Published May 1942
Mystery, Crime Fiction, Detective Fiction, Classic Fiction
Welcome to my review for the first book of Read Christie 2025.
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ABOUT THE BOOK:
Agatha Christie’s ingenious murder mystery, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers.
Beautiful Caroline Crale was convicted of poisoning her husband, yet there were five other suspects: Philip Blake (the stockbroker) who went to market; Meredith Blake (the amateur herbalist) who stayed at home; Elsa Greer (the three-time divorcee) who had roast beef; Cecilia Williams (the devoted governess) who had none; and Angela Warren (the disfigured sister) who cried ‘wee wee wee’ all the way home.
It is sixteen years later, but Hercule Poirot just can’t get that nursery rhyme out of his mind…
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MY REVIEW:
One of my reading goals for this year is to actually finish the Read Christie 2025 Challenge. I started the 2024 challenge but only managed to take part for about half the year. I’m intrigued by this year’s theme of ‘Characters and Careers. January’s prompt was ‘Artists’ and I decided to read the official choice: Five Little Pigs.
Sixteen years ago, Caroline Crale was convicted of poisoning her husband. Her daughter, Carla, is convinced her mother was innocent however and is asking Poirot to re-open the case. Intrigued, Poirot finds that there were five other suspects who could have killed Amyas Crale: Philip Blake (the stockbroker), Meredith Blake (the amateur herbalist), Elsa Greer (the three-times divorcee), Cecilia Williams (the devoted governess), and Angela Warren (the disfigured sister). Was Caroline guilty? Or did someone else kill Amyas?
Gripping, intriguing and suspenseful, I really enjoyed this story. I liked that it involved an older crime that involved multiple possible suspects and the chance to right a possible wrongful conviction. Like Poirot, I had my doubts that Caroline was as innocent as she claimed, but as he investigated it became clear that the other suspects also had possible motives for murder. I thought the way that Christie wove the old nursery rhyme of the same name as the title into the story was cleverly done, and I found myself repeating the rhyme at random times for a week or so after reading.
A page-turning mystery that any classic crime lover will enjoy, I highly recommend this book.
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✰
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Born in Torquay in 1890, Agatha Christie began writing during the First World War and wrote over 100 novels, plays and short story collections. She was still writing to great acclaim until her death, and her books have now sold over a billion copies in English and another billion in over 100 foreign languages. Yet Agatha Christie was always a very private person, and though Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple became household names, the Queen of Crime was a complete enigma to all but her closest friends.
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BUY THE BOOK:
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Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxxx
Emma's Biblio Treasures 