Customer Reviews

Hercule Poirot's Christmas

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Have you ever gotten one of those easy-to-assemble kits and discovered that no matter how you try, the pieces just will not go together? Have you ever labored to solve a puzzle only to find a piece or two missing?

In this case Christie assembles a cast of suspects, gives them ample motive and opportunity, gives them all reasons to lie, throws in a group of clues that simply cannot be reconciled in any logical fashion, and then brings off a solution which explains everything and exposes a killer you'd never suspect.

The story (originally titled "Murder for Christmas") was written in 1938, the same year Christie wrote "Appointment with Death." The two stories share much in common. "Appointment" features a fabulously wealthy, tyrannical matriarch who delights in tormenting her children. "Christmas" features a fabulously wealthy, tyrannical patriarch who delights in tormenting his children. By the time the matriarch/patriarch is bumped off, the reader is ready help kill him/her. The children in both stories are all pathetic weaklings. Despite their weakness, the reader can develop affection for some of them.

"Appointment" featured a rather straightforward, easily achieved modus operandi and Christie's favorite murder weapon--poison. "Christmas" served up a locked room mystery with a diabolically clever methodology fraught with the peril of miscarriage.

One feature of the murder was the vast amount of blood shed when the victim was stabbed. The murderer would have been covered with blood, but none of the suspects seems to have any blood on them. Having read "Murder on the Orient Express," I was familiar with Christie's seeming lack of understanding of the dynamics of blood spatter in stabbing cases. In this case, however, there was a very good explanation for the non-detection of blood on any of the suspects.

Christie never ceases to amaze with her perpetrators. In one case the narrator was the killer. In another the apparent victim turned out to be the murderer. Murderers keep falling out of the woodwork from the most unexpected places. She once even had the butler do it! Poirot's theory of the case insisted on the murderer being a family member. In the end, I think even Poirot was surprised at which family member it was.

Christie plants the clues to the murderer's identity so skillfully, that even though they're there, you'll read right past them without taking any note whatever. When the killer is revealed, you'll slap your forehead and say "of course!"

Although generally regarded as typifying the cozy murder mystery writer in whose books there is either a murder in a locked room or a murder at a family reunion in a country house, Agatha Christie rarely tried her hand at either of these murder mystery genres. In "Hercule Poirot's Christmas", however, she combines both.

The family is the dysfunctional Lee family, summoned to pass Christmas together in the house of old Simeon Lee, the patriarch. During this stressful reunion, a commotion followed by a blood-curdling scream is heard from the room on the first floor occupied by old Simeon. When the locked door is forced open, the furniture is found upended, the safe rifled, and Simeon is found lying dead with his throat cut. The door key is in place, on the inside of the door.

Having depicted how the family members despise, hate, or resent each other up to this point, Agatha Christie next allows the investigations and theories to develop. Poirot is on hand, but she cleverly allows other police inspectors and investigators to do most of the work and make most of the mistakes.

The solution is one you will never forget, but also one that you will probably never arrive at before Poirot reveals all. Agatha Christie is wonderfully clever at laying out all the clues in an arrangement that directs the reader away from the vital ones.

Apart from a few lines of description, almost everything in the text is dialogue. To anyone in the world who has not yet read this 1940 mystery nothing more need be said. To those who are re-reading it, I suggest they notice how cleverly it is plotted and planned.

I'll have to agree with the first reviewer of this novel. The title is a bit misleading. However, I do believe that Agatha meant it to be that way. I have studied literature for a while and know that the everything that is in the novel is meant for something. To all the people wanting to read this novel, here's a tip: Everything that is stated in the book, diaglogue, details, etc. are all key to solving the mystery. To all of us Agatha fans, it proves to be true. The characters are very well developed, much better than any other Agatha novel I've read to date. The plot is priceless, the identities confusing (deliciously so!), and the conclusion is a shocking. Agatha knows how to lead her readers on, and proves so with this tale of murder and mayhem around Christmas time. At the beginning of the conclusion, who think it's Suspect A, but then you lean towards Suspect B, and at the end, Poirot reveals in all grandness the killer, and you're sitting there kicking yourself saying, "Why didn't I think of that!" The pacing of the book is good and I read it in two days. The suspense builds and the storytelling is at it's finest. For those of you waiting for a plot summary, read the synopsis above. I won't reveal anything for it'll ruin the surprise of the novel. Though not one of her famous books, it's one her best, this one definitely deserves your money!

