The Third Girl by Agatha Christie

I am not sure if I have seen this novel converted to a film. It is a good mystery which begins with a young lady barging in to see Poirot just as he was finishing his breakfast. She says, she thinks, she may have murdered someone. When pressed to explain what she means, she suddenly turns reticent and says Poirot is too old to be of any help and rushes out. 

Saddened to think of himself as a too old, he accepts the invitation by his friend, the mystery writer Mrs Oliver, to tea, to cheer him up. When Poirot tells her about the young lady who had visited him and what had happened, Mrs Oliver states that she might have met this person at a party she went to recently. So she describes the party and the people and their background. The young lady she feels certain is the daughter of this rich business man who has returned from South Africa with a younger second wife. He had inherited the business from his brother. The daughter has moved out to live in London with 2 other young women. The father is living with his uncle until they can find a place of their own in the city. Meanwhile, it is suspected that the step mother is being poisoned. 

So Mrs Oliver decides to go find out what the young lady is up to by visiting the flat in London. Poirot wangles an introduction and visits the father’s home so see what he can find out about the family. What is the mystery? The young lady has gone missing and the father hires Poirot to find his daughter. He is seemingly writing big checks to buy off his daughter’s unsuitable boyfriend. Mrs Oliver finds the young lady meeting her boyfriend, purely by chance, and tries her hand at detecting by following the boyfriend, after she has called Poirot. All she gets for her trouble is a conk on the head and concussion. 

Poirot is sure there is something much more sinister going on and is determined to find out what is happening. There is something not right with the ‘third girl’ in the flat. Was it a coincidence that the first girl is the secretary of the business man? The second girl is an arty type who works in a fashion and occasionally models and hangs out with new painters. Is there any connection to the death of an old lady in the same block of flats? Also why is the third girl so very confused? Why can she not remember if she did or did not murder someone?

This intrigue is well set and yes once again it is not an easy puzzle to solve. It is indeed a mystery as to what really is the mystery right until the last chapter when Poirot reveals the whole truth. I really good read.

Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie

This is a Hercule Poirot mystery taking place after M. Poirot has retired. There is a small party held at an older actor’s country home. There is a strange mixture of guests and one of them is M. Poirot. The host fixes the cocktails and guests are served. The vicar sips his drink and drops dead. Is this a natural death or a murder? The host suggested uncomfortably that he is not convinced this was a natural death. His friend, a doctor, feels there was nothing untoward. M. Poirot also feels there was no foul play and departs. 

The actor decides to move away as he finds himself unable to live in this house and also near a young lady who he has come to love and who is too young for him. The second act of the tragedy sees the death of the doctor, in his home, during a dinner party with more or less the same guest list. The news reaches the continent where the actor is and he returns hastily to find out the truth, about the murder of his doctor friend. M. Poirot is also made aware of the second death and is forced to reconsider that he was wrong about the first death. Both the deaths were similar and so both have to be murders.

So begins the hunt for the murderer. All the people who were at the party are suspects. A young man from the first party had not been invited to the second one. Since he crashed into the wall of the doctor’s house, and so gate crashed the party, was he the perpetrator? What are the guests hiding? They all get interviewed by the actor, his young lady friend, another friend and M. Poirot. While all agree that the motive and the murderer will be clear if they examine the first murder, no one seems to fit the bill. After all, the second murder is most likely to have taken place only to cover the first one. 

Hercule Poirot, or should I say Agatha Christie is up to her usual standard of solving a wonderful murder mystery. The motive and so the murderer remains elusive right up to the last chapter of the book and so keeps you hooked. The answers are simple and the plot elegant. This also has been made into a TV movie but is less often shown when compared to other Poirot shows.

Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie

While I had not read this novel before, I had seen both the TV versions of this Hercule Poirot mystery. One was with Peter Ustinov and the other with David Suchet as Poirot. I have seen the TV film many times, a nice gentle murder mystery unfolding. The book, of course, has more details and one can use imagination to fill in the scene, in the mind’s eye.

Poirot is taking a rare holiday at a hotel that is off shore at high tide. There are other people staying there and the early chapters provide a good picture of the people and their relationships with each other. There is a young couple, wife is a teacher and looked delicate, the husband was young man who was spending a lot of time with another man’s wife who was a well-known actress. The actress’s husband and step daughter are not very happy with this development. There are others who do not approve of this relationship either and gossip is rife. 

Then the body of this well-known actress is found on a small lonely beach which is only accessible via a ladder up the cliff or via a boat. The police come and the investigation begins. Poirot, of course, takes part in the investigation and spends time not only listening in the interviews by the police but also goes about asking questions himself. The victim was not liked by anyone it seemed except the young man she was encouraging. However, his alibi was strong as he had been on the beach in front of the guests at the time of the murder. The other obvious suspect was the husband, who also had an alibi of sorts and on further questioning it was strengthened by another guest. There was also some hint of blackmail. Why is the vicar so driven to talk about evil? Was he really out for a walk as he stated?  What does he know? The other single gentleman is very vocal but starts getting nervous when being questioned, so what is he hiding? He was out alone sailing he said. The step daughter is secretive and does not wish to open up to Poirot. 

The timeframe for the murder was very small and all guests seem to have an alibi, so did someone come from outside and commit the murder? I found the story to have the usual level of intrigue and twist to the plot as befitting an Agatha Christie novel. The little grey cells are truly put to work. The end when it comes is fast and unexpected in the identity of the murderer. There is some difference in a couple of details between the book and the film but it does not detract from the plot and so works out well. I would recommend that you read and see the film.