Hercule Poirot’s Christmas (1938) by Agatha Christie

“Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?”

My mother was a big Agatha Christie fan and I remember her owning most of the books in hardcover. She would often re-read them, despite knowing whodunnit. I wonder whatever happened to those old books. Lost to time and place. I’ve only dipped into a few of the famous “Queen of Crime’s” works over the years and it’s been a long time since I last read one. I chose this book to read over Christmas 2023.

Firstly, it was so nice to read a book under 200 pages long. I’m currently reading Children of Dune (410 pages in my Kindle edition) and whilst I am enjoying it immensely it feels like it’s taking me forever to finish it. But back to Hercule Poirot’s Christmas.

This is a classic locked-room murder mystery that can be read and enjoyed by itself. Old millionaire Simeon Lee invites his extended family home for Christmas. On Christmas Eve night he is found dead in his bedroom, presumably murdered. The room was locked from the inside and there was no-one else in the room when the door was forced open. Who could’ve commited such a cold-blooded crime? And what was the motive?

I enjoyed Hercule Poirot’s Christmas although I was hoping for a bit more use of the Christmas setting. My suspension of disbelief was a little stretched at times as Christie gradually revealed how the murderer did it. But she kept me guessing until the end. And I have to praise her dialogue and character building. That was something I’d forgotten after being away from the works of the “Mistress of Mystery” for so long. She could write really good dialogue and give her characters individual voices.

SCORE: 7/10

Thanks for reading this far.