The Clocks (1963)

This one had so mush misdirection, I never once guessed at the true end. Another fun Christie novel. Recommended to mystery fans. ( )

I figured out a small portion but nit "who done it" or why..... That was the twist away from the given clues.....

I basically skimmed the first 12 chapters (Poirot didn't come in until after that).....

I really dislike chatter/filler..... ( )

This is the 34th Hercule Poirot mystery, although he doesn't appear in it until about 1/2 way in.

I really enjoy Dame Agatha's books. However, this one was really rather forgettable and isn't one of her exceptional mysteries. Her best, to my mind, are Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, and Peril at End House (at least of the ones I have read). I am also rather attached to The Cat Among The Pigeons.

If you are looking for some golden age mystery entertainment to while away a couple of hours, this one is perfectly satisfactory. If you are looking for a tightly plotted mystery with a solution that isn't overly reliant on coincidence, look elsewhere. ( )

The Clocks – Agatha Christie
Audio version performed by Hugh Fraser
4 stars

This is the 33rd Hercule Poirot book. It’s just amazing how long Poirot continued to detect and how little he aged over the years. He was a retired, police detective and World War one refugee in the initial 1920, The Mysterious Affair as Styles, and here he is again, exercising his little grey cells in 1963. Poirot is presumably quite elderly at this point, so Christie provides him with a younger counterpart, Colin Lamb, to carry out the strenuous aspects of the investigation. Poirot moves from his comfortable London apartment only for the final dénouement. While Poirot solves the domestic murder form a comfortable distance, Colin Lamb continues in his original purpose of exposing a cold war spy. The two investigations are nicely intertwined with another of Christie’s unlikely love stories.
It isn’t the convoluted mystery that makes the story so enjoyable; it’s Agatha Christie’s atmospheric commentary. She takes a poke at other authors, “He was a notable example of the fact that nothing can be duller than dull pornography.” And she comments on cold war policy,“ Nowadays one gets to feeling that nothing is really secret. We know Their secrets and They know our secrets. Our agents are often Their agents, too, and Their agents are very often our agents.”



……..spoiler…………….


This story also includes an illegitimate child who was raised by an aunt while her intellectual mother provides for her care at a physical and emotional distance. I wondered if this wasn't Agatha Christie to taking a low shot at Dorothy Sayers.
( )

A dead man is found on the floor of a blind woman's home. She is unaware of who he is or how he came to be there. None of the neighbors appear to know anything...or do they? Hercule Poirot listens to the clues from his armchair and assists in solving the mystery. Very good book! ( )