Customer Reviews

Murder in Retrospect

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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.

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.

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.

While Five Little Pigs is not nearly as popular as Christie's well-known works like And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express, it is just as well done. Known as a mastermind plotter but a mediocre writer stylistically, Christie does some of her best writing in this book, making evocative but subtle use of literary imagery and symbolism. Though use of 'written' accounts and flashbacks contrasted with present time, Christie also does some of her best character development in this book. You really get a strong, well-rounded sense of the main characters in Five Little Pigs. Beyond just its literary merits, it is also an excellent mystery novel. Many of the clues come in the form of dialogue, and if you interpret them correctly you might arrive at the solution. Pay attention to the literary imagery-- it also contains clues. The book ends powerfully with a moving sense of poetic justice. Most importantly (for a detective novel) the solution comes across truthful, satisfying and gives the sense that the author "played fair" -- she didn't withhold vital information. Because of the character development, Five Little Pigs has the potential to appeal to a wider audience than just mystery fans. Read It! I consider this book to be one of Christie's Top Five Novels.

Tightly plotted and dark in tone, this little whodunit is one of Agatha Christie's best books. As the original title suggests, there are only five suspects (Five Little Pigs), but don't expect that it is easy to spot the killer.

After artist Amyas Crale dies from poisoning, his wife is hanged for the murder. Their daughter, sent to live in Canada, is now a young adult. Convinced that her mother was innocent, she persuades Hercule Poirot to investigate.

The book adapts very well to a dramatization such as the splendid DVD version. The book's premise calls out for the artistic use of flashbacks which work so well. Music is also skillfully added and camera work, settings and lavish wardrobe products are superb.

Leading the small cast is David Suchet, presenting a Poirot in somber mode in keeping with the desperately sad circumstances. Gemma Jones and (briefly) Patrick Malahide are players familiar to older viewers and amongst the younger players is Rachel Stirling, the daughter of Diana Rigg, and Toby Stephens, a son of Maggie Smith.

"The truth has a habit of making itself known. Even after many years"-a maxim that sums up Five Little Pigs (Agatha Christie, 1942), quite simply one of the best books she has ever written, combining the well-written "novel" of The Hollow or Taken at the Flood with the classic plotting of her books of the 1930s--producing a book as satisfying as Nicholas Blake at his best.

This book, the first investigation into a murder committed in the past (and one of the many nursery rhyme books, the rhyme inappropriate to the general tone of the piece), tells of the murder of Amyas Crale, apparently poisoned by his wife Caroline sixteen years before, found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment, dying in prison. Their daughter, also Caroline, believes that her mother did not kill her father, and hires Hercule Poirot to find out who did, on the grounds that "a case of murder is a case of murder whether it happened yesterday or sixteen years ago". Poirot is, of necessity, at his most cerebral here-as Caroline Crale II tells him, `It's psychology that interests you, isn't it? Well, that doesn't change with time. The tangible things are gone-the cigarette-end and the footprints and the bent blades of grass. You can't look for those any more. But you can go over all the facts of the case, and perhaps talk to the people who were there at the time-they're all alive still-and then-and then, as you said just now, you can lie back in your chair and think. And you'll know what really happened...'

