Customer Reviews

Dumb Witness (Agatha Christie Collection)

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4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
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This book, published also under the title "Poirot Loses A Client," has all the ingredients of an outstanding Christie tale: a domestic murder which could have been committed by any of several people close to the victim, a charming look at life in a small English village, a delightful and well-bred elderly lady, a fatal poisoning, and lots of clues.

Poirot is brought into this case in an unusual manner. He receives a letter from the elderly lady in which she hints at a possible attempt on her life. When Poirot realizes the letter had been written two months before he receives it, his little grey cells are alerted. He takes a trip to Market Basing only to find the writer of the letter, Miss Arundell, is dead. Since he considers her still his client, he is determined to prove her death was not accidental, but a deliberate murder. The cold trail of clues leads to a beautiful society lady, a handsome scientist, a faithful servant, and a pair of specialists in the occult. Will Poirot be able to unmask the killer before another death occurs? A dog's bouncing ball, a strange spiritual manifestation, and a mirror reflection of a brooch are all pivotal to solving this mystery.

This book is notable in that it will be the last of the Poirot books to be narrated by Captain Hastings until "Curtain" ends the series decades later. His narrative style, always pleasing, is especially well-done in this one. Also notable in this story is the importance of a cute wire-haired terrier named Bob who will form a special bond with Captain Hastings.

If greed, deception, and jealousy are your cup of cocoa, you'll love matching wits with Hercule Poirot as he tries to stop a brilliant and baffling killer who is about to strike again.

In this book Agatha Christie refers to the murderers in Death in the Clouds, the Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Mysterious Affair at Style and the Mystery of the Blue Train, so make sure you have read all of these before you read this one, our your fun will be spoilt!

Dumb Witness is one my top ten favourite Agatha Christie novels. Dame Christie has expressed the character of Hastings better here than in any of the other seven novels in which he appears. It is also one of the most amusing.

One thing I enjoy about this book is that we are given a fair crack at the whip - everything that Poirot sees we see, there are no last minute envelopes arriving (which often irritates me). His explanation is convincing.

Go ahead and read it! But don't forget to read the books mentioned above first.

At first the title intrigued me, but as i got down to reading the book, I found that the title had nothing much to do with the story. But nevertheless, i enjoyed the book. It's about the murder of an old lady, and the suspects are the relatives after her money. So what's the title have to do with the book? Simple. Only one witness was there to this murder...and the witness is dumb. yep... we're talikng about her pet dog here. The irony to the story is that inspite of having a witness, Poirot has to unravel the mystery, with hardly any clues. But poirot being poirot solves the mystery....making another good book to read. Most of christie's books are a bit similar, but not exactly same, making it possible to read most of her books without getting bored. While this sounds like one of those typical books, it's really not. Read it...then you'll see.

The story itself is fairly routine (and bears more than a couple of similarities to "Murder on the Links", one of Christie's earliest works). However, the reader is advised to avoid the Berkley editions at all cost; they are sloppily edited and are full of mistakes that anyone with even a basic knowledge of Agatha Christie (or, for that matter, the English language) wouldn't make. The St. Martin's Press editions are much better.

If you are a dog lover, you will especially enjoy this novel, which features the canine "Bob" (the dumb witness?). I guessed certain aspects of the mystery but not the murderer. Having said that, I've only ever guessed whodunit in one of Christie's novels so far, that being "A Murder is Announced." "Dumb Witness" is really quite humorous, with Hastings playing the admiring Watson and Hercule Poirot at his most colorful. If you are a Christie fan, "Dumb Witness" will not disappoint.

First published in 1937, Ms. Christie's "Dumb Witness", once again, shows why she is the best of the best in murder mysteries. The book was dedicated to her deceased dog, Peter, and takes pains to have a dog, Bob, be part of the web of intrigue in this Poirot story. It is another crisp, tightly written whodunit that kept me absorbed until the very end. Granted, Ms. Christie has stumbled once in a blue moon such as the Hercule Poirot book entitled "The Big Four," but "Dumb Witness' does not fall into this category. Also, I found some of the 1930s' vernacular to be either interesting or unintentionally funny if it were applied in today's society. Though I was able to figure out the solution about two-thirds of the way through Hercule Poirot's 15th murder mystery, it was still a very enjoyable read. Ms. Christie is one of my go-to authors when I need a surefire winner.

One of the delights of buying a Berkely/Penguin edition of an Agatha Christie novel are the covers. Clues in the case are provided. This is true of "Dumb Witness" a fine Christie tale from 1937.

The Plot: Miss Emily Arundell is an old maid. Her family of unscrupulous moneygrubbers and forgers gathers at her quaint home during the Easter Weekend. Miss Arundell has a fall down the stairs; this is said to be because her pet terrier Bob has left his play ball on the steps causing the old lady to trip. This is later proved to be false since Bob had been out of the house until 5 AM. A few weeks later Miss Arundel dies. Was it natural causes or murder most foul? Hercule Poirot is called in to investigate the case. Among the suspects are:

Minnie Lawson-Miss Arundell's female companion who is given the bulk of the wealthy estate in the old lady's second will.

Charles Arundell-The ne'er do well nephew of Miss Emily who has stolen money and forged a check in the name of Miss Emily. He has been heard commenting to the lady, "I will bump you off."

Theresa Arundell-The party loving beautiful niece of Emily Arundell

Dr. Rex Donaldson-The country doctor who is engaged to Theresa. Money is needed to get him to move to an office in London.

Bella Tanios-a plain niece of Emily Arundell who has moved abroad with her Greek husband. She has two children' struggles to meet ends meet and is disenchanted with her mate.

