The Book
Hercule Poirot's terribly efficient secretary Miss Lemon has done something she has never done before, made an error in her typing. And not just one, but three! Our dear Poirot is concerned. Is his secretary ill? She is all aghast at the mistake, but she explains her sister has a strange situation on her hands, would Poirot be willing to help out. And being a bored detective, he agrees. They invite her sister to tea.
Miss Lemon's sister Mrs. Hubbard is working as the housekeeper in a youth hostile on Hickory Road. She serves mostly students. They are a normal enough bunch, but now, for the first time in two years a number of things have disappeared and they don't know what to do. Should they call in the police?
Poirot decides to help out. He listens to the list of students living in the hostel. And he hears about how hot tempered Mrs. Hubbard's boss, Mrs. Nicoletis. When more things disappear and a lost shoe is found where Poirot suspects it will be, he convinces Mrs. Hubbard to invite him to dinner so he can meet the students for himself.
There he meets and discusses some of his famous cases with American student Sally Finch, who believes there is something wrong in Hickory Road. Valerie Hobson, Patricia Lane, Celia Autsin, Jane Tomlinson, Genevieve Maricaud, and Elizabeth Johnson round out the women who stay for the talk.
The men are Len Batemen, Colin McNabb, and Nigel Chapman. Mr, Akimbombo doesn't stay, but he does have some information about what's been happening.
After dinner, Poirot admits he was called in by Mrs. Hubbard to investigate the missing items. He encourages Mrs. Hubbard to tell the police. The next day, Celia Austin outs herself as a thief who is struggling with kleptomania. This entices Colin McNabb, our wannabe psychiatrist, to propose to Celia. The house is all agog. But it is short lived because Celia is murdered that night.
Inspector Sharpe is happy calling Celia's death a suicide until he finds out Poirot has been there. From there they work together to see if they can untangle things. But they are in a race against the clock. For someone at Hickory Road is a murderer, and he or she will kill again.
My Thoughts
The Season 6 Episode 2 Poirot starring David Suchet is one of the best acted of the bunch. Even though it debuted in 1995, I watched it on A+E not long after I got married in 1998, and later on PBS. It was perhaps the main reason that until I started this project I could not watch a Miss Marple, only read one, and I could not read a Hercule Poirot, only watch David Suchet.
Aside from Suchet's definitive portrait of Poirot, this is one of the best acted and fortunately cast of the entire Poirot series. Guest starring both a young Damien Lewis and Jonathan Firth, the tension between Len Bateman (Lewis) and Nigel Chapman (Firth) is palpable. This is basically one entire subplot of the book.
Despite this, I don't ever remember who the villain actually is. And when I read the book, I figured out why. The reveal, isn't so much of a reveal when normal deductive skills are applied. There are means, motive, and opportunity. But the thing most important, is personality. Who in the group is ruthless enough to actually commit murder and get away with it.
Since Poirot is all about the little grey cells and psychology of the crime, the murderer, despite their secrets, is pretty obvious. It's a great story though.
How Much My Library Card Saved Me
This book came to me from Zion Benton Public Library. There are no markings to indicate when the book entered their collection, although this design is credited to be 2011, so sometime after that. The pages are loose enough to be easily held, meaning this book has been read several times. At least five, but my guess would be over 20. It is in great condition, with no markings, dog ears, or any other thing to show wear and tear except the crease at the spine. This 237 page book was listed at $18.99, that is the number we will use.
This Book $18.99
Items Reviewed This Year $685.98
Private Books
This Book $15.00
Total of Private Books $67.88
Total of All Items Reviewed This Year $753.86
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The Book
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