In Agatha Christie’s classic, Five Little Pigs, beloved detective Hercule Poirot races to solve a case from out of the past.
Beautiful Caroline Crale was convicted of poisoning her husband, but just like the nursery rhyme, there were five other “little pigs” who could have done it: Philip Blake (the stockbroker), who went to market; Meredith Blake (the amateur herbalist), who stayed at home; Elsa Greer (the three-time divorcée), who had her roast beef; Cecilia Williams (the devoted governess), who had none; and Angela Warren (the disfigured sister), who cried all the way home.
Sixteen years later, Caroline’s daughter is determined to prove her mother’s innocence, and Poirot just can’t get that nursery rhyme out of his mind.
Agatha Christie was born in 1890 and created the detective Hercule Poirot in her debut novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920). She achieved wide popularity with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) and produced a total of eighty novels and short-story collections over six decades.
My Impressions:
Five Little Pigs is Poirot and Christie at their finest. An old open and shut case is brought to the Belgian detective’s attention, and he cannot resist finding out what really happened in the poisoning death of a talented and self-absorbed artist. Sixteen years is a long time to discover new facts, but Poirot is never deterred by the faulty memories or biased attitudes of the 5 witnesses. Christie uses several very effective means to uncover whodunit — direct interviews by Poirot, written accounts of the witnesses/suspects, and a final drawing room confrontation of everyone involved. My husband and I listened to the audiobook on our holiday road trips and found the book kept our attention over the hours and miles. We insist on Hugh Fraser as the narrator of any Poirot mystery we listen too — he is excellent in capturing the essence of Poirot.
Five Little Pigsis a great accompaniment for traveling, chores, or exercise — whatever your audiobook need!
Recommended.
Audience: adults
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(I purchased the audiobook from Audible. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
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