This is yet another stunner by Agatha Christie. There are lots of intriguing characters for you tp puzzle over the possible guilt or innoncence thereof, there is a brilliant victim. (Rather in the style of "Appointment With Death"'s Mrs Boynton) who, though a despicable character, is quirky and livens up the writing. He is fun to read about, and despite his apparent callousness, quite likeable.

The final solution is incredibly good. Really, its almost as notable as the solution to "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd", completely unexpected, yet makes the reader kick themself for their ignorance and blindness.

Poirot is on fine form once again this seasonal mystery, which has many twists and turns towards the end, which delight.

When most families get together for Christmas, they can end up wanting to kill each other. Most don't actually do it.

But when a family patriarch is a malevolent old lecher like Simeon Lee with vast quantities of money, it's no surprise when he ends up dead. Agatha Christie's "Hercule Poirot's Christmas" is a decidedly unsentimental little Yuletide murder mystery, full of snow-covered manorhouses, gruesome noises and plenty of people who have come for the holidays -- and aren't what they claim to be.

As the book opens, a young Spanish girl named Pilar and Stephan Farr from Africa encounter each other on a train, heading for the exact same house -- that of Simeon Lee. Oh yeah, and they both obviously have something to hide.

Turns out that old diamond mogul Simeon is gathering his adult children at his house, where the downtrodden Alfred and increasingly fed up Lydia live. Among the kids: stuffy MP George and his slinky wife Magdalene, globe-trotting "black sheep" Harry, and sensitive mama's boy David and his steadfast wife Hilda. Pilar and Stephen are welcomed with open arms, but Simeon starts playing mind games with his resentful offspring by revealing the intention of changing his will. That night, the house is roused by a gruesome howl -- and he's found with his throat cut in a locked room.

Due to the puzzling nature of the crime and the bizarre evidence, local superintendent Sugden calls in the famed detective Hercule Poirot -- especially since Lee has not only been killed, but his uncut diamonds have been stolen. With his little grey cells, Poirot begins unravelling all the family secrets and lies -- including some surprising facts about Pilar and Stephen. But since the murderer is close at hand, Poirot must solve the seemingly impossible crime before another Yuletide murder happens.

Apparently Agatha Christie wrote "Hercule Poirot's Christmas" for a funny reason -- her brother-in-law complained that her murders were all so clean and bloodless. Ladylike murders tended to be more Christie's forte. So this one is not only bloody, but downright gory -- Simeon gets his throat cut and the whole room is sprayed with blood. You can tell Christie had some fun writing about that, especially with the obligatory quote from the Scottish play: "who would have thought the old man had so much blood in him?"

So even though "Hercule Poirot's Christmas" has everything a Christmas story should have, it's actually really lacking in festivity -- from the very first scene, we're treated to a Yuletide England that is dark, smoky, grimy and full of barely-hidden resentments and old wounds. Christie sprinkles the plot with plenty of suspense, bizarre clues that aren't easily figured out (especially a rubber scrap that Pilar picks off the floor), and a plethora of suspects who would have liked to see Simeon cold'n'dead, but who couldn't possibly have gotten inside to do it.

And while the investigation is pretty straightforward, it's strewn with some surprising revelations about a couple of the family members. Christie's writing and dialogue tend to be a bit choppy, with many short exclaimations. But her vivid descriptions (London girls are described as "smooth egg-shaped faced, scarlet-lipped") and tightly coiled plot keep the story chugging along, although the murderer is only moderately hard to figure out.

