Customer Reviews

A Classic Agatha Christie - By: Posy Hill, 18 Nov 2002
Setin an English village, & complete with the stock cast of suspects, the only surprise is that Hercule Poirot, rather then Miss Marple, arrives to solve this mystery.

In a world where dogs & gardening provide the main topics of conversation, the cast of characters is representative of the local gentry: the solicitor; the doctor; the farmer, the whimsical lady spiritualist - only the Rector is missing. The maids have adenoids, the barmaid is brassy, & the local constabulary show a proper respect for "their betters".

But the old order is breaking downin the aftermath of war. The gentry are feeling the pinch & their former benefactor has died, leaving a wealthy widow. She takes up residence among them, with her darkly mysterious brother. But is she his widow? Was she his wife? And is he really her brother? Suspicion naturally falls on the pair of outsiders - he is not a gentleman & she is certainly no lady, even her name is "bogus".

Foul play is committed with hardly any blood & no nasty gory details. And Hercule Poirot arrives,in a cloud of Gallic mist, to tell us "who done it", despite the red herrings that the author strews across his path.

Hugh Fraser's excellent reading evokes a politically incorrect world which has long vanished, if it ever existed. It is thoroughly archaic & utterly enjoyable.