Tuesday September 05, 2006

Four short Agatha Christie stories

Murder in the Mews is a book of Poirot investigations however with four short stories instead of one long one. The first takes its name from the book title Murder in the mews. It is Guy Fawkes night and Poirot and Inspector Japp are walking through the streets of London deciding that in all this noise it would be a good night to commit a murder. The very next day they have one to solve - but it looks like suicide. Very soon though it is clear the evidence means a murder is more likely and a clumsy attempt has been made to make it look like a Mrs Allen took her own life. She shared a flat with a Miss Plenderleith who was away at the time. The victim was engaged to marry a MP a Charles Laverton-West who seems to take his wife to be's death very well. Soon a cuff link is found and its owner a Major Eustace is implicated in the crime. However the correct conclusion is reached soon after EM>Poirot and Inspector JappMiss Plenderleith around a golf course where she disposes of a set of golf clubs and throws a small attache case in a duck pond...

Next is The incredible Theft. Bomber plans are stolen from under the noses of the designer and other senior personel. It is assumed that a woman staying at the house a Mrs Vanderlyn was the culprit. Poirot is called in to get the plans back before they get into enemy hands. But not is all it seems but it does not take Poirot long before he gets to the bottom of a bit of double bluff espionage.

The third story is one called Dead Man's mirror and in the TV version Poirot meets the victim at an auction room where both of them are bidding for the same item - a mirror. The victim Gervase Chevenix-Gore invites Poirot down to investigate a fraud he is the victim of. Before Poirot gets to investigate Gervase Chevenix-GoreSnell the butler did not do it but with a name like that he should be at the top of any list of suspects. However the broken glass of the recently purchased mirror and the position of it and the gong ( sounded twice for dinner ) are both clues PoirotGervase Chevenix-Gore was murdered and who in his midst did the evil deed.

The final story just a few pages long is called Triangle at Rhodes. Poirot is on holiday and is with a group of tourists watching a potential deathly love triangle develop between two couples. When the wife of one of the couples dies and the husband of the other couple if found with poison in his pocket everyone jumps to the conclusion that he did it. The fact that the drink was about to be drunk by the victim's husband - who the other chap would have liked to get out of the way confirms the initial conclusion. But Poirot keeps a cool head in the heat and correctly identifies the real culprit before too long.

Four great stories and I think the TV versions better the books - for once.