Peril at End House - Agatha Christie

Published by Harper Collins Publishers: Hammersmith, London, 1995 (1932).

Another Poirot mystery, but this one with the twist that there has not (yet) been a murder when Poirot takes on the case! Nick Buckley is a modern woman (by 1930s standards): independent, carefree, living alone (apart from servants) in the large inherited End House and throwing parties for her bored well-off friends. In recent days she has had a number of accidents occur which, had things gone slightly differently, could have caused her serious injury or death, but she has also laughed them off as simply accidents and nothing more. Poirot, however, is suspicious, especially given that the most recent 'near-miss' is that of a bullet fired in Miss Buckley's direction!

I enjoyed this mystery, and the final reveal of who was responsible got an "Oooh!" out of me. Christie is, as always, very good at this sort of story. They're never hugely deep, nor take very long to read, but they are enjoyable ways to spend an afternoon or two.

Something else I found interesting is the way in which Hastings (a friend of Poirot's and the narrator of this particular novel) at times seems to get a bit annoyed by Poirot, even to the point of disliking him. Considering that Christie herself grew to share those sentiments towards her famous literary creation, I wonder if Peril at End House is an example of that beginning to shine through.

Completed 7 January 2022.

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