Publication date: 1966
Summary: A lost, drugged out Norma Restarick turns up at Poirot's office saying she may have murdered someone. After telling Poirot she thinks he's too old to help her, she disappears and we don't see her for most of the novel. She's the third girl of a trio of women sharing a London flat. What's strange is that these three women are all connected in odd ways. Poirot teams up with Ariadne Oliver to help figure out if there was indeed a murder and if Norma was indeed the murderer.
Body count: Two
Detective/Sleuth: Poirot and Ariadne Oliver
Rating: 3.75 coils of hair out of 5
Commentary:
Saturday, March 26, 2011
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Posted for Brad by Matt:
ReplyDeleteBoy, you're kinder to this book than I am, Matthew! Although I finally listened to it about a year ago and thought it slightly better than I had originally done, it feels like Christie is working with a very small bag of tricks in these later novels. Norma's plight, as you pointed out, is really the same as Molly Kendall's, albeit with the villain a different sort of relation. The hair/wig thing will be pummeled to death in Elephants Can Remember, and while her initial tease in each novel can be quite interesting (Norma: did I kill someone? Celia Ravenscroft: did my dad kill my mom, or did my mom kill my dad?; the old lady in Pricking asking, "Was it your poor child?", the fact is that these characters then disappear and we get a lot - a LOT - of unnecessary talk. There were WAY too many double identities and far too little development of any of the suspects to really care.
That said, it's always nice to spend time with Mrs. Oliver, and the fact that she's so at sea in this VERY DISTORTED VIEW OF "modern" times," combined with the relative weakness of the mystery itself, gives the novel a tinge of sadness. I wish AC had just ignored the changing times and stuck to her classical England guns. I'd like to think she's in Heaven now, churning out top drawer mysteries that will await our pleasure in the eternal library. Oh, and maybe she'll be nicer to Jews in these books!
Brad:
ReplyDeleteYes, I was probably a trifle too generous with this one but I do have justification. I was reacting against the stupid adaptation of it on the BBC. I want to talk about that more than I do the novel. The adaptations are getting worse I think - people step in and try and outdo Christie at her own game. Granted, Third Girl registers pretty weak on the Christie scale, but I do think she has some nice moments in it. I think it could be a good adaptation. The problem I've been having with the Suchet adaptations for the last decade or so, is that they confine Poirot within a specific decade. The thirties is a great time period because you can do so much with it, but it also limits Christie's works. As a chronicler of societal and class shifts in the greater part of the twentieth century, Christie spends a lot of time talking about how things change and shows us the humorous and serious consequences of not accepting change. I personally would like to see Suchet's Poirot in the swinging London of the 60s. I want to watch Ariadne try and "fit in" with the younger, hipper, artsy set. By keeping them in the 30s, they become somehow less real to me.
Anyway, those are my thoughts. As for this novel, it's my second time reading it and I have to say I enjoyed it much more the second time around.
P.S.
ReplyDeleteYes, let's hope anti-semitism has no place in Christie's afterlife. I'm still holding out hope that Mathew Pritchard will dig through a bureau and find three new manuscripts hidden away (and preferably written between 1930 and 1948).
Dear Anskov,
ReplyDeleteI have read this novel and I thought it was interesting how Christie portrays and shows London during the 1960's with its drug-addicting hippies, the British Invasion, wild parties, free love among teens, people living in cramped flats/apartments. I was glad to see Ariadne Oliver, Miss Lemon, Mr. Goby, George, & Dr. Stillingfleet. There were some boring parts to it and it was kind of confusing until it came to the part where Mrs. Oliver gets attacked in the street. It does have some interesting suspects who are all in a tangled way connected to the messed-up Norma. However I didn't care for Sir Roderick Horsefield and Sonia. It was interesting to see Christie write a mystery in the 60's without its country houses, polished lords and ladies, large staff of servants and a feeling of respectability and high society. I was really surprised by the second and brutal murder of David Baker, I almost suspected he was the killer. He was a nasty, rude, and cold-blooded guy even though he appeared sexy to Norma. I enjoyed the denouement in the apartment building and was surprised by the revealation of the killers and motive. Not a bad novel.
When you finished with Christie do you know what mystery author you plan to do next if not I could recommend John Dickson Carr, Rex Stout, & Ngaio Marsh.
I am realy looking forward to your next review on Endless Night
P.S.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting how the theme of paintings appear again in this novel especially since the pictures in this novel are fakes and some contain drugs.
Also How are things in Turkey or are you still living there.
Cameron -
ReplyDeleteThings are going well here in Turkey - spring is upon us and the weather gets nicer every day. Can't wait for beach weather in the summer.
Matt