Book Review: The Hollow (Hercule Poirot #26) by Agatha Christie


The Hollow by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 stars (🌟🌟🌟🌟)
Publisher: Harper

I love mysteries. I read them and watch them and one of my favourite things about them is when you're introduced to the characters and one is so awful or has riled up so many people that you just know, there's your murder victim. Dr. John Christow, upon introduction, came screaming off the pages that he was that guy and it was all I could do not to skip forward to his demise (very end of chapter 10) to see how it was going to be done and who among the characters would be the one to send him on his way (preferably to cheers & accolades).



But alas, this is a mystery, things must proceed in order and in their due time. Hercule Poirot, as it happens, is invited to the Angkatells this weekend also so that's was a highlight. Hercule is ever himself and I quite enjoyed that. There are plenty of suspects and misdirects and truth be told, I thought this mystery was beneath him but of course, he solves it. What really stands out here is the close look in at so many characters. My favourites turned out to be Lady Angkatell, Midge and Edward. The only disappointment I found was the repetitive push that John was a good man. He was a skilled doctor but perhaps it was the passages that were from his perspective that really made his "goodness" hard to take in.

Definitely worth the read even though Hercule isn't the best thing going on here.



Summary:  Lady Angkatell, intrigued by the criminal mind, has invited Hercule Poirot to her estate for a weekend house party. The Belgian detective's arrival at the Hollow is met with an elaborate tableau staged for his amusement: a doctor lies in a puddle of red paint, his timid wife stands over his body with a gun while the other guests look suitably shocked.
But this is no charade. The paint is blood and the corpse real!

Christie described this novel as the one "I had ruined by the introduction of Poirot." It was first published in 1946 in London. In the USA it was published under the title Murder after Hours. Christie adapted the novel for the stage though with the omission of Hercule Poirot.
But this is no charade. The paint is blood and the corpse real!

Christie described this novel as the one "I had ruined by the introduction of Poirot." It was first published in 1946 in London. In the USA it was published under the title Murder after Hours. Christie adapted the novel for the stage though with the omission of Hercule Poirot.





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