The Hollow
ISBN: 9780007121021
Description
Lucy Angkatell invited Hercule Poirot to lunch. To tease the great detective, her guests stage a mock murder beside the swimming pool. Unfortunately, the victim plays the scene for real. As his blood drips into the water, John Christow gasps one final word: 'Henrietta'. In the confusion, a gun sinks to the bottom of the pool. Poirot's enquiries reveal a complex web of romantic attachments. It seems everyone in the drama is a suspect - and each a victim of love.
Reviewed on 27th August 2012
Hercule Poirot returns (eventually) for a small part in this murder mystery, set in the classic surrounds of an upper-class country home.
It's a good, complex mystery which I only had the slightest inkling of the solution for by the time of the big reveal, and a great and varied set of characters. The clues are well hidden and the narrative moves at a fair pace, though there were places where the narrative seemed to jump erratically and I wondered whether my copy was missing some paragraphs.
It's interesting to follow the series as Christie's writing progresses. Poirot himself returns to being a minimalist presence in this book much as in some of the earlier adventures (though without Captain Hastings' narration) and much of the story is around the characters he is investigating, who live much more modern lifestyles than some of the previous residents in country houses.
The characters certainly make the novel for me and I hope there is more to come in a similar style as I continue reading through Poirot's adventures.
