Reading: Taken At The Flood

The Story In Taken At The Flood

Gordon Cloade is almost shamefully wealthy and, with no wife or children to spend his money on, gives huge sums away to his siblings, nieces and nephews. In fact, Gordon’s been so generous for so long that when he dies suddenly, every one of them is left utterly penniless.

Not left penniless, though, is Gordon’s new, much younger, wife, Rosaleen. Gordon and Rosaleen met on a ship and married hurriedly but were then victims of a bombing raid that killed everyone in the house except for Rosaleen and her brother, David.

Gordon’s family is desperate for money and various members attempt to sweet-talk Rosaleen into forking over hundreds (or even thousands) of pounds. But Rosaleen’s brother, David is having none of that, and tightens his grip on his sister’s money.

Then a stranger shows up, claiming to be Rosaleen’s first husband, Robert Underhay, who was believed to have died in Africa years earlier. If this stranger is telling the truth, Gordon’s marriage to Rosaleen is invalid and his will is back in force, meaning his family inherits his vast fortune after all.

In a village where just about everyone will do just about anything for the money they’re convinced they’re entitled to, Poirot has his work cut out for him.

My Thoughts On Taken At The Flood

I enjoyed Taken At The Flood more than I thought I would, especially since it became frustratingly apparent right away that the Cloade family was dead set on getting their hands on Gordon’s money by pretty much any means necessary and were not going to use this experience as any sort of life lesson about the dangers of remaining financially dependent, accepting responsibility for their extravagant spending or living within their means. There are no sympathetic characters here, except for poor Superintendent Spence, who has to work the thing out.

My one big complaint–and it’s a huge one–is the ending. I’ve griped often (and loudly) about Christie’s tendency to matchmake unrealistic and unhealthy relationships but Taken At The Flood doesn’t just strain credulity, it actually shoehorns a character into a relationship with someone who tried to kill them. Christie absolutely ruined what was otherwise one of her better mysteries with this.

The ending of Taken At The Flood wasn’t just disappointing, it nearly derailed my Year With Agatha Christie reading challenge. I sat there, looking at the text in my hands, only half believing what I had just read, and wondering if I could, in good conscience, continue.

The one bright spot, though, was Hugh Fraser’s performance. He has yet to disappoint me and, of course, did a fantastic job once again.