Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie

#25 Hercule Poirot

287 pages

Publisher: HarperCollins

 

Blurb

Beautiful Caroline Crale was convicted of poisoning her husband, yet there were five other suspects: Philip Blake (the stockbroker) who went to market; Meredith Blake (the amateur herbalist) who stayed at home; Elsa Greer (the three-time divorcee) who had roast beef; Cecilia Williams (the devoted governess) who had none; and Angela Warren (the disfigured sister) who cried ‘wee wee wee’ all the way home.

It is sixteen years later, but Hercule Poirot just can’t get that nursery rhyme out of his mind…

 

Review

When I started Five Little Pigs, I was convinced I’d never read it before. As the story progressed, I realised that I probably had, be it a long, very long, time ago. I remembered just about enough to figure most of the solution out before Poirot revealed all in the final chapter. And, as always, it didn’t matter.

This wasn’t the only time Agatha Christie used a nursery rhyme as a title for one of her mysteries and in Five Little Pigs worked very well for this story. The five surviving suspects all fit their designated little pig very well. At the same time, The Things We Do for Love would have been an equally fitting title for this story.

In this book, the same story is basically told (at least) five times and then repeated five more times in written statements. It should be boring but, no doubt due to Agatha Christie’s genius as a storyteller, it is actually fascinating. Especially since there are minor yet revealing differences between what the five narrators relate.

As always, I don’t want to expand on the blurb for this story. Spoilers are always a no-no, but never more so than in a mystery. Suffice it to say that for me this story ranks among the best mysteries Christie ever published. It was a joy to read and I lost myself in this very clever mystery. It won’t be long until I dive into the Christy-verse again.