Hello, everyone! Welcome to my blog if you are new here, or welcome back. Today, after a long time, I will be reviewing two new Hercule Poirot books. They are books number thirteen and fourteen in the Hercule Poirot series – The ABC Murders, and Murder in Mesopotamia. If you wish to check out the reviews of the previous books in the series, you can do so here. Let us begin:
The ABC Murders:
The ABC Murders begins with the return of Hercule Poirot’s faithful friend and chronicler of his tales, Captain Hastings. Captain Hastings arrives in London and the first thing he does is meet his old friend. While talking, Poirot shows Hastings an anonymous letter he has received. It reads:
“Mr. Hercule Poirot – You fancy yourself, don’t you, at solving mysteries that are too difficult for our poor, thick-headed British Police? Let us see, Mr. Clever Poirot, just how clever you can be. Perhaps you’ll find this nut too hard to crack. Look out for Andover, on the 21st of this month.
Yours, etc.,
A B C”
Captain Hastings things it is a hoax, so does Inspector Japp of the Scotland Yard. Poirot wants to think so too, but past knowledge and experience tells him that something is wrong. 21st passed uneventfully, and Poirot began to think it was hoax after all. But the next day the news came – news of the murder of Mrs. Ascher in Andover.
Hastings and Poirot immediately leave for the crime scene. At the crime scene, Poirot finds a railway guide and sometime later, receives another letter by A B C. Sometime after that, there comes the news of the murder of Betty Barnard in Bexhill. At the crime scene, Poirot finds a guide of the same company, and then receives another mocking letter. Later, Sir Carmichael Clarke of Churston is found dead. A search of the crime scene yields another one of those booklets.
The maniacal serial-killer seems to get surer of himself as each letter gets more and more taunting. He also makes sure that there are no clues except the one he deliberately leaves. The thief may be clever, but he makes a big mistake. He makes the mistake of taunting Hercule Poirot, and hurting his ego.
The ABC Murders is one of my favorite Hercule Poirot novels. The plot is extremely original. The storyline is well laid-out. The characteristic twist in the end really hits you out of the blue. All-in-all, The ABC Murders makes a great read.
Murder in Mesopotamia:
Murder in Mesopotamia is one of those books where the entry of Hercule Poirot is quite late. It is narrated by Nurse Amy Leatheran. Nurse Leatheran is currently in Baghdad, when she meets Dr. Reilly who asks her to take up a case. She is act as a companion to Mrs. Louise Leinerd, wife of the celebrated archaeologist, Dr. Leinerd. The nurse agrees, and sets off for the Hassanieh dig, the place where the excavation party is staying. But before leaving, she hears her former employer’s remarks about the place. Apparently, this is their third year in Iraq. The first two years, they were a very friendly group and were enjoying their work. This year, however, Mrs. Leidner had joined her husband, and her presence had caused tensions within the group.
She soon reaches her new residence. The house is built only a little distance away from the excavation site, and can house the entire party. Here, she gets her first experience of Mrs. Leidner. Louise Leidner is a woman who is beautiful and knows it. Apparently, her nerves have not been holding strong. She has been having hallucinations and is scared of something. That is why her husband has hired the nurse to take care of her.
Nurse Leatheran, however, soon finds out that Louise’s fears are not a figment of her imagination; she is scared of a real flesh-and-blood person. One day, she is found dead in her room, hit on the head with a heavy, blunt object. The only problem is, that there was no way a stranger could have entered the house without someone noticing him, and every member of the expedition had excellent alibis. The local police come to know that Hercule Poirot is passing through the town, and ask him for help.
Murder in Mesopotamia is a good story, with an original plot, and is fast-paced, but is not as exciting as some of Poirot’s other stories. Nevertheless, Murder in Mesopotamia does make for a very good read and Poirot’s fans are sure to love it.
Outro:
So that is it for today, everyone! I hope you enjoyed the reviews. I will be back again next week with either new reviews, new artwork, or maybe even an original short story. To stay updated, please subscribe to my blog. Until next time, au revoir!