Five Little Pigs (Also published as Murder In Retrospect) [Paperback]

Agatha Christie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2004

Take one dead lothario; add his jealous wife accused of his murder; toss in a devoted daughter who wants to clear her mother's name, and you get one of the greatest challenges of Hercule Poirot's career.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Beautiful deducing. -- New York Times

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Berkley; Reissue edition (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425093255
• ISBN-13: 978-0425093252
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #523,917 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Authors, A-Z > ( C ) > Christie, Agatha
  • #83 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Series

More About the Author

Agatha Christie was born in 1890 and created the detective Hercule Poirot in her debut novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920). She achieved wide popularity with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) and produced a total of eighty novels and short-story collections over six decades.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poirot Solves a Murder in Retrospect, March 2, 2002

By 

Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Five Little Pigs (Also published as Murder In Retrospect) (Paperback)

This classic Christie was published in Britain as "Five Little Pigs" and in the US as "Murder in Retrospect" because Poirot must solve a crime that took place 16 years before the story opens. Dame Agatha wrote this during the 1940's, a period that critics agree was when she did her best work.

The crime in this book is the murder of the brilliant painter Amyas Crayle. His wife is convicted of the crime and sent to prison. However, their young daughter is now of age and receives a letter from her mother professing her innocence. The daughter turns to the famous Hercule Poirot for help. If the wife is innocent, Poirot must look a the five people who were present at the time of the crime---hence, the "five little pigs." In true nursery rhyme fashion, one little pig went to market (financial counsellor), one little pig stayed home (thanks to an inheritance), one little pig had roast beef (had made a good marriage), one little pig had none (retired teacher with limited income), and one little pig cried all the way home (a woman with a disfiguring facial scar).

One of the most interesting aspects of this book is that Poirot will get an account of the murder from each of the five characters. At the end of these five accounts, you will have all the information that Poirot has and can try your hand at out-detecting the master.

This is a great detective story and, in my opinion, one of the best by Agatha Christie.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poirot Solves the case of the Five Little Pigs, April 6, 2001

By 

Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder in Retrospect (Paperback)

This classic Christie was published in Britain as "Five Little Pigs" and in the US as "Murder in Retrospect" because Poirot must solve a crime that took place 16 years before the story opens. Dame Agatha wrote this during the 1940's, a period that critics agree was when she did her best work. The crime in this book is the murder of the brilliant painter Amyas Crayle. His wife is convicted of the crime and sent to prison. However, their daughter is now of age and receives a letter from her mother professing her innocence. The daughter turns to Hercule Poirot for help. If the wife is innocent, Poirot must look at the five people who were present at the time of the crime---hence, the five little pigs. And in true nursery rhyme fashion one little pig went to market (finanacial counsellor), one little pig stayed home (thanks to an inheritance), one little pig had roast beef (had made a good marriage), one little pig had none (retired teacher with limited income), and one little pig cried all the way home (the woman with a disfiguring facial scar).

One of the most interesting aspects of this book is that Poirot will get an account of the murder from each of the five characters. At the end of these five accounts, you will have all the information that Poirot has and can try your hand at out-detecting the master.

This is a great detective story and one of the best by Agatha Christie.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The one that I enjoyed the most so far, December 10, 2003

By 

MarianaP "marianap" (Lisbon, Portugal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Five Little Pigs (Also published as Murder In Retrospect) (Paperback)

For many years I didn't read any of Agatha's books, deceived by the unspoken prejudice against all writers of mystery novels, that somehow they're not "real" writers, as if they stood to literature like entertainers stand to "genuine", quality artists and performers.

I liked some of the adaptations I saw of her works though, and always had a soft spot for "Murder on the Orient Express" so I finally gave in and became a fan, especially of Hercule Poirot. I didn't think her work could bring me any more surprises, so many books later.

So I was delighted at how much I loved this one. It has all the characteristics that have made her dear to me, especially as an author, for these things are sometimes nowhere to be found in adaptations one sees: characters who are basically mouthpieces to Agatha's views on the world and life; the way Poirot's ridiculousness makes him so easily underestimated by friends and foes alike; and in Agatha's mysteries the crime and whodunit is merely a pretext to watch and observe and reflect upon people whom you become more and more fascinated with, sometimes just because you're watching. It's like Hitchcock's "Rear Window", but some decades earlier.

I even fell into the trap of thinking that this time I had guessed correctly who the killer was, something I never do. What for? Agatha always beats me, and this time was no exception. I particularly loved the ending, the best I have ever read in any mystery novel and, to me, eerily reminiscent of Conan Doyle's "The Blue Carbuncle".

For those who feel curious, the painting that is described as a blind girl sitting on an orange is by George Frederic Watts and is called Hope because the harp she's holding has only one string left but she doesn't give up playing upon it.