ONE, TWO, BUCKLE MY SHOE
US title: THE PATRIOTIC MURDERS
Other titles: AN OVERDOSE OF DEATH (in US reprint edition, Dell, 1953)
UK publication: 1940 (Collins)
US publication: 1941 (Dodd, Mead)
Detective: Hercule Poirot
Genre: Novel
Plot summary and comments: Christie's most successful example of the murder mystery inspired by a nursery rhyme. Each chapter of the novel corresponds roughly to a line of the verse. The first victim is a Harley Street dentist; Poirot suspects he is not a suicide, since Poirot himself was a patient of his only an hour previously, and the dentist had seemed in good spirits. Chief Inspector Japp does his share of investigating the mystery, which proves to have ramifications involving international conspiracy. The atmosphere of Europe on the brink of war is well described. The novel contains the only occasion on which Poirot is known to have attended a church service, and also reminds us that he still dreams of Countess Vera Rossakoff, the aristocratic thief he had met in The Big Four.
Courtesey of: http://stout.physics.ucla.edu/%7eyoder/mystery/christie.html
::READERS REVIEWS::
Hercule Poirot's dentist is found dead of a gunshot wound to the head. The police call it suicide, but Poirot is not convinced. The dentist's death is followed closely by the deaths of two of his patients, and Poirot undertakes to solve the mystery. Is it possible that these three deaths were merely "collateral damage" in a campaign to eliminate an influential financier, another of the dentist's patients? Two suspects immediately present themselves for consideration: the worthless ne'er-do-well boyfriend of the dental assistant and the left-wing radical boyfriend of the financier's niece. Both appear to have had ample motive, means, and opportunity to kill either the financier or the dentist. Poirot solves the mystery in exemplary fashion, but exposing the killer gives him no great pleasure. To find out why, you must read the book.
Hercule Poirot is not bound to the armchair in this one! The story is twisted, and thoroughly enjoyable. Just when you think you have it, the tables are turned. As usual Poirot explains it for all to see at the end, but the facts are not as clear as in most of Christie's other books and this is evident in his having moments of self-doubt, which is a bit uncharacteristic and gives the whole affair a bit of an unusual flair. He actually guesses at one point, a tactic normally as foreign to H. Poirot as to Mr. Spock!
This book was the best Agatha Christie book I have ever read. The plot went from a simple, classic murder case to a twisting, complicated, interested situation that made you unable to put the book down! It was very cleverly done---how one thing led to another---things you'd never expect. This book was an overall very well done.
::YOUR OPINION::
