‘Peril at End House’ by Agatha Christie

Peril at End House

(Audiobook)
When a young woman recounts a series of apparent mishaps, Hercule Poirot, holidaying in Cornwall, is intrigued. Along with his friend Hastings, he sets out to investigate what he believes to be a threat to the woman’s life. But how do you solve a murder that hasn’t been committed?

I read a great many Agatha Christie novels in my teenage years, but the plots of most of them have vanished from my memory, so it may be that I’ve read this one before. First published in 1932, this is the sixth of the Poirot books and features Captain Hastings and Chief Inspector Japp, who add to the fun.

My memories of Christie’s writing are tarred with the idea that I stopped reading her books due to boredom (with plots, characters etc), so I wasn’t expecting too much with this one. As it turns out, I was pleasantly surprised. The writing is generally clever and witty (especially Poirot’s dialogue) and, though I did get a bit confused towards the end, it was an entertaining story that kept me guessing.

The audiobook is read by the lovely Hugh Fraser, who brings out the humour of Christie’s writing (and also played Hastings in 43 episodes the Poirot TV series).

Also, thanks to Robbie Cheadle for rekindling my interest in Aggy – I probably wouldn’t have bothered otherwise.