In an attempt to find out the truth, Poirot approaches the five survivors of the tragedy-Mrs. Crale's sister, the explorer Angela Warren; Crale's mistress, Elsa Greer, "a discordant shriek of triumph", whose youthful callousness and vibrancy are well-handled; Crale's boyhood friend, the stock-broker Philip Blake; his brother, Meredith, the local squire whose hobby is manufacturing poisons; and the governess, Cecilia Williams-and asks them to write for him their accounts of the tragedy, as he "genuinely want[s] to re-create the past, to feel and see the events that took place, to see behind the obvious and to visualise the thoughts and feelings of the actors in the drama". The five accounts of the tragedy offer a different perspective on the events, serving to round out the characters-Angela Warren comes across as youthful and innocent, Elsa Greer as passionate and selfish, Meredith Blake as verbose and meandering, Philip Blake as blunt and direct, and Miss Williams as rigidly intellectual-the various characters contrasting with each other to produce more varied characterisation than Christie's usual efforts, vivid though they are. Much depends on how the characters view the three characters at the centre of the triangle. Is Mrs. Crale "a cold, calculating woman, a scheming woman who planned ... murder ... and got away with it", or a "gentle creature", a martyr to her husband's adulteries? Is Elsa Greer "one of the loveliest, crudest most flamboyant bits of exciting colouring [Amyas Crale] had ever seen", "a predatory Juliet", or "vulnerable" by benefit of the "youth, the sheer blazing vitality" that attracted Crale to her? Only Crale himself is "a ruthless, selfish, good-tempered, happy egoist ... [who] was a full-blooded man and ... loved life"-cut short in the middle of it by a hand believed to be that of his wife.

Finally, after mulling through the accounts, and deducing from excellent clues of dialogue, physical clues, and symbolism, Poirot-for once not the centre of attention, but the five characters themselves-announces a very startling solution-an excellent reversal of events as the reader has been led to expect them-yet seeming inevitable, due to the skill of character-drawing, so that the solution is deeply moving. It is unlikely that the murderer will be arrested, as the punishment is self-inflicted.

Five Little Pigs is perhaps Christie's best book: the characterisation is vivid and affecting, the solution startling and moving, the clues well-chosen, and the atmosphere sorrowful and tender. This is Christie writing at the top of her powers.

As the other reviewers have pointed out, FIVE LITTLE PIGS is probably Agatha Christie's sole display of literary merit. Beautifully written prose and complex, well-crafted characters, along with the usual ingenious plotting and structure, combine to form a pretty nice piece of work. The stunning solution will undoubtedly leave readers satisfied, but the whole story and the dark, rather moody atmosphere it carries evokes a sense of sorrow that may last for a long time. A powerful, haunting masterpiece, FIVE LITTLE PIGS is vintage Christie, and her only book in which she showed that she possessed talents beyond her ability to construct a detective novel.

I love Christie's initial set-ups, and in Five Little Pigs she is at her best. Hercule Poirot is visited by a young woman, Carla, whose mother was convicted of murdering her father. The mother subsequently died in prison and so both of the young woman's parents are dead. Yet the young woman - recently of age - has a letter from her mother in which that woman avers her innocence. The young woman believes her mother's letter, and asks Poirot to find out who really did it.

Poirot demurs, pointing out that a sixteen-year-old case is no easy matter, and that Carla may very well not like whatever he learns. Carla responds by flattering him - "Oh, it won't be easy! No one but you could do it!" and insisting that she wants the truth, no matter what it is. And so Poirot proceeds to review the elements of the case and to interview the people involved. There are five people with memories of the events, and one of the most fascinating aspects of this mystery is how each character tells and remembers the events in his or her own way - either because of lies or simply because of character.

The book is called "Five Little Pigs" after a nursery rhyme that runs through the book (and Poirot's mind). Although he wonders why the rhyme keeps going through his head (and so do I, as fixating on an English nursery rhyme is odd for a Belgian detective) the epithets work: "This little piggy went to market," for Philip, the business man, and "This little piggy stayed home," for Meredith, the older brother who has remained on the estate.

Eventually all of the suspects arrive for a meeting - and one feels that their lives have not moved on since the murder, for none of them seems as vibrantly alive as the victim or his convicted wife - and Poirot reveals his version of events. His solution is simple and convincing, psychologically in line with each of the different personalities. One of Christie's masterpieces.

Not often the American title of an Agatha Christie novel is an improvement to the original one, but this is truly an exception: "Murder in Retrospect" nicely catches the basic idea of the novel, whereas the original title "Five Little Pigs" is somewhat tacky and might set you off on the wrong foot. No, this book is not about a serial killer using a nursery rhyme as the blueprint for his crimes. It's all about the past.

