Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot #36

Publishing Date: Nov 1959

Publisher: Harper Collins

Kindle Edition

 

Blurb

 

Two teachers discover the body of the school's unpopular games mistress, shot through the heart from point-blank range. The school is thrown into chaos when the 'cat' strikes again, and Julia Upjohn knows that without Poirot's help she could be next.

 

Review

 

Before starting this book:

If I remember correctly, I first read this book when I was 15 years old and on holiday in Norway with my parents and brother. I had run out of (Dutch) books to read and because I was at risk of getting bored, my mother bought me this title and encouraged me to read it. I loved the story and it turned out to be the start of a life-long reading relationship with the Queen of Crime. To this day I remain grateful she brought me to Agatha Christie. All of which means that Cat Among the Pigeons was the first full length novel I read in English. Since all of the above happened 45 years (I’m really getting old 😊) ago, it is safe to say I remember very little about this mystery.

 

After I finished Cat Among the Pigeons:

In the first paragraph, I stated that I remembered very little about this mystery, but my memory must be better than I gave it credit for. Less than 25% into the story and well before the first murder, I had a pretty good idea about one aspect of this story. And this continued. The more I read, the more I remembered. It made for a weird reading experience. It felt as if I was always a step or two ahead of the story. Having said that, there were one or two big revelations that did surprise me.

At last, I get to the review proper.

Cat Among the Pigeons has both thriller and mystery elements. I think it’s safe to say that it starts as a thriller involving a revolution and jewelry, then morphs into a traditional mystery set in an English boarding school, before the two merge and everything is revealed.

I was going to put a summary of the story here. In fact, I’d already typed out several paragraphs before deleting them again. There is an awful lot going on in this story, and the cast of characters is huge. I’m not sure I could give a coherent summary without the use of numerous (potential) spoilers. And spoiling even one aspect of this story would be a crying shame.

This is a very good Christie. The way the story is set up, in two different countries and in two different genres, it could so easily have turned into a mess. I’m very happy to say it didn’t. The thriller aspects work as well as the mystery parts, they are both well plotted, they do not get in each other’s way, and actually managed to complement and strengthen each other. All the characters, both minor and major, are vividly drawn, and as (almost) always, the dialogue sparkles. Besides, who doesn’t love an observation like this one:

“Miss Bulstrode had another quality which demonstrated her superiority over most other women. She could listen.”

Hercule Poirot doesn’t appear in this story until the last quarter of the book. And while it is always a shame when we get less of our favourite Belgian detective, the timing did make perfect sense in this setup.

While I’m not sure this is the best of the Christie stories I’ve recently read, it is definitely the story I enjoyed most. I lost myself in this book, the characters captivated me, and the mysteries kept me on my toes.

I’m thoroughly enjoying my reconnection with Agatha Christie. A few decades may have passed but it seems that my reading tastes having changed that much. My mam knew what she was doing when she picked Cat Among the Pigeons from the tiny collection of English books in that Norwegian shop. I’ll never stop being grateful; for her and for all the wonderful things she introduced into my life.

The 4.50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie

 

Miss Marple #8

223 pages

Publisher: Agatha Christie Ltd/Planet Three Publishing

Library book

 

Blurb

For an instant the two trains ran together, side by side. In that frozen moment, Elspeth witnessed a murder. Helplessly, she stared out of her carriage window as a man remorselessly tightened his grip around a woman’s throat. The body crumpled. Then the other train drew away.

But who, apart from Miss Marple, would take her story seriously? After all, there were no suspects, no other witnesses... and no corpse.

 

Review

Poor Elspeth McGillicuddy. There she is, on a train to visit Miss Marple, when she witnesses a murder taking place in a passing train. She dutifully reports the crime to the police who duly investigate only to find no trace of evil doing. Since there appears to be no corpse and there are no other witnesses, they put her claim down to a bad dream. Miss Marple on the other hand, knows Elspeth and takes her claim seriously and after undertaking a few train journeys of her own, she has a pretty good idea of what may have happened to the body of the unfortunate victim. Miss Marple has no way of actively investigating the crime herself but, never one to be held back, she has a solution.

Enter…

Lucy Eyelesbarrow, who basically operates as Miss Marple’s eyes, ears, and legs is a fabulous character. First of all, there’s her name—Eyelesbarrow, how does Christie come up with names like this one? But most of all I love the idea that after successfully graduating from Oxford she decided to forgo a distinguished academic career to become a sort of highly skilled domestic labourer taking on jobs on a short-term basis for fast amounts of money.

Lucy Eyelesbarrow takes on a job in Rutherford Hall which happens to have grounds bordering the relevant train tracks and on a very expedient bend as well. Miss Marple takes up lodgings not too far away, allowing Lucy and later Detective Inspector Dermot Graddock to confer with her about what they discover and give voice to their frustration that the solution remains out of reach.

Apart from Lucy, Miss Marple, and Elspeth McGillicuddy, the following cast appears in this mystery and must therefore be considered suspects (with the exception of the investigating officers, of course):

Mrs. Kidder – Housekeeper

Mr. Crackenthorpe – Master of Rutherford Hall, invalid and very disagreeable and stingy with money.

Emma Crackenthorpe – Mistress of Rutherford Hall – Mr. Crackenthorpe’s daughter.

Edmund Crackenthorpe: Formerly the eldest son, killed in France during WW II.

Cedric Crackenthorpe – Middle son, a painter who lives abroad.

Harold Crackenthorpe – Youngest son, works in the City, married an Earl’s daughter.

Alfred Crackenthorpe – Eldest son, black sheep of the family.

James Stoddart-West – Alfred’s school friend.

Edith Crackenthorpe – Deceased daughter.

Mr. Bryan Eastley – Edith’s husband, still close with the family.

Master Alexander Eastley – Son of Edith and Bryan.

Dr. Quimper – GP.

Mr. Wimborne – Family Solicitor.

Martine – A French woman who might be the mysterious victim?

Inspector Bacon – Local Police

Detective Inspector Dermot Graddock – Scotland Yard and Sir Henry Clithering’s godson.

Lucy soon discovers that this is not a happy family. Mr. Crackenthorpe is rather stingy and seems to take delight in not helping his offspring financially, mostly because he feels hard done by as a result of his own father’s will. Unsurprisingly, his children, particularly his sons, aren’t all too fond of their father.

Two further murders take place later on in the story, which narrows the cast of suspects a little but it won’t surprise anybody when I say that the ultimate solution is rather surprising. It doesn’t come out of nowhere however, and looking back, the clues were there although I have to admit I missed them and failed to come up with the answers before Miss Marple revealed them in a rather shocking and delightful finale.

As I mentioned before, I really liked Lucy as a character. Another favourite was young Alexander because of his fascination with the crime and his determination to search for and find clues. While the other characters are all described vividly and come to life on the page, I can’t say I liked them very much. The three brothers were equally awful and selfish. Emma doesn’t show any selfishness but I found her a little bland, although that worked nicely in contrast to her brothers’ awfulness. I did like Dermot Graddock and the fact that his role in this story meant that Sir Henry Clithering got a mention in this book.

And that’s all I’m willing to say about this story. If you would like to know more you’ll have to read it. 😊

I picked this title because I’m currently listening to the All About Agatha podcast and this title is coming up soon. Past experience tells me that Catherine Brobeck and Kemper Donovan will be a lot more critical of this story, the characters, and the mystery than I am. In fact, if I have a criticism it is that Miss Marple doesn’t appear more prominently in this story. Other than that, this was a delightful mystery, well-plotted and executed, and a great read. Just what I would expect from the Queen of Crime.