Customer Reviews

One, Two, Buckle My SHoe

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This is a classic mystery, although not quite as shocking as some. The fact that the murderer put too many clues in the plot make the ending and denouement a twisty, spiraling set of events that may make you read it twice just to make sure you have it all.

It's a wonder that something so simple (a dentist's apparent suicide) could actually have so many motives behind it. There is a word of warning here: if you tend to like dark, dangerous criminals with suspicious pasts, don't read this. You might find yourself feeling a sort of empathy with the criminal, and may be rooting for Poirot to let him off the hook. Well, if I haven't said too much already, I will soon. So, so long and farewell. Do read this, though, when you're ready to sit down and concentrate on trite and complicated details.

Among the subtlest and "deepest" of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot stories, ONE, TWO, BUCKLE MY SHOE is a murder mystery that comments on the British class system. That the story is essentially about class is clear from the widely differing social stations of its cast of characters. Take, for example, the three victims: first, a respected dentist named Mr. Morley is found shot to death in his office; then one of Morley's patients, a wealthy Greek immigrant, dies while another patient, a nondescript charity worker with the "pompous" name of Mabelle Sainsbury Seale, vanishes. Hercule Poirot and Chief Inspector Japp must find the common link between these three occurrences. The matter is complicated further by the fact that Alistair Blunt, a financier who gained his status by marrying into an Anglo-Jewish banking family (one obviously based on the Rothschilds) was also a patient in Morley's office on the day of his death; Japp believes that Blunt himself was intended to be the victim. But for the ever-observant Poirot, the case really begins with something quite mundane: that is, a shoe...a woman's black patent leather shoe with a large, ornate buckle...

Also highly recommended, for those who have finished the novel: the superb made-for-TV version of ONE, TWO, BUCKLE MY SHOE, starring David Suchet as Poirot and Philip Jackson as Japp, and available on DVD from Amazon.com.

This book was the best Agatha Christie book I have ever read. The plot went from a simple, classic murder case to a twisting, complicated, interested situation that made you unable to put the book down! It was very cleverly done---how one thing led to another---things you'd never expect. This book was an overall very well done.

Agatha Christie's ONE, TWO, BUCKLE MY SHOE begins with considerable interest: it finds the usually unflappable Hercule Poirot unnerved by the necessity of a visit to the dentist! But no sooner does Poirot walk out of the office than death walks in--and the result is a complicated tale of possible suicide, certain murder, missing suspects, and political intrigue.

Christie is always at her best when working a tightly structured plot, but although enjoyable (how can you resist Poirot at the dentist?) SHOE is not among her best efforts. The novel begins as very tightly-plotted, then suddenly flies in a dozen different directions at midpoint. Christie has considerable difficulty recapturing the different strands for her conclusion--and for once her solution fails to impress. Worth reading, certainly, but old fans and newcomers alike may be a bit disappointed with the end result.

As with many of Agatha Christie's mysteries, "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" is known by various titles, but this is perhaps the most fitting, being one of her works that focuses on nursery rhymes. Elements of the plot and certain clues fit the title rhyme quite nicely, all adding up to the ever present, classic Christie twist. This is an enjoyable, hard to figure out Hercule Poirot mystery.

Readers are given a treat at the beginning of the novel, an image of the erudite and arrogant Poirot in a state of trepidation. Over some big case? No, because he must pay a visit to the dentist. When his dentist is discovered dead later on that same day, Poirot is not satisfied with the ruling of suicide. There is no way that Dr. Morley would have killed himself, but who had means and motive to do so? Could it have been one of his high-profile clients, or more likely someone who wanted him out of the way? Could this possibly be a case featuring international discontent aimed at an important man in England? What about the female patient who suddenly disappears soon after Morley's death? Poirot takes it upon himself to search out the answers, but too many clues begin to add up all too quickly, with several red herrings throwing him far afield. But, as usual, by arranging his little grey cells, he comes to the astonishing, and correct, conclusion.

