The Patriotic Murders (original 1940; edition 1940)

Poirot.
An absolutely favorite character.
I always see David Suchet - but he's the absolute best in portraying Poirot.
Never disappointed in Agatha.
Read in 2009hhhhhh ( )

i love agatha cristie novels..
but there is some technical points ....as a dentist..
to give Anaesthesia there is techniques so, only a dentist can give it to be sure that the Anaesthesia works.otherwise it fails...
and to cure the tooth and make filling is not something that the killer can pretend to do while the real dentist was already dead...
also one cant die from adrenaline and novocain given in dental dose as Anaesthesia.....as the greek man was killed in this novel...
so the novel is good exept in this point.. ( )

Like many people, Hercule Poirot dreaded his appointment with his dentist. “There was in his heart a ridiculous hope that Mr. Morley might have been called away, might be indisposed, might not be seeing patients to-day...All in vain.” Poirot's dentist kept his appointment – one of his last, as it turned out. His body was discovered later that afternoon with the pistol with which it was presumed he took his own life. Poirot wasn't satisfied with the coroner's verdict of suicide, especially when the bodies of first one, then another of the dentist's last patients are discovered. Why was the dentist murdered, and who wanted him dead? Is there another intended victim?

The dental office setting is a fun twist on the English country house murder. The suspects are patients, colleagues, and employees rather than the usual family members, guests, and servants. The counting rhyme of the title is a plot device. Each line of the rhyme is connected in some way to the action in that chapter. Christie doesn't often refer to Poirot's earlier cases so it was fun when a couple of them popped up in this book. Finally, there was a surprise twist at the end of the story that not even Poirot foresaw! ( )

Why read: I'm reading all of Christie's mysteries.

What impressed me: This book was crazy. The story felt a little dated, but the plots twists were better than most modern books and movies. Things were very unexpected and continued to get crazier to the very end.

What disappointed me: The only real problem with this book was that is was a little difficult to get into, given the not so interesting victim. A dentist? Sort of boring. The story eventually made up for it, but I could see many people giving up on it before getting to the more exciting parts.

Recommended: Yes, a decent, not as well known, Agatha Christie mystery. ( )

On a beau s'appeler Hercule Poirot, on se sent bien peu de chose, renversé dans le fauteuil du dentiste, prêt pour le supplice. L'illustre détective est beaucoup plus à son aise en face d'une affaire criminelle embrouillée. Qu'à cela ne tienne ! Cette séance humiliante va donner à Poirot l'occasion de montrer son extraordinaire talent. D'abord parce que le dentiste va mourir de façon peu naturelle. Ensuite, parce que ses patients vont être victimes, l'un après l'autre, d'une série noire angoissante. De quoi requinquer le plus grand détective de tous les temps après un plombage douloureux…