One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, Agatha Christie

The Book

Hercule Poirot visits his dentist on a random weekday morning. Dr. Morley is a very good dentist, He dislikes the dentist, but gets his teeth done every 6 months anyway. While there, he observes other patients. Not long after he gets home, Chief Inspector Japp calls up Poirot--his dentist is dead. But is it a suicide, or worse murder? 

As in most Agatha Christie books, the bodies start piling up, and Poirot is certain it's murder, but Japp disagrees. 

Poirot investigates the others who were there that morning, including the patients of Dr. Morley (his dentist) and Dr. Reilly (Morley's partner). They are, Mr. Alastair Blunt, England's biggest banker, Mr. Amberiotis (a Greek spy), Ms. Sainsbury-Seal, Mr. Raikes--an American who left again, Mr. Barnes, a nondescript Brit, and then the incidental people in the house. Morley's sister Georgina, the aforementioned Dr. Reilly, Alfred, the pageboy, and Frank Carter, a man who is dating Dr. Morley's secretary. 

When one of the patients dies of an overdose from their treatment earlier in Dr. Morley's day, suicide gets a leg up.  Then body of Miss Sainsbury Seale is found dead in the fur trunk of her friend and the friend has disappeared. Something is terribly wrong. Only a detective as cagy and smart as Poirot can figure out who is the murder. 

My Thoughts

 This book has been called the hardest of Agatha Christie's puzzle mysteries. And I can see why that's true. But I also agree with some of the analysis that puzzle isn't solvable. Certainly one can follow the clues that Miss Sainsbury Seale isn't who she seems. But as to who is the murder and why, we just don't have enough to get there. I was suspicious, but more from the viewpoint that the misdirection away from this character was so strong, that I was a bit uneasy. But I would not have called it a firm guess when Poirot gave his denouement. 

This is the second of the nursery rhyme murders, and with the success of And Then There Were None, there will be more. A good good job for fitting the rhyme to the clues, but I don't like the second half of the rhyme and it makes the clues a bit grrrrrr at the end. 

It was a quick read, comprising about two days total and  is worth it if you check it out of your library, but probably not worth owning. 

How Much My Library Card Saved Me

This book was sent to me from Palatine Public Library. It entered their library system in July of 2023. This is a William Morrow paperback of 224 pages. I do not know if it had been read before I got ahold of it, because it is in pristine condition. The back says the book cost $15.99. That is the number we will go with. 

This Book                                             $15.99

Items Reviewed This Year                  $185.96

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