Product Description

A ruthless international cartel seeks world domination...Framed in the doorway of Poirot's bedroom stood an uninvited guest, coated from head to foot in dust. The man's gaunt face stared for a moment, then he swayed and fell. Who was he? Was he suffering from shock or just exhaustion? Above all, what was the significance of the figure 4, scribbled over and over again on a sheet of paper? Poirot finds himself plunged into a world of international intrigue, risking his life to uncover the truth about 'Number Four'.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21005 in Books
• Published on: 2002-01-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Review
"The acknowledged queen of detective fiction." Observer

About the Author
Agatha Christie was born in Torquay in 1890 and became, quite simply, the best-selling novelist in history. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, written towards the end of the First World War, introduced us to Hercule Poirot, who was to become the most popular detective in crime fiction since Sherlock Holmes. She is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and another billion in over 100 foreign languages. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 19 plays, and six novels under the name of Mary Westmacott.

Customer Reviews

Christie steps outside her comfort zone
This is a slightly odd Poirot, where Christie moves away from her trademark 'cosy' murder mystery and into the world of international espionage and camp villains who want to take over the world... It's still enjoyable, especially the wonderful Hastings who is even more out of his depth here than ever, but I expect you have to be a real Christie/Poirot/Hastings fan to really enjoy this one.

Unusual but enjoyable all the same.

This is not your typical Poirot with a limited number of suspects, close ties and fine deductions leading to the solution of the case. Instead it focuses on individual mysteries which link together to form the over all plot. The story is also more action based than your standard Poirot plot with Poirot and Hastings regularly subjected to deadly peril and narrow escapes possibly more suited to a comic book. Indeed at times the story is more like an experiment to see how many times the author can knock poor Hastings unconcious without becoming rediculose.

I don't want to convey a totally negative impression, however, I actually quite enjoyed the story, I just personally prefer stories like 'Hickory Dickory Dock' which have slightly more thought and a little less thrill seeking. 'The Big Four' would particularly suit anyone who is a fan of the abrupt action in the Paul Temple detective stories or who just wants an entertaining story to listen to. It sould not ,however, necessarily be dismissed by those who want a more traditional Agatha Christe, it has flashes of the charm of some of the more famous Poirot stories even if it lacks the depth.

As always with these particular complete and unabridged tales you do have the pleasure of the entire story masterly performed by Hugh Fraser who brings the book to life in the best possible style.

Not one for fans of thought provoking mystery
Not so much a 'whodunnit'; more of a thriller with a few deaths along the way, as Poirot and Hastings go in pursuit of the elusive 'Number 4', leader of the Big 4 organisation whose goal is world domination. At times predictable and with a tendancy to be slightly fantastical, the plot should be taken with a pinch of salt. The story romps along nicely, and unlike other Christie novels, you don't have to think about clues and psychology- and yet the action is still gripping and sinister! I did find the ending a bit of a disappointing climax to its brilliant build up. Still, very enjoyable. An early Christie novel.