Reading: Cat Among The Pigeons

When multiple murders take place at a girls’ boarding school, Hercule Poirot must untangle a globe-spanning web of secrets to uncover the truth.

The Story In Cat Among The Pigeons

When a military coup threatens the life of Ramat’s leader, Prince Ali Yusuf, he and his pilot/confidante Bob Rawlinson make hasty plans to flee the tiny nation. Before they leave, Yusuf entrusts Rawlinson with a collection of gemstones worth nearly a million pounds. Rawlinson secretly hides the jewels in the the handle of his niece’s tennis racket, knowing that his niece and her mother will be forced to flee Ramat soon–but without realizing that he’s being observed.

Rawlinson and Yusuf die later that day but the girl, Jennifer, and her mother make it back to England, completely oblivious to the treasure they are unknowingly smuggling.

My Thoughts On Cat Among The Pigeons

Some critics were not especially keen on Cat Among The Pigeons, preferring Christie’s more traditional cozy mysteries instead. I disagree. Despite having an especially large cast of characters to keep track of, I found myself engaged with the story and invested in the various teachers and students.

The character of Julia Upjohn was, I feel, one of Christie’s better depictions of a young girl. When Julia’s time to act arrived she did so in a completely believable and courageous way.

My one real complaint is that Poirot is called in a bit too late to do much more than make a couple of telephone calls but this is not the first Poirot to bring our favorite Belgian into an already half-solved case.

The case of the princess’s kidnapping won’t baffle many readers–Christie nearly bashes us over the head with that one–but I suspect the identity of the murderer(s) just might.

My audiobook of Cat Among The Pigeons was performed impeccably by Hugh Fraser.