When I went to the library (over a month ago, now...my fault for taking out loads of books at once), I was in a Christmas spirit, and grabbed a few Christmas-themed mysteries, including a work by the great Agatha Christie that I happened to lay eyes upon: Hercule Poirot's Christmas. As witih all other novels by Agatha Christie that I've read, it was very proper, very polite English reading. And, as with all those other novels, it was good reading. I thoroughly enjoyed following Hercule Poirot's thought processes - he was brought in rather early in the novel, which I appreciated, because there have been times where he does not make an appearance until quite near the end - and trying to assemble the well-laid clues for myself. I fell for a few red herrings - at the beginning of the book, someone mentions that the butler would lie to protect anyone in the family, and that continuously led me down wrong paths - and honestly, the mystery was difficult to figure out. It's funny, though - in all my overspeculation, I actually had the right killer, but I ended up ruling them out in my own deliberations. And there were a lot of red herrings and lies and curiosities for one to work through - Agatha Christie really is a master, the mystery's solution was embedded deeply beneath several other mysteries. It was a feast for the mind, that's for sure. And I regret taking only one Agatha Christie novel out from the library this time.
An ironic take on the Christmas spirit, and a wonderful novel.
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