Dr. Tanios-Jacob Tanios is the husband of Bella.

Dr. Grainger-Miss Arundell's faithful family doctor.

Ellen-A maid at the Little Green House home where Miss Arundell has lived for many years.

The Tripp sisters-believers in seances they report on an unusual occurrence when Miss Arundell attended one of their events. She was seen with a halo around her head on the night she became ill.

The novel is narrated by Arthur Hastings the police associate of Poirot who accompanies him on the investigation of the murder.

This is a well written case. Poirot uses logic to solve a terrible murder by analyzing a brooch with the letters

"T.A."on it. Who wore it? Was the person who did so the murderer? Join the fun and help Poirot solve the case!

Almost smack-dab in the middle of the chronological order of the Poirot books is "Dumb Witness," a murder-mystery with a difference. That is, for a long time the reader is not quite sure if a murder has even taken place. Emily Arundell's death does not come as a surprise: she was elderly and sickly, and just a few weeks before her death she suffered from a nasty fall down the stairs. It was blamed on a ball left on the landing by her fox terrier, but Emily was suspicious enough to write a letter to Hercule Poirot, asking for his assistance.

Strangely, the letter did not reach Poirot until two months later, by which point Emily is already dead. Curious as to why the letter was delayed for so long a time, Poirot goes to investigate matters with the long-suffering Captain Hastings in tow. Things at Littlegreen House seem straightforward enough: Emily's death was deemed natural, the lateness of the letter has a rational explanation, and her last will and testament is all in order. But surprisingly, she decided to disinherit her nephews and nieces in favour of her companion, and Poirot is interested to find that her family is going to contest the will. Hastings is a reluctant tag-a-long, who cannot fathom what Poirot finds so suspicious about the whole affair.

But of course, the combined efforts of Poirot's instincts and his little grey cells can sniff out a mystery where there appears to be none. Suspecting foul play, Poirot assumes several different personas in order to investigate the Arundell family and the Littlegreen household: methods that Hastings finds quite un-sportsmanlike, but which add a degree of humor to the proceedings as Poirot shamelessly eavesdrops, deceives and manipulates his way to the information he seeks.

Once again it is Hastings, the Watson to Poirot's Sherlock, who provides the first-person account of the proceedings (noteworthy is the fact that this is the second to last book narrated by Hastings), kept hopelessly in the dark as Poirot carries on with his theories and hint-droppings right up until the wrap-up. As always there is an intriguing range of characters woven throughout the plot, from the chilly beauty queen to the rakish never-do-well, the frightened doctor's wife to the dowdy housekeeper and a pair of spiritualists, each with their own secrets.

The dumb witness of the title obviously refers to the dog, though sadly he does not play as large a part in the mystery or its solution as one might hope; in fact, it's safe to say that this is not one of Poirot's finest mysteries. Still, even an average Christie is better than no Christie at all, and "Dumb Witness" makes a good read for a cold winter's night.

This is not the first time that Hercule Poirot has received a letter from a woman who fears that her life is in danger, but what makes it strange is that the letter was written some two months before it was sent! The mystery deepens when Poirot goes to see the lady, and finds out that she died one month after the letter was written, and one month before it was sent. It seems that Emily Arundell was a rich lady, who was surrounding by greedy, grasping relatives who wanted her money. Finally, she disinherited the lot, and left her fortune to her companion Miss Lawson. Just who wanted Emily Arundell dead? It is up to the great detective to unravel this mystery!

This wonderful little book was first published in the United Kingdom in 1937 under the title, Dumb Witness - later that same year it was published in the United States it was published under the title, Poirot Loses a Client - I don't know why. As with all of the Dame Christie's Hercule Poirot stories, this one is excellent. I enjoyed the deep mystery - I must admit that I did not get who did it until the end of the book, although I did pick up on the one clue (no spoiler here!).

So, let me just say that if you like a good mystery, then you will love this book. It really shows off why Agatha Christie is considered to be the queen of the murder mystery!

Neither Poirot Loses A Client nor Dumb Witness was actually a good title for the book. Poirot could not lose a client he never had, nor was there a witness, dumb or otherwise.

Nonetheless, it was an interesting story - Poirot received a letter more than a month after the writer died, written just days before the demise. The writer had not mentioned the problem except her having suspicions after the incident of the dog's ball, and need utmost discretion to protect the family name.

Upon arrival at the Littlegreen House in Market Basing, Poirot and Hastings learned that the late Ms Arundell changed her will right before her passing and left everything (except gifts to servants) to her none-too-brilliant companion Ms Lawson, denying her only relatives, 2 nieces and 1 nephew, even a single penny.

Here, we saw Hastings mortified by Poirot's employment of deceptions in gathering information from various people in Market Basing. A familiar reader would find that odd, wouldn't a long-time companion of Poirot be familiar with his un-Englishness approach to problem solving?

The characters involved were interesting, but not very colourful. One dowdy niece married a charming Greek doctor, practically a scandal in the insular society. Another led a fast life in London, then inexplicably got engaged to a pedantic country doctor who seemed more interested in his research than her. The nephew was generally acknowledged as an incorrigible rascal, charming, but not to be trusted. Last but not least, the suddenly wealthy Ms Lawson who had an unhealthy interest in spiritualism.

The sharp-eyed Poirot immediately deduced the truth of the incident of the dog's ball which prompted Ms Arundell to write the letter. He felt he had enough justification to continue his investigation despite all signs to Ms Arundell dying not to foul play. This was a well-done tale, true to Poirot's formula - study the murder, and you would find the murderer.

There is also an interesting part in the book looking through the eyes of a dog.