Book #26. Hickory Dickory Dock, by Agatha Christie. Unabridged audio.
My mom was a huge fan of mysteries for as far back as I can
remember. She must have read all of the Agatha Christie’s books when I was a
kid, especially the Miss Marple books, of which I read a few, if they passed
her inspection.
When I saw that a local library had recently acquired a large collection of
newly-produced Agatha Christie audiobooks, I thought it was a good time to reacquaint
myself with the author, and the Hercule Poirot stories seemed a good place to
start.
This adventure takes place in a boarding house in a college
town, catering to international students. When a few small items begin
disappearing, the proprietor of the house, calls on the expertise of a friend
of a friend, the famous private detective Hercule Poirot.
The students try to help Poirot, offering suggestions based
on their own areas of academic interest. But the areas of psychology and
anthropology only take the investigation so far. When the specter of
international smuggling crops up in the investigation, the stakes are raised
and the events turn suspenseful.
I enjoyed this novel quite a bit. Christie does a good job
leading us down the various paths that the investigation takes. The various
suspects are well characterized, and the twists and turns that the story takes make
sense. Overall, the mystery is very well-paced, building to a satisfying conclusion.
The only part of the book that I did not like was the "hickory dickory dock" motif, which seemed forced, as if the book ws named before it was written.
Source: Bexley library
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