Dumb Witness (Hercule Poirot) [Print] [Paperback]

Agatha Christie (Author)

Book Description

Series: Hercule Poirot | Publication Date: October 15, 1986

Miss Emily was old, rich, and afraid--and now, she's dead. Her terrified plea to Hercule Poirot came a little too late. All that's left is a house full of greedy heirs, and a very strange letter that could solve the mystery--or add to it.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Novelty, intriguing character types, and ingenuity. (New York Times)

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 out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Berkley; Open market ed edition (October 15, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425098540
• ISBN-13: 978-0425098547
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #210,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Authors, A-Z > ( C ) > Christie, Agatha

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

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poirot Loses A Client, But Solves The Case, May 4, 2002

By 

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

This review is from: Dumb Witness (Hercule Poirot) (Paperback)

This book, published also under the title "Poirot Loses A Client," has all the ingredients of an outstanding Christie tale: a domestic murder which could have been committed by any of several people close to the victim, a charming look at life in a small English village, a delightful and well-bred elderly lady, a fatal poisoning, and lots of clues.

Poirot is brought into this case in an unusual manner. He receives a letter from the elderly lady in which she hints at a possible attempt on her life. When Poirot realizes the letter had been written two months before he receives it, his little grey cells are alerted. He takes a trip to Market Basing only to find the writer of the letter, Miss Arundell, is dead. Since he considers her still his client, he is determined to prove her death was not accidental, but a deliberate murder. The cold trail of clues leads to a beautiful society lady, a handsome scientist, a faithful servant, and a pair of specialists in the occult. Will Poirot be able to unmask the killer before another death occurs? A dog's bouncing ball, a strange spiritual manifestation, and a mirror reflection of a brooch are all pivotal to solving this mystery.

This book is notable in that it will be the last of the Poirot books to be narrated by Captain Hastings until "Curtain" ends the series decades later. His narrative style, always pleasing, is especially well-done in this one. Also notable in this story is the importance of a cute wire-haired terrier named Bob who will form a special bond with Captain Hastings.

If greed, deception, and jealousy are your cup of cocoa, you'll love matching wits with Hercule Poirot as he tries to stop a brilliant and baffling killer who is about to strike again.

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEWARE!, April 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Dumb Witness (Hercule Poirot) (Paperback)

In this book Agatha Christie refers to the murderers in Death in the Clouds, the Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Mysterious Affair at Style and the Mystery of the Blue Train, so make sure you have read all of these before you read this one, our your fun will be spoilt!

Dumb Witness is one my top ten favourite Agatha Christie novels. Dame Christie has expressed the character of Hastings better here than in any of the other seven novels in which he appears. It is also one of the most amusing.

One thing I enjoy about this book is that we are given a fair crack at the whip - everything that Poirot sees we see, there are no last minute envelopes arriving (which often irritates me). His explanation is convincing.

Go ahead and read it! But don't forget to read the books mentioned above first.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Christie will keep you coming for more!, August 23, 2000

By 

Secret Agent Booker - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dumb Witness (Hercule Poirot) (Paperback)

At first the title intrigued me, but as i got down to reading the book, I found that the title had nothing much to do with the story. But nevertheless, i enjoyed the book. It's about the murder of an old lady, and the suspects are the relatives after her money. So what's the title have to do with the book? Simple. Only one witness was there to this murder...and the witness is dumb. yep... we're talikng about her pet dog here. The irony to the story is that inspite of having a witness, Poirot has to unravel the mystery, with hardly any clues. But poirot being poirot solves the mystery....making another good book to read. Most of christie's books are a bit similar, but not exactly same, making it possible to read most of her books without getting bored. While this sounds like one of those typical books, it's really not. Read it...then you'll see.