When Carla Lemarchant asks the great Hercule Poirot for help, she isn't referring to a crime of which the body is still warm, but talks about a murder that has taken place 16 years ago. Carla's mother was found to be the guilty party and as a result she found her death in prison, taking the truth with her to the grave. But just before her death she managed to write a short letter to her daughter saying that she was not guilty. Now Carla wants Poirot to dive into the past in a search for the truth.

Undoubtedly Agatha Christie was in great form when she started plotting this intriguing mystery. Not only did she create a stunning story line, she also added some 'remarkably' rich characterizations. Remarkably because regular readers of her oeuvre may remark that character development is surely not one of her strongest points. Even more reasons to call this work a piece of 'literature'.

Quite remarkably is the structure used to communicate to the reader all the information about this murder. The five main characters -five little pigs- write down each their own version of the facts. If read very carefully, comparing these versions can bring the reader very close to the final solution. But don't be to euphoric when you think to have solved the crime: Agatha Christie surely has some surprises in stock for you. Certainly in this must-read mystery novel!

This little pig went to the market,
this little pig stayed at home,
this little pig had roast beef,
this little pig had none,
and this little pig cried "wee wee wee" all the way home.

Thus was characterised five of the most important characters present at the death of Amyas Crale, a wealthy artist with a notoriously Bohemian attitude towards his art, which was also his life. Hercule Poirot was engaged to clear up his death, sixteen years after the incident, by the daughter of the victim, and to establish the innocence of the accused, her mother, who had died shortly after the crime

Amyas' wife, Caroline Crale, had been indicted by the court for poisoning him, and though much of public, and private sympathies of the witnesses, were for her, only her beloved sister Angela Warren believed her innocence. Angela had been disfigured by a jealous Caroline when she was young, but the pig who cried all the way home grew to a mature confident modern woman who established herself firmly in the archaeological circles. Due to her youth, and eagerness of Caroline to spare her public scrutiny, she was the only "pig" not called to the witness stand at the trial.

Her governess, Ms Cecilia Williams, was then, and still was at the time of the novel, unencumbered by material possessions, the pig who had none. Ms Williams had sympathised strongly with Caroline who had to put up with her husband's philandering ways and eccentric temperament, not believing for a moment being an artist was a license to do as one pleased.

The cause of the apparent conflict between the victim and the accused was the rich girl Elsa Greer, the pig who had roast beef. The household had come to known while Elsa was being painted by Amyas that the latter intended to divorce Caroline and marry Elsa.

The source of the poison was to have come from the neighbouring estate's laboratory owned by Meredith Blake, an amateur herbalist. As heir and successor to the estate, he was the pig who stayed at home, in contrast with his younger brother, Philip, who went to the (stock) market and made his fortune. The Blakes had grown up with Amyas and Caroline since childhood, and remained on close terms with them after Amyas and Caroline married.

Sixteen years after the affair, upon coming of age, the daughter of Amyas and Caroline returned to Britain from Canada where she had been fostered out. She had, along with her inheritance, received a posthumous letter from her mother stating her innocence. Eager to clear the dark cloud in her life, Poirot was engaged to seek the truth.

After preliminary interviews with the legal and law personnels involved in the case, Poirot concentrated his attention on the "five little pigs". As most of the book was a recounting from various perspective presented by the witnesses, it had been categorically divided into sections catering for each witness. This was unlike other Christie's books where the author narrated events as they were unfolding, with many conversations and actions of various parties intermingling.

As warned by the police officer interviewed, Poirot obtained five different scenarios from the people, but incredibly, he managed to uncover layers after layers of deception.

Towards the end, Poirot recalled all witnesses and the daughter of Caroline, also named Caroline. He presented to them what really happened, and clarified what appeared to be misunderstandings left over the years. It was a surprising revelation of the truth, though most mystery fans would have been able to uncover the first level, the actual truth was surprising indeed.

The only thing that was unsatisfactory was that throughout the build up of the story, readers would expect the actual culprit to be properly punished, and that did not happen.