Mrs. McGinty's Dead (Hercule Poirot) [Hardcover]

Agatha Christie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1993 | Series: Hercule Poirot

Legendary Belgian detective Hercule Poirot solves the challenging and shocking case of the death of Mrs. McGinty, an elderly housekeeper found murdered, supposedly by her quiet boarder.

Editorial Reviews

Review

‘So simple, so economical, so completely baffling. Every clue scrupulously given, with superb sleight of hand.’Sunday Times‘The plot is perfect and the characters are wonderful.’San Francisco Chronicle‘The best Poirot since such pre-war classics as Cards on the Table.’New York Times --This text refers to the Kindle Edition 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 an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 259 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult (September 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399138234
• ISBN-13: 978-0399138232
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,184,470 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poirot Investigates Murder of Village Cleaning Woman, May 22, 2001

By 

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

This review is from: Mrs. McGinty's Dead (Mass Market Paperback)

Mrs. McGinty is an elderly cleaning woman whose brutal murder in her village of Broadhinny leads to the arrest of her lodger, James Bentley. The motive appears to be robbery as her small cache of savings is found hidden near her cottage and her blood and hair are found on Bentley's coat. But Superintendent Spence(whom we met in Taken At The Flood) suspects something is not quite right and calls in Hercule Poirot to investigate this crime.

Poirot is most unhappy at the Summerhayes family home where Mrs. McGinty had been the domestic help. Without Mrs. McGinty the home is a disaster, and Poirot's love of order, method, and delicious food suffers greatly. Poirot persists in his investigation, however, and discovers an old newspaper with cut-out pages. The discovery of the missing article leads him to investigate the homes Mrs. McGinty cleaned, and he finds guilty secrets in each one. With the help of Ariadne Oliver who adds much comic relief, Poirot finds the person with a shameful past who feared exposure by Mrs. McGinty.

In 1964 this novel was adapted to the big screen. Poirot was replaced by Miss Marple (Margaret Rutherford) in the screen version known as "Murder Most Foul." The substitution is understandable since Miss Marple is the noted authority on village crime, but the result was less than pleasing. The plot was changed to such an incredible degree that there is very little resemblance to Christie's outstanding novel.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WILL SOMEONE LET THE WOMAN SPEAK?, May 7, 2008

By 

allitwantedbythunder - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mrs. McGinty's Dead: A Hercule Poirot Novel (Hercule Poirot Mysteries) (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 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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent mystery, February 4, 2005

By 

L O'connor (richmond, surrey United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mrs. McGinty's Dead: A Hercule Poirot Novel (Hercule Poirot Mysteries) (Paperback)

Hercule Poirot is bored, so he is delighted when he is visited by his old friend Superintendent Spence of the Kilchester Police. Spence has recently conducted an investigation into the murder of an old charwoman Mrs McGinty, in the village of Broadhinny. her lodger, James Bentley has been convicted of the murder and is due to hang, but Spence is convinced Bentley is innocent, and wants Poirot to investigate.

Poirot goes to stay in the village of Broadhinny, and soon begins to uncover reasons why other people might have wanted Mrs McGinty dead. While investigating the murder, he has to cope with staying at the dreadful guest house run by the Summerhayes, a couple who have no idea of how to keep house or cook an edible meal.

The scenes where the sufferings of Poirot at the guest house are described are among the most amusing in this very amusing book. There are many interesting characters, particularly the scatty but charming Maureen Summerhayes, whom Poirot likes in spite of her atrocious cooking. And there is the maddening James Bentley, the convicted murderer, whose unprepossesing character only makes Poirot more determined to prove him innocent.

One of the most amusing exchanges in the book occurs near the end: ' "Mon Dieu, how stupid I have been," said Hercule Poirot, "The whole thing is simple, is it not?" It was after that remark that there was very nearly another murder - the murder of Hercule Poirot by Superintendent Spence.' Enjoy it.