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A review by shanviolinlove
Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie
2.0
(One of those times I wish Goodreads' rating system was different--it was OK.)
I love Agatha Christie's mysteries--very clever, sure to "bamboozle" the reader, and this one is no exception. Set at a girls' school with teachers getting bumped off (a perfect summer read for a salty student!), none but Poirot can solve the mystery. ... Except that Poirot himself doesn't appear in his own novel until page 179! (This is a 240+ page novel.) When he does appear, he simply listens to each character recap everything that happens before making his deduction. This makes for a very static read. A lot of Christie's later Poirot novels function this way, where other characters do the actual sleuthing and Poirot appears at the end, almost like a cameo, to wrap up everything. Having seen the BBC Mystery adaptation, written by the talented Mark Gatiss (think BBC Sherlock), I must say that I liked seeing Poirot being more present and active in the story. The novel was a tad disappointing in that regard.
I love Agatha Christie's mysteries--very clever, sure to "bamboozle" the reader, and this one is no exception. Set at a girls' school with teachers getting bumped off (a perfect summer read for a salty student!), none but Poirot can solve the mystery. ... Except that Poirot himself doesn't appear in his own novel until page 179! (This is a 240+ page novel.) When he does appear, he simply listens to each character recap everything that happens before making his deduction. This makes for a very static read. A lot of Christie's later Poirot novels function this way, where other characters do the actual sleuthing and Poirot appears at the end, almost like a cameo, to wrap up everything. Having seen the BBC Mystery adaptation, written by the talented Mark Gatiss (think BBC Sherlock), I must say that I liked seeing Poirot being more present and active in the story. The novel was a tad disappointing in that regard.