Customer Reviews

The Clocks

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One will have to forgive Agatha Christie a rather weak solution (and it is a corker of a terrible ending, full of an over-supply of red herrings, hitherto unknown facts, and abundant coincidences) in her Hercule Poirot mystery The Clocks as the set-up is so delicious. A girl is called for specifically from an agency to be a typist for a blind woman and to let herself into the house as the woman would not be there when the typist arrived. The stenographer arrives to find a dead man, a multitude of clocks, and the return of said blind woman who never called for a typist and has no idea how a dead man got into her house bringing four clocks all set for about an hour ahead of time. Hercule Poirot himself only makes three brief appearences in the story making it different from the usual Poirot novel, possibly a disappointment for those fans of the Belgian detective. The mystery and suspense are sustained throughout and if the reader is willing to suspend a great of deal of disbelief the journey can be fun, if not entirely rewarding.

We learn that Hercule Poirot has taken up the study of classic mysteries and his knowledge of these leads him to solve the mystery in this particular case.

Colin Lamb, a young marine biologist and Intelligence agent, is paying a visit to Wilbraham Crescent when a young girl comes running out of one of the homes. She is screaming that she has found a dead man inside. Indeed, a corpse is there surrounded by a room filled with clocks set to 4:13, although it is only 3:13. Colin takes the problem to his father's old friend, Hercule Poirot, who at once pronounces it a "simple" case. Two more murders, an unidentifiable body, a mysterious secretarial school, and the search for a clever spy are the clues that Poirot's little grey cells must sift through before he reveals the answer to this "simple" case.

The first time I read this novel, I had to reread it again. Why? So many questions still linger at the end of the story even though the pages has ended. I wondered and reread and after the third reading, I finally got it all.

The Clocks is a story that has two main plots, and the one has absolutely nothing to do with the other. But they were connected in a way when a young typist finds a dead body in a livingroom of a blind woman. From there it's red herring all the way. But bits of real clues emerge when Mr Lamb (a fake name) talks to a girl with a broken leg.

Poirot only comes in now and then but became more interested when another murder occurs, while Lamb becomes Poirot's legs, ears and eyes. Oh yes, there are clues aplenty, but a broken high heel has never been this important as a clue.

Christie delivers this story with delightful take that neither too wordy nor too lengthy. This is another often neglected classic Christie, so get it.

Trying to have some fun with one of mystery's typical conventions, Christie comes up with a clunker this time. Using a British spy, with the far too cute name of Colin Lamb, as the Hastings stand in; Christie has Poirot work from home in homage to John Dickson Carr's locked room mysteries. Crescent shaped neighborhoods, international espionage, a damsel in distress, and the titular clocks all come into play in this mess of a mystery that definitely needed more Poirot to make it palatable. Too many red herrings and the underlying combination of spying and romance sit uncomfortably together causing nothing more than annoyance for the reader. As it stands it doesn't so much entertain as bore and when all is resolved you are relieved as opposed to amused as you realize this one's finally over.

I am convinced that in "The Clocks" Agatha Christie is writing for the fun of it and inviting her readers to come along and enjoy the fun. The key is in the scenes where Hercule Poirot is discussing detective fiction and points out traits and weaknesses of various detective story writers (some real, some imaginary, and Ariadne Oliver who represents Agatha Christie herself). So many of the factors mentioned (bizarre circumstances, overreliance on coincidence, etc) are exactly the characteristics of "The Clocks".

"The Clocks" does not rate among the greatest of Miss Christie's books. However, it is a satisfying story and lots of fun.

This 1963 mystery begins with a young woman going out on an assignment from a secretarial service and finding a dead body instead of a client waiting to dictate a letter. Understandably upset, she runs out into the street screaming. There she meets a young man, Colin Lamb, who tries to help her. Mr. Lamb (not his real name) is the son of Sgt. Battle and may not be the innocent marine biologist that he claims to be. In fact there may be many things in that neighborhood that are not just as they appear to be. Colin investigates on his own for a while but ultimately turns to Hercule Poirot for help.

The story is well plotted. Some aspects might confuse a 21st century reader, like the scarcity of home telephones in English houses 50 years ago, the tensions that existed between Russia and the rest of Europe and the difficulities of identifying a dead body during that time. Even with these problems the story is very well written and still quite enjoyable.

this is a great book! throughout the book, i had a one-track mind and could not get myself thinking about anything else than what the title says "the clocks". christie amazes you at the end with a whole explanation by poirot and you are left speechless. sometimes confusing with all the different people's names that she throws at you but still a wonderful mystery!

What "improvements" have been made for the Berkley edition? There are already major differences in punctuation, word choices, and scene breaks between the original Collins and Dodd Mead editions of this novel. There are further differences between the Dodd Mead editions republished by Random House/Avenel and the Dodd Mead editions republished by Simon & Shuster/Pocket. There are further differences still in the Signet, Bantam, and Black Dog & Leventhal editions. For every publishing house putting out her works, there seem to be a new batch of editors altering Agatha Christie's words and the sound of her voice. What's the matter with these publishers? Whose voice do they think we want to hear when we sit down to a novel by Agatha Christie? And what will she sound like twenty years from now? It's frightening that her estate has failed to see the importance of guarding her words as she wrote them. Please tell me I'm not the only one here who senses that a crime has been committed.

"The Clocks" was published in 1963; it is one of the last Agatha Christie novels featuring Hercule Poirot. Poirot is the retired Belgian detective who uses his great skills to solve murder mysteries. The novel has recently been seen in a handsome BBC production on Masterpiece Mystery.
The Plot: The lovely Sheila Webb is employed at the Cavendish Secretarial Bureau in London. Sheilah is sent to the home of Millicent Pebmarsh who leaves in a leafy part of town. Miss Pembarsh is blind and elderly. She has instructed Sheila to let herself into the house if no one is there. Sheilah does so discovering a dead man of 60 lying behind the couch. In panic she runs out the front door and into the arms of Colin Lamb a special investigator. Lamb falls in love with Sheila. He also narrates several chapters of the almost 300 page book. Lamb works along Detective Hardcastle in solving the crime. Lamb's father is a friend of Hercule Poirot. Lamb contacts Poirot who solves the crime of the murder of the dead man which was due to the poison chloral hydrate and stabbing. The second murder in the novel is due to strangulation. This book has a great beginning but becomes somewhat humdrum as it plays out. It is a fun read but is a minor Poirot novel.

This novel begins with one of Christie's creepiest murder scenes. A young woman arrives at her employer's house to find an unidentified dead man and a room full of stopped clocks. The rest of the book is spend unraveling the mystery of the dead man's identity and his presence in the home. To complicate matters the homeowner is blind, so visual identification is impossible. Before the mystery is solved a young secretary is also murdered, likely in connection with the mystery man.

I found the clues offered in this book to be far less subtle than in some of Christie's other mysteries. Indeed, the list of characters at the book's outset gives away a great deal. Ultimately I found the solution to the mystery to be rather odd. Suffice to say that it is very much a product of its time. This is not one of Christie's more haunting efforts, but the reading of it was entertaining nonetheless.