Hickory Dickory Dock [Hardcover]

Agatha Christie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 23, 1970

Poirot investigates a culprit who has curiously swiped a stethoscope, a tube of lipstick, and a cookbook.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[Even] the Christie fan of longstanding will be surprised by...the twists. (New York Times) --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

About the Author

Agatha Christie was born in Torquay in 1890 and became, quite simply, the best-selling novelist in history. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, written towards the end of the First World War, introduced us to Hercule Poirot, who was to become the most popular detective in crime fiction since Sherlock Holmes. She is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and another billion in over 100 foreign languages. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 19 plays, and six novels under the name of Mary Westmacott. --This text refers to the Unknown Binding edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins Distribution Services; New impression edition (November 23, 1970)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0002443031
• ISBN-13: 978-0002443036
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WILL SOMEONE LET THE WOMAN SPEAK?, May 13, 2008

By 

allitwantedbythunder - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hickory Dickory Dock: A Hercule Poirot Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

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 (HICKORY DICKORY DEATH) 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.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too many red herrings spoil the plot, February 6, 2003

By 

Geert Daelemans (Leuven Belgium) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hickory Dickory Dock: A Hercule Poirot Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Hercule Poirot is startled when Miss Lemon, his "perfect machine" of a secretary, makes three mistakes in typing a simple letter. Clearly, something is amiss. Miss Lemon, on questioning, reveals that she is worried about her sister, Mrs. Hubbard. After spending her married life in Singapore, Mrs. Hubbard has returned to England a widow, where she is living as matron of a youth hostel in Hickory Road, an establishment that caters to an international group of students. It seems that things, "odd things," have been disappearing from the hostel, "And all in rather an unnatural way." Miss Lemon suspects it's something more than petty thievery or kleptomania, and Poirot agrees to meet Felicity Lemon's distressed sibling.

Although the story starts strongly with a colourful description of the students in the hostel, it deteriorates rather quickly into a complex micmac of red herrings. It seems as though Christie herself is not sure of the outcome when plotting her story. Of course, it is always fun to meet our dearest detective Hercule Poirot, but the amount of mischief going on in the hostel imposes some strain on the reader's patience as well on Poirot's ingenuity. Clearly one of the weakest novels to feature Poirot.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Miss Lemon shocked Poirot by making errors and...., June 25, 2004

By 

Jeanne Tassotto (Trapped in the Midwest) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hickory Dickory Dock: A Hercule Poirot Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

revealing that she has a sister! Poirot had never before considered that his incredibly efficient secretary could be so human. Miss Lemon's sister was responsible for the errors as well, there were troubling things taking place in her life. There were thefts taking place at the youth hostel where she worked. Poirot decided to look into the matter as a favor to Miss Lemon and so he could restore the order in his own life.

Poirot begins his investigation of the hostel and its residents but before he can solve the rash of petty thefts a murder occurs, a murder that is only the first of a series. The trail leads Poirot and the police into a world of smuggling with side trips through young love and family secrets.

In typical Christie fashion the clues are all laid out for the reader to follow. There are red herrings to confuse the armchair detective - perhaps a few too many in this one - and of course, the usual Christie 'twist' at the end.

It is often suggested that a writer should write about what they know and this book points out that Christie didn't know very much about unversity students in the mid-fifties. The characters do not come to life in this one they way they do in most of her other books. Keeping the various students/suspects sorted out it difficult because they really aren't very memorable. Also this one seems to suffer from too much - too much plot drug AND gem smuggling, too many red herrings and too many conincidences.

It should be noted that this book was originally written in 1955 and certain parts are very much representative of that time. Stereotypes of Italians, blacks, Indians, Cockneys etc are all present and tend to make the 21st century reader cringe.

Even though this is not one of Christie's masterpieces it is still an excellent read, thoroughly challenging and enjoyable.