Peril at End House: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot Mysteries)
by Agatha Christie
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Book Summary Information
Author: Agatha ChristieEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-09-17
ISBN: 1579127371
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
Book Reviews of Peril at End House: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot Mysteries)
Book Review: "Dancing on the Edge of Death..."
Summary: 3 Stars
One of the early Poirot novels (the seventh to be exact), and once again narrated by Poirot's faithful companion Hastings, "Peril at End House" is a classic Agatha Christie mystery. In fact, it's so "classic" that it's one of the few mysteries that I managed to puzzle out before the denouncement, though this in no way impinges on the reading experience (and takes my grand total of outwitting Christie up to three).
Poirot and Hastings are enjoying a break at the Cornish resort of St Loo when they meet a vivacious young woman known as "Nick". Her real name is Magdala Buckley, but her nickname derives from her grandfather, who was called Old Nick on account of his devilish nature. Both men are enchanted by her, but Poirot is gravely concerned when Nick lightly tells him that she's had three near-death encounters in as many days. That very day, someone takes a shot at her and leaves a bullet hole through the brim of her hat, though Nick doesn't take it very seriously until she realizes that her gun is missing.
Yet she can't think of a single reason why anyone would want to kill her, even though Poirot suspects that the constant nature of the attacks point to someone in her inner circle. Various lodgers, servants, friends and family members regularly converge on End House where Nick lives, and so Poirot asks her to send for a trusted family relation to stay with her at all times.
Yet a case of mistaken identity means that Nick's cousin ends up dead, and Poirot is beside himself with guilt. Somewhere out there is a murderer who has not yet achieved his/her objective, and Nick's life still hangs in the balance - especially when it comes to light that there is a very good reason why someone would want her dead.
It's an interesting twist on the usual mystery, in that it's not a whodunit so much as a who-wants-to-do-it, and far from his usual confident, breezy self, Poirot finds himself stumped on several occasions. But since everything is fair and neatly structured, those familiar with Christie's formula may find that it's relatively easy to piece together the clues and find the culprit. A few leaps of logic are required - but such is the case in most of Christie's novels.
With a few little winks at previous books, such as The Mystery of the Blue Train and the short-story "The Chocolate Box" (chocolates have a prominent role here as well), this is not my favorite Christie novel, nor the best, but certainly worth curling up with on a cold night.
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