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A review by ellehartford
Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie
4.0
Fascinating--not least because of all the other reviews, haha.
I personally enjoy it when Christie does a mystery from multiple POVs (as opposed to just following Poirot). It was interesting following the Cloade family, and honestly, the narrative felt more like a meditation on British society right after WW2; there are a lot of angles on how times have changed, etc.
The mystery itself was intricate. I was able to catch a few of the key clues, but I didn't put it all together until Poirot talked it out at the end.
Speaking of, the end is, indeed, strange. Even a few chapters before the end, I thought Poirot was being just annoyingly vague (which actually is not a frustration I usually have with him!). But then the epilogue is surprising, as others noted. It definitely doesn't read well today. I can almost-sort of imagine why Christie did it, in the context of a post-war novel about safety . . . But also I wonder if she was just shoe-horning in the "romantic" ending? XD
Either way, the puzzle is still a worthy one!
I personally enjoy it when Christie does a mystery from multiple POVs (as opposed to just following Poirot). It was interesting following the Cloade family, and honestly, the narrative felt more like a meditation on British society right after WW2; there are a lot of angles on how times have changed, etc.
The mystery itself was intricate. I was able to catch a few of the key clues, but I didn't put it all together until Poirot talked it out at the end.
Speaking of, the end is, indeed, strange. Even a few chapters before the end, I thought Poirot was being just annoyingly vague (which actually is not a frustration I usually have with him!). But then the epilogue is surprising, as others noted. It definitely doesn't read well today. I can almost-sort of imagine why Christie did it, in the context of a post-war novel about safety . . . But also I wonder if she was just shoe-horning in the "romantic" ending? XD
Either way, the puzzle is still a worthy one!