Hugh Fraser

Book Review: Hercule Poirot’s Christmas

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Hercule Poirot’s Christmas
Hercule Poirot #20
by Agatha Christie
read by Hugh Fraser

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

I think I’m starting to get burnt out on this series. I spend a lot of time while listening to these books guessing at reasons why each different character could be the murderer. But not using logic and reason within the story, rather I try to figure out which is the least likely or the one that will surprise the me the most, and then try to figure out how and why they might have done it. I’m usually wrong. I’m not sure if enough information is given to the reader to allow us to truly use logic and reason to pinpoint the killer, but even if it were, I’ve never been great at guessing mysteries correctly anyway. That said, I did have a correct guess about the killer in this book, but that’s partly because I’ve been waiting for this particular outcome for several books now.

I did like the overall mystery in the end, and Poirot is in fine form. I miss Hastings though. And I’m noticing more and more than he goes through several “possible” reveals before he gets to the final one, and by the time he gets to the final one, I’ve got mental whiplash. I think he’s telling us the truth, but that’s not it…then maybe it’s this, but no…it’s not. Because of the aforementioned waiting for this type of killer to come up, I know I’ll never forget the outcome of this book, but with others like that, I can’t really remember who ended up being the bad guy. In the end, I liked the book, but maybe I would’ve liked it more if I weren’t listening to them all so closely together. Still, I think this story is worth reading—or listening to the narration by Hugh Fraser, which is as great as ever.

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Book Review: Appointment with Death

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Appointment with Death
Hercule Poirot #19
by Agatha Christie
read by Hugh Fraser

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

This was not my favorite Poirot, and I’m not sure I can pinpoint the reasons. It reminded me of some of the earlier books in the series that I didn’t like, in that it felt a little bloated. We’re given a ready-made cast of suspects, which of course made me look more carefully at everyone outside of that group. I’m not sure we’re given enough clues to figure it out for ourselves (though I suppose I can see some hints toward it when looking back). But then we’re sort of jerked around, all the way up through the reveal, with Poirot talking to someone as if they had done it, and then clarifying that it wasn’t them. I remember that happening in past books as well, and I couldn’t tell you who the murderer actually is in those books, because by the time they were revealed, I was a bit weary from explanation. The same thing happened here, and though I can remember the culprit right now, I’ve already had to remind myself that it wasn’t one of the fake-outs on the way to the real one. And yeah, just like one of the characters in this book pointed out, I don’t particularly appreciate Poirot’s hypocrisy in letting the culprit(s) go free in a previous book but insisting on justice in this case. Not that I think he should have let it go here, but that never really felt great about him doing so in the previous instance. I’m also not a fan of the “there’s not enough evidence to convict, so I’ll just get the murderer to kill him/herself” that happens too often in this series. Anyway, all of that combined to keep me from enjoying this book as much as I did previous ones. Though Hugh Fraser’s narration is still great.

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Book Review: Dumb Witness

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Dumb Witness
Hercule Poirot #17
by Agatha Christie
read by Hugh Fraser

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

This story was a bit different than the rest of the series so far, in that the death that starts it off is billed as natural. However, the dead woman had an accident not long before, chalked up to her tripping over the ball that her dog left at the top of the stairs, but something about that scenario leaves her suspicious of her family. She writes to Poirot, who doesn’t get her letter until it’s too late but is still compelled to investigate the original attempted murder. The large cast of suspects is standard fare, though, as is the path we go down with Poirot and Hastings on the way to the solution. And as is the fact that most of my many theories about whodunit and why turned out to be wrong. It was overall an average Poirot for me, not as slow as the early ones but not a stand-out either, except for Bob the dog (whose ball was blamed for his owner’s fall). Any time Poirot and Hastings are at the house and encounter Bob, Hastings tells us what the dog is likely thinking, and it’s hilarious, especially the way Hugh Fraser narrates it.

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Book Review: Murder in the Mews

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Murder in the Mews
Hercule Poirot #16
by Agatha Christie
read by Nigel Hawthorne & Hugh Fraser

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

As I said in my review of the previous book of short stories from this series, there’s something to be said about the succinctness here. Oftentimes, what I dislike most about a Poirot novel is how bloated the plot feels, so it’s nice to get to the point a little more quickly. Though at least one of these stories felt too short, so there’s that. The story that I remember thinking was a little too short, though, is also the one that stood out to me the most. Though the ending seemed a little rushed, I liked the plot and the twist. Overall, I find that trying to guess at what’s going to surprise me at the end of a Poirot story (long or short) is what I enjoy most, and it takes less time to get there with these shorter stories. I was not a fan of the narrator of the first story, “Murder in the Mews,” which was Nigel Hawthorne, so it was a huge relief when it changed to Hugh Fraser, who has been my favorite narrator throughout this series, for the last three.

