Five Little Pigs (Also published as Murder In Retrospect) | Agatha Christie

Five Little Pigs (Also published as Murder In Retrospect) | Agatha Christie | The Best

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Five Little Pigs (...

	Five Little Pigs (Also published as Murder In Retrospect) Agatha Christie Berkley, 1984 - 216 pages average customer review:based on 36 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Take one dead lothario; add his jealous wife accused of his murder; toss in a devoted daughter who wants to clear her mother's name, and you get one of the greatest challenges of Hercule Poirot's career.

Book Review

Sixteen long years ago, Amyas Crayle was cruelly poisoned at his country home while painting a portrait. The convicted criminal, his wife Caroline, died two years later in prison and now their daughter Carla is on the search for the true murderer to set the record straight. So whom does she go to? The best of the best, of course: Hercule Poirot.
After weeks of research and interviewing, the detective gathers the individuals involved with the Crayle murder: Philip and Meredith Blake, Ms. Williams, Angela Warren, and Lady Dittsham, then a young Elsa Greer. At their meeting, Poirot revisits the day in question, combining all of the written accounts given to him by the five acquaintances. Amyas had been painting Elsa's portrait by the water drinking his beloved beer while on the other side of the estate, Meredith had just rowed across the lake to join his brother on a search for a toxic chemical that had gone missing from his laboratory. Mrs. Crayle, ignoring the fact her husband was about to leave her and Carla for Elsa, walked with Ms. Williams to the cellar to fetch Amyas another bottle of beer. They discover her half sister Angela tampering with a bottle, the very same one Amyas claimed was foul before he died. Who could have killed the brilliant artist? This marvelous conclusion will leave readers in awe.
Agatha Christie sets the crime in the perfect country getaway where no one would every think of such a cold murder. The manor is by a small lake, with a small dusty road as it's only connection to the rest of the world. Meredith Blake is the Crayles' only remaining neighbor who has been their only company all of these years.
The characters in the story are the most untypical people to be friends. Along with Amyas the moody artist, Philip Blake is a London banker and drinker who is used to the finer things. Angela is Mrs. Crayle's half sister who she scarred for life early on when Caroline threw a paperweight at her. She doesn't like Amyas, but enjoys pulling practical jokes on her brother in law. Finally there is Ms. Williams, the very conservative governess who disapproves of Mr. Crayle's behavior towards his wife in the situation at hand.
In the end, Poirot explains who had really murdered Amyas Crayle so long ago. Caroline had sent letters to Angela and Carla, thought when you'd think she'd comfort her young daughter, she repeatedly reassures her sister. Why? Unless, Caroline thinks Carla had poisoned Amyas and went to jail for her to repay her injuring Angela. But the beer bottle taken from Angela and given to Amyas didn't have the poison the beer glass did. So who really killed Amyas? The only person who overheard him confess his love to his wife earlier on, the one who took the poison from Meredith's lab on a previous visit who claimed Caroline took it: Elsa Greer.
This brilliant novel is just another example of the fascinating mind of Agatha Christie. "Five Little Pigs" is a true classic sure to survive generations of mystery fans

R. Turner

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The Best

Being a great Agatha Christie fan, and having read all of the Poirot series, as well as many many others, I have to say that "Five Little Pigs" is truly one of the greatest, and happens to be my personal favorite. The effect of the ending is one of goosebumps. Truly an incredible book.

WILL SOMEONE LET THE WOMAN SPEAK?

What "improvements" have been made for the Berkley edition? There are already major differences in punctuation, word choices, and scene breaks between the original Collins and Dodd Mead (MURDER IN RETRPSOECT)editions of this novel. There are further differences between the Dodd Mead editions republished by Random House/Avenel and the Dodd Mead editions republished by Simon & Shuster/Pocket. There are further differences still in the Signet, Bantam, and Black Dog & Leventhal editions. For every publishing house putting out her works, there seem to be a new batch of editors altering Agatha Christie's words and the sound of her voice. What's the matter with these publishers? Whose voice do they think we want to hear when we sit down to a novel by Agatha Christie? And what will she sound like twenty years from now? It's frightening that her estate has failed to see the importance of guarding her words as she wrote them. Please tell me I'm not the only one here who senses that a crime has been committed.

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Agatha Christie gets me every time

Even in a book such as this, when I was sure that I was figuring out the solution on my own, Agatha Christie turns it around and fools me again. What I find incredible about her writing is that even at this point, when she had written almost twenty Poirot novels, the quality, characterization, and suspense is not diminished at all. I was as surprised after this book as I have been with any other Poirot (excepting a few of the truly remarkable ones). Don't hesitate to read this book and every book both before and after it.

I found this fun; not everyone is so enthusiastic

A great book for Agatha fans. Not a place to start for newbies. But good work.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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