While on holiday in
Cornwall, Hercule Poirot falls, turns his ankle and stumbles into pretty
Nick Buckley, accident-prone heiress of a local estate and the survivor
of several near-fatal mishaps. Poirot suspects more when strange
connections surface between distant relatives, an absent pilot and a
local gang of friends.
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“Evil never goes unpunished, Monsieur. But the punishment is sometimes secret.”
Hercule Poirot, America's beloved cheesy detective, seems to pick up cases anywhere, even when "retired." He and his sidekick Hastings, aided at times by old friend Inspector Japp, have quite the difficulty this time. First they have to convince Nick someone's trying to kill her in the first place, then they have to figure out who the would-be assassin is before their chances run out.
Nearly
all of Christie's work is good, although Peril didn't carry the magic
and charm her other stuff does. I'm riding the bandwagon of Poirot
devotees and as always appreciate his glittery charm and overdone antics
when handling a case. For the average rating, I think it's namely that I
found the main character of Nick a bit annoying; the woman was goofy in
the head and wouldn't listen to reason. She took almost nothing
seriously, and when she did it still didn't seem to matter much. The
mystery angle was baffling but not as complex as other Christie stories,
and the twist was marginal compared to most of them. The variety of
casts wasn't as lengthy or unusual as some other novels, either, but
they were still interesting and enjoyable to read about.
Peril at End House plays up humor more than other books. Even at the beginning the infamous detective states he is definitely retired, except if a bullet flew by...Which it later does. Fans of Poirot will as always relish stories where he's present, but some fans may be a bit disillusioned by this work, which seems to try to prove his human, baffled side all too well.
Peril at End House plays up humor more than other books. Even at the beginning the infamous detective states he is definitely retired, except if a bullet flew by...Which it later does. Fans of Poirot will as always relish stories where he's present, but some fans may be a bit disillusioned by this work, which seems to try to prove his human, baffled side all too well.
Book Quotes:
“You have a tendency, Hastings, to prefer the least likely. That, no doubt, is from reading too many detective stories.”
“I always think loyalty's such a tiresome virtue. ”
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