Agatha Christie. The A.B.C. Murders (1936) Poirot receives a letter announcing a murder, and taunting his ability to discover the killer. The police aren’t convinced, even though the murder happens as advertised. Three more letters and killings follow, which solid police work (mostly off-stage), and Poirot’s usual ability to rearrange the puzzle pieces so that they all fit, lead to satisfying solution. One of Christie’s best puzzles, but at this remove her inability to create fully rounded characters is painfully obvious. There isn’t even any advance in the backstory of Hastings (returned from Argentina for the occasion) and Poirot.I reread the book because of the 2018 TV series starring Malkovich as an elderly Poirot. That series omits Hastings, and makes several other major changes in the plot, which, with additions barely hinted at in Christie’s version, give us a darker and more plausible psychology of the criminal and his victims. Poirot’s success does not please him, since it comes at a cost of four lives and a blight on at least three others.
Still, the book was entertaining enough. **½
No comments:
Post a Comment