Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly by Agatha Christie: Review

Title: Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly
Author: Agatha Christie
Publisher: Witness Impulse
Publication Date: November 2013
Length: 100
Series: Hercule Poirot
Reason for Discovery:  Galley

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This book satisfies the COYER requirements, because it was an e-galley!

From GoodReads:
Never before published—the lost classic, unseen for sixty years!

A party game goes dead wrong in this ingenious mystery from the most beloved novelist of all time. Hercule Poirot, the world's favorite detective, has agreed to take part in a mock murder mystery in a charming English village—but when tragedy strikes, a different sort of game begins ...

In 1954, Agatha Christie wrote this novella with the intention of donating the proceeds to a fund set up to buy stained glass windows for her local church at Churston Ferrers, and she filled the story with references to local places, including her own home of Greenway. But, having completed it, she decided instead to expand the story into a full-length novel, Dead Man's Folly, which was published two years later, and donated a Miss Marple story (Greenshaw's Folly) to the church fund instead. Unseen for sixty years, Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly is finally published in this ebook-exclusive edition.
Hercule Poirot received a a request from a friend to spend the weekend with her and help oversee a mock murder mystery. Unfortunately, a murder and a disappearance take place! Only Hercule Poirot can figure out what happened and make sure that the murderer doesn't get away.
I am a big Agatha Christie fan. I always enjoy her mysteries, and they are short enough that I can read one in one sitting, if I want. Christie always gives you enough to figure out the mystery, if you want to solve it. At the same time, if you want to just be taken in with the story, the mystery is never obvious enough that you stumble upon it and spend the rest of the time yelling at the characters because they can't figure it out. Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly is no exception. The mystery is short, but it doesn't fell rushed, and you need your "little grey cells" to figure out the mystery.
My one critique of this book (and with most of Christie's books) is that it is a child of its time. Women are not portrayed in the best light, and there are some racist remarks in this book too. I don't know enough about Christie to say how she felt about certain things in her personal life. So I can't speak to how much some of the characters' statements are her own beliefs versus a way to show that certain beliefs are wrong.
I thought this was a fun book. This is not my favorite Christie book, because there is a lot of talk about the lady of the house being dim. I understand why this needed to be discussed, but I feel another tactic could have been used to introduce the mystery. If you are Christie fan and have not read Dead Man's Folly (Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly was expanded into Dead Man's Folly), I would recommend this book. If you have already read the longer novel, I would only recommend this for the extreme Christie fan.
I give this book 3 out of 5. 

 

4 comments:

Chanzie said...
December 2, 2013 at 3:31 AM

This sounded like a fun read :) I haven't read a Christie book yet.

Great review Pamela!

Chanzie @ Mean Who You Are.

Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer said...
December 2, 2013 at 12:27 PM

Very true these books all convey the sentiment of the time period. I love watching these books on BBC America's Master Piece Theater, they are very true to the books and Hercules is such an odd man. Lovely review!

Unknown said...
December 3, 2013 at 7:16 PM

If you like mysteries, you should check her out. I am always impressed how she builds a mystery.

Unknown said...
December 3, 2013 at 7:17 PM

I love watching Mystery! on Masterpiece Theater. I still need to work my way through all of the Poirot episodes.

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