SuperHeroBooks - Hercule Poirot's Christmas: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Agatha Christie Collection)

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Manufacturer: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers

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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.912
EAN: 9781579127350
ISBN: 1579127355
Label: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
Manufacturer: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 272
Publication Date: 2007-09-17
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
Studio: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers

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Customer Rating:

Summary: Not Very Christmas-y!
Comment: My main reservation was that this was rather a gloomy novel. It opens in a smoky, dismal train station and moves to a cold, gloomy estate home. There is also more blood than is usual in A.C. novels, which she did on purpose following a criticism from her brother-in-law. All in all, a clever plot (as usual), but not much to do with Poirot's Christmas or even Christmas in general. For a contemporary Agatha Christie-style mystery with all the Christmas trimmings, check out Christmas is Murder: A Rex Graves Mystery (Rex Graves Mysteries) by another British author. In spite of multiple murders, it makes for light and festive reading.

Customer Rating:

Summary: A real Agatha Sleeper
Comment: I've read 'em all--over 80. This is one of the best and most fun. Very tricky in a totally fair way....

Customer Rating:

Summary: A Murder for Christmas
Comment: Originally published in 1938, as A MURDER FOR CHRISTMAS and later as A HOLIDAY MURDER, HERCULE POIROT'S CHRISTMAS is a stock story. An old man invites his family for the holidays and gets a few unexpected visitors. The disappearance of the murder weapon and its hiding place add a little spice, but this is not one of Christie's best.
In some regards, Georgette Heyer's ENVIOUS CASA, which was published in 1941 is similar.
Got a little spare time during the holidays, enjoy because like all Cristies it is a clever puzzle, it is the characters that leave you bored.
Nash Black, author of TRAVELERS and SINS OF THE FATHERS.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Interesting murder, dreary characters
Comment: Hercule Poirot's Christmas follows the trials of a wealthy English family in the days immediately before and after Christmas day. The family patriarch is a despicably unlikable old fellow. About the only things he seems to enjoy are tormenting his family and fondling some uncut diamonds he keeps in his room. As you might imagine, he ends up murdered and the stones go missing. The police are called in to investigate and it just so happens that Poirot is visiting at the station when the call comes in. The usual interviews ensue. The old man was such an obnoxious sort that you can easily imagine almost anyone killing him. The little Belgian puts his grey cells to the task and, of course, solves the crime in the end.

The murder plot itself is the strongest aspect of this novel. It's typically Byzantine and will certainly keep you guessing. The story moves along at a decent pace, though the murder could have come a bit more quickly. Unfortunately, the cast and most of the story is uninspired and recycled from numerous other Christie novels. I don't really mind re-using concepts if they're well done, but this book generally has a plodding feel as if it is just going through the motions. Not one of the family was a truly interesting character and even Poirot seemed a bit flat.

Overall, this book was something of a disappointment. It isn't as bad as the worst Poirot novels I've read but it's far from the best. The intricate murder can't make up for the insipid characters. I recommend this book only to established fans of Hercule Poirot. First time readers can do much better with books like Evil Under the Sun: A Hercule Poirot Mystery or Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot).

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Editorial Reviews:

Simeon Lee has demanded that all four of his sons—one faithful, one prodigal, one impecunious, one sensitive—and their wives visit the family home for Christmas. But the cantankerous patriarch has anything but a heartwarming family holiday in mind. He bedevils each of his sons with barbed insults, while at the same time lavishing attention on his very attractive, long-lost granddaughter. Finally he announces that he is cutting off his sons' allowances and changing his will to boot.

So when the old man is found lying a pool of blood on Christmas Eve, there is no lack of suspects. Did Lee's taunts push one of the boys or their wives to a desperate act of murder? Or was the killer really after the fortune in uncut diamonds Lee kept locked away in his safe? And how did the murderer escape from the locked room?

Intrepid Belgian detective Hercule Poirot suspends his holiday sorting through the myriad suspects and motives to find the truth behind the old man's death.