Dead Man’s Folly

One of my favorite Hercule Poirots. That\’s probably why I can read it so fast. When I was 12, my mother tried to get me in the habit of reading a book before I went to bed. I\’m not sure why. I\’ve been a bookworm since I could read, so I certainly didn\’t need any encouragement. I enjoyed TV mysteries and Nancy Drew, so someone – I don\’t know who – suggested Agatha Christie. I got three omnibus volumes of Christie – one Poirot, one Miss Marple, and one mixed (including the dreadful Tommy and Tuppence – yuck!). In the Poirot volume was \”Dead Man\’s Folly.\” I have loved it ever since. Hercule Poirot receives a phone call from his friend, Ariadne Oliver, a mystery novelist. Something is up, but she can\’t or won\’t explain. He just has to come down to Nasse House in Nassecombe. Worried that something serious is wrong, Poirot heads for Nassecombe, a picturesque English village. Nasse House was formerly home of the Foliots, but the family has died out and the house is now the property of the nouveau riche Sir George Stubbs and his apparently dim-witted, though beautiful, wife, Hattie. There is to be a fete (a type of festival or fair) and Mrs Oliver is in charge of planning the Murder Hunt – which is the problem. Mrs Oliver has the sense that someone is manipulating her somehow, though she is not sure who exactly is responsible. Poirot trusts Mrs Oliver\’s intuition. “And I know what you always say— or look— about intuition.” [Mrs Oliver] “One calls things by different names,” said Poirot. “I am quite ready to believe that you have noticed something, or heard something, that has definitely aroused in you anxiety. I think it is possible that you yourself may not even know just what it is that you have seen or noticed or heard. You are aware only of the result. If I may so put it, you do not know what it is that you know. You may label that intuition if you like.” Poirot stays on, ostensibly to hand out prizes, but in actuality to do some detecting. How can he detect a crime that hasn\’t been committed? While the everything appears to be going well and people are enjoying themselves, there is a murder – of the girl playing the victim in the Murder Hunt. Her death is not the first and it will not be the last. I love it when Christie sets her mysteries in English villages. She does a lovely job of bringing the world to life, even while it was actually dying out. Another good portrayal of this is in \”The Body in the Library,\” where murder strikes close to Miss Marple\’s home. If you\’ve never read a Christie, this is a good one to start with. It\’s fun, easy to read, and makes you want to reread it so you can see what you missed the first time through. That\’s unusual – I\’ve read quite a few mysteries where I had no intention of ever rereading them. This is not one of those. Highly recommended.

\”Dead Man\’s Folly\” is a Hercule Poirot mystery. It is well-written with an interesting storyline and will hold your attention completely. Don\’t try to guess the murderer though! Not until you\’ve read the last line can you go back and re-read certain passages and see the significance. \”Oh, now I see what Mr/Mrs. X was really up.\” or \”So he/she was lying then.\” Therein is the genius of Agatha Christie\’s novels. She gives you so many red herrings but none are ever a path to the murderer. It is the insignificant happenings, the careless words uttered by a person, that would point you in the right direction. But you never see that because you\’re so deep into the myriad of interesting/puzzling occurrences that the real clues fly by. \”Dead Man\’s Folly\” is a must-read for any mystery fan. The scenery, the language, the characters are all wonderfully drawn. And Hercule Poirot is a delight to follow with all his foibles and his intellect. Agatha Christie is the ace writer of mysteries. There is no other like her.

Ariadne Oliver is organizing a “murder hunt” (a treasure hunt of sorts in which clues are given with the object of solving a fictional murder) as part of a fete at a large manor house, but she feels an ominous sense that perhaps someone is planning a real murder at the same time and she has called in Poirot to see what he thinks. There are a lot of people involved in the planning of this “fete” (which is basically a village carnival), so there are many things going on all at the same time and a variety of relationships making themselves known between people, as Poirot makes his observations. The story has a bit of a house party feel, with all the people and visitors to the house. Poirot is assisted by Inspector Bland and Constable Hoskins, as he makes his inquiries . . . and Ms. Oliver helps as well in an unconscious kind of way. I will admit I was led completely astray on this one, and the reveal was quite unexpected. Entertaining murder mystery!

One of my favorite Christie novels so far! Great pace and intrigue. Definitely recommend!

Plenty of twists & turns to keep the reader guessing, but sadly Poirot does not appear “center stage” as much as I would have liked. I did not guess the ending. I did not see it coming. I liked this story very much.

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