Product Description

A brand new Poirot omnibus, featuring four of the world-renowned detective's most challenging cases: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, Murder in the Mews and Hercule Poirot's Christmas. It seems Hercule Poirot can never escape murder -- and in this collection, the crimes are probably the finest he has ever had to solve. Locked rooms, wealth and jealousy -- outwardly all very similar, but when the detective begins to dig, the motives and solutions couldn't be more different! The Murder of Roger Ackroyd In the quiet village of King's Abbot, a wealthy widower is found stabbbed to death in his study! Murder on the Orient Express A wealthy American dies of multiple stab wounds on a train bound for Paris! Murder in the Mews A widow is murdered in her apartment! Hercule Poirot's Christmas A sadistic old man is brutally murdered in his locked study!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #67642 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 640 pages

Customer Reviews

There are no spoilers in this review
One of the best Poirot compendia, featuring two of Christie's greatest novels.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (5/5)
Reputedly one of Christie's finest pieces of misdirection, this locked room mystery has lost none of its capacity to baffle.

Murder on the Orient Express (5/5)
Even if you know the solution (which would hardly be surprising given the fame of this story) this is an entertaining novel.

Murder in the Mews (4/5)
A novella - or perhaps long short story - with an enjoyable plot twist. Also available in "Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories", so you may already own it.

Hercule Poirot's Christmas (3/5)
There's plenty to like about this locked room mystery, but its solution is somewhat unconvincing, and this is not one of the best Poirot novels.

There are no spoilers in this review
Although these are not the most famous Poirot novels, they are certainly amongst the best and most sinister.

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (4/5)
This little-known mystery beginning with the apparent suicide of the detective's dentist is one of the darkest Poirot novels and a neglected gem.

Five Little Pigs (4/5)
Again, this novel is comparatively little-known, but features an enticingly high-concept setup. Poirot is asked to investigate a criminal case that occurred sixteen years previously based solely on the testimony of surviving participants. Like "Cards on the Table", this is a novel whose primary satisfaction is intellectual: one for the Christie connoisseur, perhaps.

Taken at the Flood (4/5)
This complex mystery follows so serpentine path that it is extremely difficult to solve more than a part of it.

There are no spoilers in this review
First some bad news for collectors of the Harper Collins Poirot: this volume contains "Murder on the Links" (which is available in the first Battles of Hastings anthology) and it's also one of the shortest of the Poirot anthologies. In fact, it's 200 pages (that's an entire novel!) shorter than the second Battle of Hastings volume for the same price. For this reason alone, I'd suggest that you buy other anthologies before you buy this one.

Murder on the Links (4/5)
There's a lot to enjoy in this book, especially Poirot's rivalry with a French detective who displays almost as much arrogance as he does himself. It isn't too difficult to solve part of the puzzle, but the later convolutions will leave most readers foxed.

The Mystery of the Blue Train (3/5)
This is a rather flat novel, devoid of clues and detail. The basic mystery is okay, but it could easily have been handled as a short story and the absence of a first-person narrator means that the narrative itself has less charm than, for example, the Hastings novels. One interesting side note: this seems to be the first visit by Christie to St. Mary Mead, which was to become the scene two years later of the first Marple novel.

Death in the Clouds (4/5)
A lively and enjoyable novel. Not only is the mystery itself an engaging puzzle, but the presence of detective novelist at the scene of the crime, and some vivid minor characters keeps the investigation ticking along to the conclusion.