Publication date:
Summary: Collin Lamb, while trying to do a bit of espionage work in the sleepy neighborhood of Wilbraham Crescent is surprised when a woman comes screaming out of a house and runs into his arms. She's just come from the living room of a blind woman where a dead body lay on the floor and several suspicious clocks all registering the same time sit on the mantlepiece. Who is the man? Why did he come there to be killed? What do the neighbors of the crescent think? A young secretary from a local bureau may know but she's killed before she can tell what she knows.
This novel has some great elements and some great prose, but is not per se a great mystery novel - it simply doesn't deliver the goods in the end. Yet, I have to say I enjoyed reading it.
Body count: Two
Detective/Sleuth: Hercule Poirot, Collin Lamb
Rating: 3 out of five alarm clocks
Commentary:
Monday, December 6, 2010
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Matt!
ReplyDeleteYeah, this one falls short in terms of mystery plotting! I remember the first time I read it: I liked Colin Lamb, I liked Edna Brent, I liked Miss Pebmarsh, I liked the chapter about the books Poirot liked). It was as you said: I liked THINGS about the book, but the mystery didn't come together. Now I take issue with the book chapter! Why couldn't Christie let Poirot talk about more real authors instead of these imaginary representations of mystery writing types? That would have been so cool! At least we get a sense of what Poirot thought of Holmes.
The most egregious thing about the book, of course, in my opinion, is the presence of the clocks themselves. At the risk of spoiling things, I don't approve of a clue being given such prominence - it's the title, for God's sake!!! - and then have the payoff be so worthless. I also think that the basic murder plot had by this time been overused. (Shades of One Two, Buckle My Shoe!!!!)
Perhaps most disturbing to me is something that can't really be called a flaw. I think Christie wrote a lot more about dull middle class people as she got older. None of these neighbors really stands out to me. I can't remember half the suspects, and as I mentioned to you, most of them were eliminated as unnecessary in the TV adaptation. All in all, an unsatisfactory effort in the end. I'm looking forward to the next one, though. Marple in the Caribbean is one of my favorite adventures!!!
We haven't spoken enough lately, I know!! But I'm alive and crazy these days, and I wanted to take a minute to blog back! We'll have to discuss all your future options at another venue soon!!!! The holidays approach and I'll be vegging at home with more time to chat.
Brad
Hi Brad:
ReplyDeleteI had this whole huge response typed up and then my Internet connection blipped and I lost everything. I shall try to encapsulate my thoughts. I agree with you about the clocks and how the pay off is so not worth it in this novel. Yet, they still intrigue me. If I may play Jung for a moment, I'd have to say that they are symbols that go beyond the scope of the mystery itself. To me they have more to do with Christie. Now, I am not saying Christie intentionally did this, but I do think as Christie was writing in the last full decade of her career, she was becoming more keenly aware of her failing powers, of her mortality, of the past. To me this novel is more about an author whose words work less as a clever puzzle and more as a working out of some personal idea.
I have to disagree with you a little on your opinion of the neighbors. I did enjoy them - there were just way too many.
Great to hear from you. Yes, let's chat once you are on break and have more time. When are you on break by the way?
Cheers!
MATT
We're also seeing Christie no longer trust that she can get a good story out of a single group anymore (i.e., a family, a business or community group) and start to divide her books between focus on a domestic murder and espionage. If there IS a flaw about Christie's plots - or at least her PREFERENCE for plots - is that she so enjoyed a good spy yarn.....but couldn't seem to write one. (So Many Steps to Death, anyone?) In the end, I guess the only real surprise in this book is the identity of the spy, but the spy plot is sooooo underdeveloped that it almost doesn't matter who the spy is! (Interestingly again, the TV adaptation brought the whole spy story into the fore with lots of newly invented characters and an unconvincing flashback! I really do HATE it when they think they can rewrite Christie for the better!)
ReplyDeleteShe did all this much better in Cat Among the Pigeons (maybe her BEST spy story?) where the spys and domestic suspects mingle freely, and the ending, with its two murderers, is much more satisfying.
I am done on the 17th ---- YAY!!!!!! Two whole weeks of vegging out. I can't wait!
Brad
Hi Brad -
ReplyDeleteYes, I'd have to agree with you about Christie's spy stories. Sometimes the set up is good, but she just doesn't deliver the goods. For me, it seems like she did a better job with international spies and espionage back in the 20s when you could get away with an unrealistic vision of such things - you had Tintin and numerous films with spy rings and gangs and secret documents and it was fun and worked. Post WWII, it just started to lose its appeal.
Cat Among the Pigeons, I agree, is probably her best mingling of the real world with that of spies.
Hope to catch up with you when you're on break!
Matt
Dear Matt,
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you doing your reviews. I read this novel and thought it was an interesting read. I like the characters especially Colin Lamb, Mrs. Hemming, Mr. McNaughton, and Mrs. Ramsey's two sons. I liked the ending because it not only revealed the murderer but helps Colin figure out the spy he is after. I like the fact that Poirot was able to solve the case without leaving his flat. The setting and time-period was good. I like the chapter where Poirot talks about various mystery writers and detectives he is researching and mentioning Sherlock Holmes, John Dickson Carr, and G.K. Chesterton. I was surprised by the killer's identity and motive. Which of the characters do you like?
Can't wait to hear your next review.
Cameron
Cameron:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments. I think Mrs. Hemming is a really interesting character. I also enjoyed young Geraldine Brown - I love Christie's precocious young children. She also represents for me one of Christie's more interesting motifs - that someone always sees something.
Matt