Hercule Poirot comes in when the book is already well underway, and in a way he almost takes a backseat to the other characters. The spawn of Simeon cross a wide range -- the scrappy bad-boy, the whiny mama's boy, the stuffy airbag and the downtrodden guy -- as do their wives, who range from a plain "nice woman" to a flaky sexpot with a rather shady sexual past. Pilar and Stephen are perhaps the most colorful and least resentful people in the cast -- and Simeon is a nasty, malevolent old tyrant.

"Hercule Poirot's Christmas" is thankfully devoid of sentimental reason-for-the-season dribbling -- it's all about wretchedly dysfunctional families, gruesome murder and the occasional popped balloon.

Sorry, Shelley, dear, but if you don't like confusing books, STAY AWAY FROM AGATHA CHRISTIE! This is indeed a confusing book; Dame Agatha is at her most misleading here, directing the reader's attention to unimportant bits of business or dialogue, focusing the reader on the trivia while she floats the real clue softly past him. The whole point of a Christie book is to NOT REALLY KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON!

This one is truly one of her most deceptive books; you have to read extremely carefully (paying particular attention to dialogue) in order to have a clue (pun intended) of what's going on. She writes with even greater care here than usual, misdirecting the reader so effectively that the ending is a complete surprise (it literally could be anybody until the last few pages! ). One of her classics.

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.

Our book club wanted a selection for the Christmas meeting and thus chose this Agatha Christie book. Although the subject matter was not in keeping with the season, it was an entertaining book, is light reading and goes fast.

Hercule Poirot's Christmas is another Agatha Christie novel that leaves you wanting more - more Christmas, more Poirot, more useful clues and a more realistic ending.

While the murder takes place at Christmas time, the holiday is in the background. The suspects all happen to be at the crime scene because of it and it is mentioned occasionally, but I didn't fell a big holiday focus. Poirot arrives about a third of the way through the novel, causing a large portion of the beginning of the book to be mostly set-up and contain little actual detection. The book is ripe with red herrings to the point where you stop believing that any clue is a clue at all.

The clues end up not being an issue because the killer is a total surprise. It's virtually impossible to figure it out before the big reveal. Even after Poirot accuses the guilty, you're left wondering how that could have possibly happened. While I loved the surprise, I would have rather had the evidence support the guilt better.

Not a bad mystery, but not of the same caliber of other Agatha Christie novels. If you won't be reading the entire Christie backlist, I'd skip this one in favor of another.

Loooking for a book of intrigue, suspicious behavior, and loads of blood? "Hercule Poirot's Christmas" is definitely for you!

As someone else said, this book and "Appointment With Death" have striking similarities. Agatha Christie basically switched the gender of the victim, made the desert into an English winter, and bam! "Hercule Poirot's Christmas."

However, there is one big difference. While the plot in "Appointment" is relatively simple and easy to guess the murderer, "Christmas" has a large, complex plot that will keep your brains racking. The murderer is practically impossible to guess, but then when it's revealed, you'll feel stupid for excluding the villian from your suspect list.

The characters are also very interesting. You have Alfred, who only wants affection from his father, but will never get it. His wife, Lydia, who is wiling to protect him at any cost. George, the cold fish, and my favorite character, Magdalene, the younger and stupider signifigant other to George. There's David the dreamer, his kind wife, Hilda, and Harry, the wild child.

Also thrown in is a little romance between Pilar, Simeon's niece (the victim and patriarch) and Stephen Farr, who is a son to a business partner of Simeon's.

Red herrings galore in this book, the crime scene might not have that much evidence as the dialogue. Pay close attention to it and you may get a hint. Especiall the butler, who gets a vague sense of deja vu. The people themselves are important, not the murder weapon or where the victim was killed.

So, read this for a gruesome crime, broken alibis, more than one person who isn't who they say they are, love, hate, and a lot of fun!