Lisa Barger

“Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?” ~ William Shakespeare, Macbeth

When Hercule Poirot is invited to Colonel Johnson’s home for the Christmas holidays, he expects to spend a few days relaxing in Johnson’s drafty old cottage. What he gets, though, is an investigation into the brutal murder of millionaire Simeon Lee.

The Story In Hercule Poirot’s Christmas

Poirot is spending the Christmas holidays with his friend, Colonel Johnson when Johnson is called to the home of Simeon Lee. Lee, who is a multimillionaire, had invited his four adult children and his one grandchild to his home for a traditional English Christmas. All of them have been disappointments to Lee and he announces his displeasure with them loudly and often.

Then Lee is murdered–his throat slashed–in his locked study with only one door and no openable windows. Colonel Johnson invites Poirot to team up with the investigating office, Superintendent Sugden, to solve the case. Sugden and Poirot quickly realize that Simeon Lee was no loving father and his children and grandchild all have secrets of their own.

My Thoughts On Hercule Poirot’s Christmas

I utterly and thoroughly enjoyed this story. Even if the “how” of the murder necessitates a momentary suspension of belief, the story is masterfully done with red herrings that feel completely organic and characters that you might just recognize among your own extended family. I do wonder why Hercule Poirot’s Christmas was published so close to Appointment With Death, given that both novels deal with emotionally abusive parents who die as a direct result of their abuse, but that shouldn’t deter anyone from enjoying both if they’re read in order of their publication.

I enjoy any Poirot that pairs him with a character who can match wits with him. In this story, Superintendent Sugden is a match for him not just intellectually but in his ability to sport a luxuriant mustache–something that fascinates our favorite detective nearly to the point of distraction. Christie’s restraint with it is yet another example of why she is the undisputed queen of fiction.

But this Poirot doesn’t just have better sidekicks; he’s a better person himself. Gone are the arrogant musings about his intellectual prowess and the cruel digs he used to make about Hastings’s gullibility. This Poirot still has opinions–this time about the value of central heating over fireplaces–but he’s hit his stride. No longer is he the “insufferable” know-it-all Christie created all those years ago. The 1938 Poirot truly deserves to be mentioned alongside fiction’s greatest detectives.

For anyone looking to experience Hercule Poirot for the first time, but who won’t care about reading the books out of order, I’d say that Hercule Poirot’s Christmas is a fantastic choice. My audiobook was performed by Hugh Fraser, who was as marvelous as ever. I was not able to borrow or buy a hard copy or an e-book in time to read along.

###