Book Review: Five Little Pigs (Hercule Poirot #25) by Agatha Christie
About the Book:
Title and Author: Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie , formerly called “Murder in Retrospect” by Agatha Christie
No. of Pages: 224
Publication Date: 1942
Genre: Mystery, Crime Fiction, Classics, Hercule Poirot Mystery, Detective Fiction, Novel, Murder Mystery, Cold Case
Buy From: AMAZON
Read the previous Hercule Poirot Mystery Book
Blurb:
It was an open and shut case. All the evidence said Caroline Crale poisoned her philandering husband, a brilliant painter. She was quickly and easily convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Now, sixteen years later, in a posthumous letter, Mrs. Crale has assured her grown daughter that she was innocent. But instead of setting the young woman’s mind at ease, the letter only raises disquieting questions. Did Caroline indeed write the truth? And if she didn’t kill her husband, who did?
To find out, the Crale’s daughter asks Hercule Poirot to reopen the case. His investigation takes him deep into the conflicting memories and motivations of the five other people who were with the Crales on the fatal day. With his keen understanding of human psychology, he manages to discover the surprising truth behind the artist’s death.
Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie Book Review
Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie is the twenty-fifth book featuring the famous Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. First published in 1942 as “Murder in Retrospect”, this book was renamed Five Little Pigs on the nursery rhyme of the same name later on.
A sixteen year old case is brought to Poirot by a woman who claims that her mother didn’t kill her father and was wrongly convicted.
This is a cold-case with the major players either dead or scattered and all physical evidence also unavailable. So, Poirot is skeptical of solving the case but is convinced by the young woman to pursue the case.
It’s psychology that interests you, isn’t it? Well, that doesn’t change with time. The tangible things are gone- the cigarette end and the footprints and the bent blades of grass. You can’t look for those any more. But you can go over all the facts of the case, and perhaps talks to the people who were there at the time- they’re all still alive and then- and then, as you said just now, you can lie back in your chair and think. And you’ll know what really happened…”
Quotes from Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie
And so begins an adventure that takes Hercule Poirot back in time to a mystery that looked so straightforward with a jealous and angry wife poisoning her cheating husband. But as Poirot investigates, this simple crime becomes a complex murder with every character in the story having a reason to murder the famous painter, Amyas Crale. There is his wife, his mistress, his friend, his sister and the governess.
Things I Liked:
I thoroughly enjoyed this Detective fiction from the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie and was kept on my toes throughout. This is one of those books where at one or another point in the story you are almost convinced that one particular character is the real killer, only to be thrown a curve ball by the author leaving you shocked to see that another character is more suitable as the killer!
Plot of the book:
The plot is intricately planned and executed. This is not only a murder mystery but also a study of human nature as well as a study of the societal issues of those times. Like the daughter, Clara wants her father’s murder mystery solved and her mother proved innocent only so that her future husband’s unconscious suspicion that her family’s dark history could affect their marriage is satisfied.
I want to marry John!…And I mean to marry John!…My mother was innocent…It isn’t sentiment. There’s her letter. She left it for that one reason- that I should be quite sure…That she hadn’t done it- that she was innocent- that I could be sure of that always…That’s why it’s all right for me to marry John. I know it’s all right. But he doesn’t. He feels that naturally I would think my mother was innocent. It’s got to be cleared up…”
Quotes from Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie
A poignant description of women and their situation in society:
This story also poignantly describes the situation of women and wives where a wife had to bear the responsibility of keeping her family together and showing a happy front even when she was acutely unhappy. Caroline Crale loved her husband with all her heart but was never given her due respect and love by her husband who flitted from one woman to another with no regard to the feelings and happiness of his wife and family.
With women, love always comes first.”
Quotes from Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie
The author also talks about men who are secure in the knowledge that they are men so immune to every censure from society. Amyas Crale always returned to his wife because he was confident of her love towards him. He knew she would never leave him, never abandon her daughter, never break her family and where could she go? The world was better with a man beside a woman.
Men have the best of this world. I hope that it will not always be so.”
Quotes from Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie
Conclusion:
Agatha Christie’s books have stood the test of time and are as relevant and entertaining today as they were decades ago when they were first published.
A classic that will keep you at the edge of your seat and in thrall of Poirot’s “little grey cells” as well as also leave you thinking about the injustices still prevalent in society, Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie is another masterpiece crime fiction from the Queen of Crime and a must-read. 5 out of 5 super shiny stars to it and Njkinny recommends this mystery novel to all mystery and crime fiction lovers.
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Also Read:
Murder on the Links (Hercule Poirot #2) by Agatha Christie Book Review and Book Quotes
Book Review: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot #4) by Agatha Christie
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie Book Review and Book Quotes
Book Review: Death in the Clouds (Hercule Poirot #12) by Agatha Christie
Elephants Can Remember (Hercule Poirot #40) by Agatha Christie Book Review and Book Quotes
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