Poirot receives letters warning him of murders, all signed ABC. A homicidal maniac seems to be working himself through the alphabet challenging Poirot’s little gray cells. In every case the ABC railway guide is found close to the body.
The ABC Murders is #13 in the Series about Hercule Poirot, written by Agatha Christie and I listened to it as an audio CD edition.
This story is about a murderer sending letters to Poirot warning him that there is going to be a murder. A pattern develops of victims and murder scenes chosen in alphabetical order.
While confident of a successful outcome of this investigation, Poirot seems to be slightly less cocky than he might seem in the tv adaptations I have seen. Maybe he develops a super confident celebrity persona as time goes by and he solves many more cases.
In this story Poirot manages to collaborate well with Inspector Japp of Scotland Yard. He uses what proof the investigation offers, including fingerprints, combined with his analytic skills to solve the case. The little gray cells work in his favor yet again, which is not unexpected but still nice to see.
I got caught up in a strong red herring, which distracted me right until the real culprit was revealed. It became a surprise element I enjoyed very much. The affluent settings of Agatha Christies' plots I always love. This is no different. There is just something about the characters, the settings and the time period which I can't get enough of. I just get drawn to stories set in a historic time frame, both 1930s and earlier.
Poirot is the Agatha Christie's expertly crafted fashionable and rather vain private sleuth of the 1930s. I find he has a funny and demeanor, being very conscious about his appearance. In this story Poirot gets fired up by the way Hastings is wrinkling his clothes when trying to pack his luggage.
Captain Hastings is the hands-on, devil’s advocate-like assistant. He seems the type of character who wants to act and not think too much, which occasionally leads to funny situations in spite of the murder investigation. I find it funny that Poirot picks on him because he prefers to stay close to the ladies. I think Poirot and Hastings have a quite interesting, and sometimes amusing, working relationship where Hastings is sometimes sent off to deal with some minor detail of the case, whereas Poirot gets to use his "little gray cells" in peace.
The ABC Murders (Hercule Poirot #13) by Agatha Christie is expertly crafted as we come to expect from the Queen of Crime, building this particular plot around the alphabet. I found the ending surprising. There are numerous works to choose from by Agatha Chrisie, both featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, so there should be no problem finding one that suits.
I have previously read several of Agatha Christie's books and seen numerous tv-adaptations. I can safely say I love them all. The ABC Murders (Hercule Poirot #13) works well as a standalone. It would be a perfect read for fans of Agatha Christie and for readers of Crime Fiction. Similar works to explore might be the Sherlock Holmes Series by Arthur Conan Doyle. All opinions are completely my own.
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