From the Vault: "Hercule Poirot's Christmas"

Given the approach of the Christmas season, I've been making a list and checking it twice, trying to find a suggestion for a gift that you might enjoy, whatever holiday you prefer. Back in the prime of Agatha Christie's career, her publisher used to advertise, with some pride, the availability each year of "a Christie for Christmas." So for my gift to you, let me reprint a couple of my reviews of two of Dame Agatha's mysteries - one each for Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. We'll begin today with Hercule Poirot's Christmas. Since I first wrote this review a decade ago, the book's title has undergone some changes - when I reviewed it, it was better known as Murder for Christmas, but the title under which it is currently being sold is Hercule Poirot's Christmas, and the text of my review, below, has been updated to correct the title wherever it appears. In any case, Merry and Happy to all:

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Well here we are at the Christmas season – traditionally a time of good will. Let’s see, what do we have in the library that will add to our holiday cheer? How about the warmth of an English Christmas house party, in the late 1930s? Plenty of relatives on hand. A blazing fire. Good port wine. A couple of mysterious strangers. Oh yes – and a murder, with lots of blood. Everything Hercule Poirot needs for a satisfying holiday in Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie.

A good place to begin our discussion of the book  is with her dedication. Most of Christie’s novels might belong in the broad category of books that we would define as “cozies” – that is, the violence is usually discreet and well off-stage. Not so with Hercule Poirot's Christmas – and, in fact, that’s perhaps the most noteworthy feature about the murder in this book. When it was published in 1938, Christie dedicated it to her brother-in-law. She wrote:

“You complained that my murders were getting too refined – anaemic, in fact! You yearned for a ‘good violent murder with lots of blood.’ A murder where there was no doubt about its being murder! So this is your special story – written for you. I hope it may please.”

Beyond pointing out that Agatha Christie’s words should rarely be taken at their face value, I will say only that this particular murder is quite violent indeed. It is that wonderful, clichéd, setting, the English country house party. Old Simeon Lee, a very rich, but particularly unpleasant and tyrannical man, has invited his family to a reunion at the family home. His aim, apparently, is to stir up as much animosity among his sons as possible – and, to that end, he has also invited his black-sheep son to return home, as well as a Spanish granddaughter, largely unknown to the other family members. In addition, a stranger turns up at the house and introduces himself as the son of Simeon’s old business partner in South Africa.

It’s a volatile mix, and Simeon knows which buttons to push to get everyone at everyone else’s throat. So it’s not a huge surprise when he is murdered – rather spectacularly. Everyone hears what sounds like a huge fight inside his locked study, followed by a terrible scream. When they break down the study door, they find Simeon with his throat cut, blood everywhere – lots of blood – and nobody else in the room. That’s right, a locked room impossible crime, much to the dismay of the police. Oh, and I almost forgot – thousands of dollars worth of uncut diamonds seem to have disappeared from a safe in the study.

Fortunately, Hercule Poirot, who has been visiting the local chief constable, is on hand to help the police sort everything out.

In terms of plot, this has to be one of Christie’s absolute best. She takes the clichés of the situation and turns them upside down, using them to lure readers into a number of traps along the way – traps which, of course, Poirot is able to avoid. The reader is likely to suspect one person, then another, and another, as secrets are uncovered and revealed. Even after Poirot explains how and why the locked room puzzle was worked, the reader is still unprepared for the ultimate revelation of the murderer. But the clues are there – and have been given to us quite fairly along the way. It’s a dazzling performance.

So, at this season of good will, if you’re in the mood for an impossible murder, let me recommend – strongly – Hercule Poirot's Christmas. I should note that it has also been published as Murder for Christmas, and it has also been published as “A Holiday for Murder,” but I think that currently it’s most easily found in the United States as Hercule Poirot's Christmas. It’s in print, and should be readily available. Savor it over the holiday.

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If you'd like to listen to the original audio version of the review, please click here.

Next week, we'll be joined by Miss Marple as she tackles tne problem of Murder at the Vicarage.

Comments

[Colin McGuigan]

I'm in the middle of this as we speak. I have read it before many years ago but have forgotten almost everything about it and I have to say I'm having a really good time with it. Christie was turning out some very high quality work around this time and there's a smoothness and confidence to her writing here that's quite infectious.
Hope the holidays are great for you and yours, Les.

[Les Blatt]

I think it does show what Christie was able to accomplish at the height of her abilities, Colin. And thanks for the good wishes - I wish you and yours all the best!