drawn into a case that is at times baffling and completely unnerving.
I liked this book slightly better than Death in the Clouds. But I had the slightly unfortunate experience of watching the Agatha Christie's Poirot adaptation before reading this novel, which colored my experience a bit. I actually preferred the TV adaptation. While I don't expect masterpiece level character development out of mysteries like this, nor do I think unlikeable characters ruin a novel right out the gate. But here's the thing, unlikeable characters have to at least be interesting for me. And there were two characters (Raikes and Frank Carter) who I hated, and also didn't find all that interesting. Especially Raikes, who up to the last page was an a-hole of the nth degree. I would compare him to Mr. Ferguson from Death on the Nile (another grade a-hole), but at least Ferguson was funny in his lack of self-awareness at the end.
The book's redeeming quality is its main character. I liked watching Poirot's struggle to solve this case and I liked the outlining of his moral philosophy at the very end of the book in his confrontation with the killer, and how his respect for the lives of the victims despite his personal feelings about them shines through. The outlining of the mystery and the pieces falling into place could have been done better, but I loved the reveals and they all made sense in the end.
Not one of Christie's masterpieces, but I liked it well enough.
I liked this book slightly better than Death in the Clouds. But I had the slightly unfortunate experience of watching the Agatha Christie's Poirot adaptation before reading this novel, which colored my experience a bit. I actually preferred the TV adaptation. While I don't expect masterpiece level character development out of mysteries like this, nor do I think unlikeable characters ruin a novel right out the gate. But here's the thing, unlikeable characters have to at least be interesting for me. And there were two characters (Raikes and Frank Carter) who I hated, and also didn't find all that interesting. Especially Raikes, who up to the last page was an a-hole of the nth degree. I would compare him to Mr. Ferguson from Death on the Nile (another grade a-hole), but at least Ferguson was funny in his lack of self-awareness at the end.
The book's redeeming quality is its main character. I liked watching Poirot's struggle to solve this case and I liked the outlining of his moral philosophy at the very end of the book in his confrontation with the killer, and how his respect for the lives of the victims despite his personal feelings about them shines through. The outlining of the mystery and the pieces falling into place could have been done better, but I loved the reveals and they all made sense in the end.
Not one of Christie's masterpieces, but I liked it well enough.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racial slurs