I really enjoyed this Poirot story as the action kicked off straight away - our favourite detective is summoned to France but by the time he gets there the person who wrote him the letter has been murdered, and thus the investigation begins! There are many, many twists and turns in this story, not just because there are the usual cast of characters who full under the finger of suspicion by turn, but also in revelations. Just when you think it’s sorted, something else happens and the whole thing is turned on its head.

Agatha Christie’s second book features the duo Tommy and Tuppence who I hadn’t heard of before, really, and at first thought it sounded like some kind of Enid Blyton kid’s adventure. Of course it’s not that. I liked the set up, and how these two sort of fall into an adventure by accident, or simply by not saying things they know and managing to bluff their way on things they don’t know. The stakes get higher and the back and forth and whereabouts of everyone gets more confusing, but it comes to a happy ending and I enjoyed the ride!

True to my word, after reading the biography of Agatha Christie by Lucy Worsley, I dipped straight into the author’s back catalogue, starting with this first book featuring everyone’s favourite Belgian detective, Poirot. I really enjoyed the mystery, the cast of characters are set up with all of them being slightly suspicious, and the clues and twists are thrown at us until the answer is revealed. Very good.

I read this because of the upcoming film so as not to go through a repeat of the Orient Express situation - was a bit disappointed by the end and the resolution of the mystery. This time I wanted to be forewarned and thankfully it wasn’t a disappointment. It’s an interesting book because the set up takes a significantly long time to complete, and then suddenly there’s more than one dead body to deal with. I think I sort of guessed who did it but I had no idea how or how it all actually unravelled. Good story and now can’t wait to see the movie.

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