THIRD GIRL
UK publication: 1966 (Collins)
US publication: 1967 (Dodd, Mead)
Detective: Hercule Poirot
Genre: Novel
Plot summary and comments: Poirot confronts 'modern' youth as a very old
man in this novel, in which (to stave off boredom) he agrees to see a
young woman who 'might have' committed a murder. The girl turns out to
be Norma Restarick, the third of three who share a flat, and is evidently
something of a hippie. With the aid of the novelist Mrs. Ariadne Oliver,
and the information gatherer Mr. Goby, Poirot arrives at a solution, although
the plotting is not the strongest point of this novel and it is unclear
how he makes several conclusions. Some reviewers find it a failure, but
the reader may enjoy the 'swinging sixties' as presented by Christie,
herself over 75.
Courtesey of: http://stout.physics.ucla.edu/%7eyoder/mystery/christie.html
::READERS REVIEWS::
"Agatha Christie has always done well in depicting characters and
their traits. Third Girl is another example of this great ability. Hercule
Poirot once again unravels a mystery of deep undercurrents and seemingly
unanswerable questions. Third Girl is a winding tale of suspense and intrigue."
"Agatha
Christie attempts to depict the swinging sixties, and falls on her face.
The mystery is interesting enough, and, as usual, the solution to is discovered
not through forensics but through analyzing the pyschological undercurrents
of the situation. (The "third girl" idea is used very cleverly,
I thought.) On the other hand, Christie writes about swinging London from
an outsider's perspective, and she clearly doesn't know what she's talking
about when it comes to drugs, so some parts of the book are laughable.
Still, unlike many novelists who jumped on the hippie bandwagon, she's
compassionate and doesn't go for the cheap shots -- the villain isn't
a drug-crazed hippie but a person with more traditional (and despicable)
motives. Worth reading in spite of its flaws."
"Most
of Agath Christie's works are fast paced and suspenseful. In contrast,
Third Girl made me want to put it down and count how many pages till the
end!
The thing that bored me about Third Girl was how the older characters in it kept saying things like "teenagers these days." This book was written in the 60s, and that's when most of Agatha Christie's worst books were written.
The plot was ok, but makes you think you have the answer so you might stop reading it in the middle. The ending was really good, but the middle kept repeating the same clues over and over.
If you are planning to sit down for a couple hours and read a book, I guess you could read Third Girl. But if you are busy, you won't be able to finish it."
"I
was very dissapointed with this book. I have read many Christie books
and Usually I find them outstanding. I was surprised at how dull this
book seemed. You might want to read it if you have read some books by
Christie before, but don't read this if this is the first. There are many
more that are much better!"
::YOUR OPINION::