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Book Review: The ABC Murders

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The ABC Murders
Hercule Poirot #13
by Agatha Christie
read by Hugh Fraser

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

The story of the magnanimous serial killer was one of the better Poirot novels I’ve read so far. Christie pulled me in and had me looking exactly where she wanted me looking, which was in the wrong direction. I did start to realize my mistake before the turn came in the book, and I was pretty excited to realize there was more going on. I didn’t guess the culprit or the motives behind the murders, though—my theories were pretty far off—but I still had a lot of fun coming up with them and then learning how wrong I was. It was also nice to see Hastings back. Though several of the Poirot books have been less enjoyable for me, gems like this make my quest to keep listening worthwhile.

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Book Review: Cards on the Table

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Death in the Clouds
Hercule Poirot #15
by Agatha Christie
read by Hugh Fraser

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

Not my favorite in the series, at least part of which is because it seems like a knowledge of the game of bridge would have helped me understand the story, or at least Poirot’s investigation, more. I also felt like I did near the beginning of the series—like the plot was a bit bloated. On the other hand, I enjoyed some of the characters involved, especially those who were working to solve the crime along with Poirot. There are a few twists at the end of this book, and because I’m gullible and these books aren’t exactly cozy mysteries (meaning they don’t necessarily give you the clues you need to solve the murder along with the investigator), I fell for each one of the misdirects. So overall, a decent read, but I still feel like it’s a bit of a let-down from some of the previous ones I enjoyed more.

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Book Review: Death in the Clouds

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Death in the Clouds
Hercule Poirot #12
by Agatha Christie
read by Hugh Fraser

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

I don’t have a whole lot to say about this book, partly because I’m getting behind on my reviews due to being so busy right now and partly because this wasn’t a standout installation in the series for me. It was another locked-room-type setting, albeit it an interesting one. Other aspects of the story seemed a little too similar to previous books in the series as well. I did suspect some of the solution, but like normal, I was missing a lot still by the end. There were some slight twists, but overall, I wasn’t super engaged in the story. However, since I’ve started to enjoy the series a lot more than I did early on, I’ll just consider this a bump in the road of my trip through the series. And I still appreciate the narration by Hugh Fraser.

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Book Review: Three Act Tragedy

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Three Act Tragedy
Hercule Poirot #11
by Agatha Christie
read by Hugh Fraser

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

This Poirot mystery was quite a departure from the previous ones, in that much of the investigating is done without Poirot around—at least the investigating that we get to see. Poirot comes in during the last 3rd or so of the book to throw a wrench into the ideas of the people who had taken it upon themselves to try to get to the bottom of the recent deaths. The story really kept me on my toes. In some ways, I feel like I’m starting to get a feel for Agatha Christie’s way of creating a mystery, which leads me to take more outlandish guesses as to the solution than I probably otherwise would. But since I don’t really ever guess at the motive, I don’t feel particularly vindicated if I end up being right. And I was only part right about the killer in this case anyway. I’ve begun to enjoy these stories a lot more than I did early in the series, and I still appreciate the narration by Hugh Fraser. And bonus, this book left me with a laugh right at the end.

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Book Review: Lord Edgware Dies

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Lord Edgware Dies
Hercule Poirot #9
 by Agatha Christie
read by Hugh Fraser

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

I enjoyed the twists and turns in this Poirot novel. As Poirot fixates on five questions that he thinks, when answered, will solve the mystery, I’m way too easily carried along for the ride. I actually did suspect the correct murderer early on, but it wasn’t much of a win, since I had no idea how it worked out. I think the guess was more about having read a few of these books now and getting a feel for how Christie wrote. I liked this book more than most of the others in the series and didn’t feel it was as bloated as many of the others are. Huge Fraser, as always, does a great job narrating, and I’m a little nervous about the next book (Murder on the Orient Express), which is almost definitely the most famous Poirot story. I hope it lives up to the hype.

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Book Review: Peril at End House

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Peril at End House
Hercule Poirot #8
 by Agatha Christie
read by Hugh Fraser

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

This was my favorite Poirot novel so far. Somehow it didn’t feel as bloated or muddled, or at least it managed to keep me more engaged throughout. I don’t know if it was due to there being a few less characters or less unnecessary side trails during the mystery, though there were certainly still some. Really, I can’t pinpoint the reason, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. Granted, I guessed at the culprit fairly early on and ended up being right, though I had no idea about the motive. Maybe that played a part in my enjoyment, but maybe not, since I second-guessed myself several times, since, without a motive various things that happened along the way made me doubt my theory. 

Huge Fraser does a great job narrating, and I hope to enjoy the next book as much as I did this one.

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