I never planned to review two Agatha Christie novels back to back on two consecutive weeks, but hey, it's Christmas week. It seemed a no-brainer to give the slot to this quick and entertaining Yuletide murder.
MY THOUGHTS:
This could be called catastrophe at Christmas time.
Simeon Lee is a detestable old man who invites his adult sons and their wives home to Gorston Hall for a Christmas family reunion, seemingly out of sudden sentimentality in his old age. But really it's to insult them, set them off against each other and enjoy the resulting mayhem. This is arguably a book about reaping what we sow. Old Simeon gets what's coming to him in one of Agatha Christie's more gruesome murder scenes.
At the start, Christie dedicates this mystery to her brother-in-law, James, who'd joked that her crime scenes were getting a bit anemic in his opinion and needed the occasional brutal bloodbath to spice them up. Agatha hoped this would tick his boxes. She has Simeon Lee's throat cut with a loud, spine-chilling scream and blood spattered over upturned furniture and smashed ornaments. And when the family burst in on the scene, Simeon Lee's daughter-in-law, Lydia, quotes Lady Macbeth when she remarks, 'Who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him.'
Of course it's almost farcical that Lydia would have been cool and collected enough to drop such a corny line at such a shocking moment, rather than just a one-word oath or a scream. I guess for Agatha it all compounded the effect of James' Christmas gift.
In all honesty, this story is a seasonal melodrama from start to finish. The son characters are all typecast caricatures. Was the murderer Alfred, the gentle conformer who claims to love his dad? Or David, the sensitive artist who loathes his father because of the heartache inflicted on his gentle mother? How about George, the tubby politician whose parasitic lifestyle is threatened by Simeon? Or Harry, the flashy and arrogant Prodigal Son who throws his weight around with no scruples about who he offends? Could any of their wives possibly have committed a crime so appalling? Maybe it was Pilar, Simeon's only granddaughter, the bloodthirsty young woman with Spanish heritage from her other family connection.
Police Superintendent Sugden is on the case and getting off to a thorough start of investigations. The Chief Constable, Colonel Johnson steps in to lend a hand, and his houseguest turns out to be none other than... drumroll... Hercule Poirot!
The setting isn't as festive as I'd expected. There is not a decked-out tree or wreath in sight, although as the characters themselves point out, the savage slaughter of their patriarch dampens the jollity. I just thought some trimmings might have been put up beforehand, but perhaps if anyone had the nerve to hang a sprig of mistletoe anywhere near this resentful, brooding mob, it might have backfired badly and caused another murder.
The colonel is initially surprised to be summoned to a murder scene at Christmas time, as he assumes no crimes take place in a holiday period of cheer and goodwill. Poirot argues that irritability brought on by overeating and subsequent indigestion makes Christmas a prime time for murder, because people who don't feel inclined to be amiable have put themselves under more of a strain to appear so. His conjecture seems spot-on with the Lee family.
I was pleased with the revelation of the murderer. I'd truly been wondering how Christie could pull off her Wow! factor with such standard suspects, any of whom would elicit a 'Meh,' from me. She manages though. It's a cheeky and audacious effort by the crook, accidentally helped along by the red herring masquerades of certain others. Taken altogether, the whole set-up of this one is way over the top, but I think Agatha Christie knew a crime writer can get away with lots at Christmas time when readers are inclined to be more indulgent.
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