"One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" is a delightful Poirot mystery, fast-paced wtih just enough to always keep the reader guessing. Sometimes a Christie mystery can feel too dated for today's world, and while this one is definitively placed (I loved a character talking about seeing the "new Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film"), the story rings timely, and therefore these elements fade into the background. Readers will be just as stumped and fluxomed as Poirot for much of the read - this is certainly not one that I figured out, which makes me like it all the more. It is a fine example of why Christie was and still is the queen of mystery.

Dame Agatha Christie (1890-1976) the Devon Diva of Crime was at the apogee of her long authorial career in the 1940s. One Two Buckle My Shoe (aka in America as "The Patriotic Murders") provides readers with a fine novel of murder and detection by Hercule Poirot the little Belgian detective with an egg shaped face and a brain of genius!
The Plot: We find the novel beginning in a dentist office at 58 Charlotte Street in London. Poirot visits the dentist every six months for a routine checkup. Unfortuantely the dentist is a murder victim! Dr. Henry Morley! The police believe it was a suicide case but Poirot will prove the good man suffered a murder most foul! Morley's assistant Gladys had been called away to visit with a supposedly ill aunt; the real reason was to get her out of the office. Mr. Amberiotis a patient of Morley is also found murdered. Another patient named Mabelle Sainsbury Seale is discovered missing; later her body wearing shabby shoes is found in a trunk. Howard Raikes the lover of Jane Olivera (niece and heir of Anthony Blunt) and Frank Carter a young man with a bad reputation come under scrutiny for the crime. It is thought the object of the murderer was the killing of Alistair Blunt a rich banker who is influential in the British government.
The way in which the murderer is discovered shows Poirot's little grey cells are still worthy of praise despite his growing age. The book moves rapidly and keeps your attention throughout the proceedings. This is one of Dame Agatha Christie's best Poirot novels. Enjoy1

One Two Buckle My Shoe is one of the more contrived of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels but its twisted loops are definately part of the fun. The author does play around with politics in her conservative, often very naive, way but handles it much more smoothly than she did in her early twenties spy novels. The solution to the killer is both predicatable and satisfying as Christie crawls right up to the preposterous and then pulls back just a little. This is one of the Poirot novels that could have used Hastings a foil and his prescence is sadly missed, particularly as everyone at a certain dentist's office on a particular morning has something to hide and it would have been fun to read Hastings switching prime suspects with each new revelation. All in all, not a classic Christie but an interesting one.

When Poirot's dentist turned up shot in the head less within hours of treating the Belgian detective, Poirot was not satisfied with the apparent lack of motive, and got even more curious when the motive was helpfully provided later in the form of another patient of the dentist dying of malpractice.

Amidst the array of witnesses; those who had been present on the scene at some time or other on the same day, Poirot tried to piece together a puzzling picture; who was, or is, the intended victim ? How were the persons of Blunt, a most influential figure in the world of British finance who remained largely in the background ? Or the rebellious Raikes who was in love with the niece of Blunt ? Or the retired civil servant Barnes ? Or the mysterious missionary lady Seale who inexplicable went missing soon after?

Red herrings abound in this story, with numerous twists and turns. The time interval was long, with weeks or more passing between chapters, making one marvel at how Poirot managed to keep the right focus on the murder even though he must have attended to numerous other affairs in the meantime.

Unhappily, when all was revealed, what the book lacked was a credible motive for the murder of the dentist. Given the resources available to and the intellect of the culprit, the killing seemed most unnecessary.

Hercule Poirot's dentist is found dead of a gunshot wound to the head. The police call it suicide, but Poirot is not convinced. The dentist's death is followed closely by the deaths of two of his patients, and Poirot undertakes to solve the mystery. Is it possible that these three deaths were merely "collateral damage" in a campaign to eliminate an influential financier, another of the dentist's patients? Two suspects immediately present themselves for consideration: the worthless ne'er-do-well boyfriend of the dental assistant and the left-wing radical boyfriend of the financier's niece. Both appear to have had ample motive, means, and opportunity to kill either the financier or the dentist. Poirot solves the mystery in exemplary fashion, but exposing the killer gives him no great pleasure. To find out why, you must read the book.

What starts out as simple death--murder or suicide--results in a complicated mystery that takes Poirot months to solve. Too many clues, too many traps, too many deaths confuse you so much you'll never figure it out! (until poirot does, of course.) try it.