Cat Among the Pigeons

Perhaps not a very satisfying mystery but an entertaining novel about strong, resourceful women.

"The Cat Among The Pigeons" is a book with a sprawling plot and a mostly transparent plot that is rescued and made quite entertaining by a cast of, to use Christie's term, "most unusual" women.

Although it is the thirty-fourth Poirot book, Poirot doesn't appear until the last third of the book and his role is mostly confined to that of expository device (one of the last chapters is even called "Poirot Explains"). He offers some insights and uses his connections to get information and assistance, but this is a book that he's in rather than a book that is about him.

The story is not a typical whodunnit, with a narrow focus on an evil deed and the show more use of Poirot's little grey cells gradually to eliminate a long list of interesting suspects.
It's a story of... well it's complicated. It's about a revolution in a Middle-Eastern Kingdom, espionage, jewel smuggling, abduction and murder. murder, abduction, and jewel smuggling. It's not the tightest plot but the sprawl is contained by using the first term of the academic year at a Meadowbank, a prestigious and slightly unconventional private school for girls to bring all the crucible that melds these different elements together.

I think the book is best enjoyed by approaching it as if it were not a Poirot book. This was published in 1959, by which time Christie seems to have become rather bored with Poirot. It seems to me that, in "Cat Among The Pigeons" she leverages the Poirot Franchise to produce what is almost a spin-off book in which she responds to the mood of the times by spinning a tale of international espionage (this was the year when "Goldfinger" the seventh Bond book, was a best-seller) and by reflecting on the changing role of women in post-war Britain.

The book is dominated by strong, resourceful women who are behaving in ways that they take for granted but which the men in the story (mostly Establishment types) see as "most unusual".

The most notable of these is Miss Bulstrode, the founder and headmistress of Meadowbank school. I really liked Christie's portrait of a charismatic, visionary woman who has the political nouse and Establishment influence to get things done, is passionate about education, sees change as the only constant and is genuinely interested in the girls in her care and the staff in her charge. Miss Bulstrode is redoubtable but she's not an alpha male in a frock. She's insightful, listens well, keeps an open mind, accepts risks and takes responsibility for her decisions. She's also often quietly witty.

In addition to Miss Bulstrode, we have a mother and school-age daughter pair where the mother worked in Intelligence during the War and is now comfortable setting off alone by local bus across Anatolia and daughter is astute enough to figure out the mystery and resolute enough to act independently to fix the problem.

We have a fearless, no-nonsense (and completely tactless) Games Mistress, a bright but socially inept mathematician, an extremely efficient and independent secretary, and a young teacher who is too bright and too passionate for most of the people around her to see her as anything but "slightly touched". In the final chapter, we have one more woman who takes decisions that speak to strength of character and clarity of purpose, who is again described as a "most unusual woman".

Perhaps the most tiresome part of the book was the part with Poirot in it. His late involvement resulted in a great deal of repetition. His grandstanding in the get-everyone-in-one-room-and-shout-j'accuse scene rang rather hollow and the actions it triggered were the least plausible part of the plot.

I also got rather tired of having the phrase "Cat among the pigeons" repeated and repeatedly explained. It and the phrase "new lamps for old" could have been turned into an intoxicating drinking game.

This isn't one of Christie's strongest mysteries but I think that, if you take it on its own terms, it's a very entertaining novel. show less

I enjoyed this book a lot. It's a complicated read, in that there is definitely an element of Orientalism (and also prejudice against gingers) in the plot, which is problematic - but at the same time, the book itself problematizes the Orientalism of its characters. The it's a both-and situation - the book is still problematic, but interesting for its both/and approach.

The characters themselves are complicated and interesting, and the mystery is satisfying in that there were bits of it I could figure out, but also things that stumped me.

I absolutely loved the setting of this - I'm a real sucker for school stories and though Poirot makes a very small appearance here, I deeply enjoyed young detective Julia and the various characters in the story. Most illuminating remarks made about teaching and managing a school, too. The plot is a bit of a departure for Christie as it involves espionnage and some of the action takes place in a foreign non-European country but the whole thing felt very logical and smooth. Very good installment.

This was one of the first Christie books I ever read. I was craving mystery books but too cool to read ones with older detectives like Poirot or Miss Marple, so my mom gave me this one to read. This is a Poirot book but he doesn't make an appearance until near the end.

This mystery takes place at Meadowbrook, a prestigious girls' school in England. But all is not well when murder strikes three times. Julia Upjohn is a student at Meadowbrook and when things start happening, she takes notice of some peculiarities. But she eventually calls upon the great Hercule Poirot to solve these murders.

my review: Though I have read many Agatha Christie books, this remains one of my favorites, a book I can read over and over again.
As usual, Christie show more has loads of interesting and suspicious characters, so much so that I am usually halfway through a reread before I remember who the guilty ones are. It is told through the perspective of many characters, but fifteen year old Julia is my favorite. I always thought she should have made an appearance in another Christie novel. No matter the time period, Christie mysteries are ageless. And what does a revolution and priceless gems have to do with a girls' finishing school? Read it and find out!

rating 5/5 show less

International intrigue comes to a girls’ school in this classic mystery with a hint of espionage. After spending a few weeks in the Middle East with her mother visiting her uncle, Jennifer Sutcliffe begins a new term at Meadowbank School for Girls. Unbeknownst to Jennifer and her mother, Jennifer’s uncle hid something in their belongings. Someone is aware of it, and this person won’t hesitate to kill to get hold of the hidden items. But who is it? One of the teachers, or maybe even one of the students? Eventually someone has the wits to summon Hercule Poirot, who quickly makes sense of all the strange events.

This is one of my favorite Poirot novels, even though Poirot doesn’t appear until very late in the book (about 2/3 of the show more way through, in fact). The clues are more heavy-handed than I’m used to from Christie. I am puzzled by the lacrosse sticks on the cover of the audio version, and the mention of lacrosse in the Overdrive book summary. As far as I can recall, lacrosse isn’t mentioned in the book. There are frequent mentions of tennis, however. I don’t know how you confuse the two sports, and it makes me wonder if anyone at the publishing company bothered to read the book. show less

WARNING: This review contains spoilers.

****

Even though Poirot doesn't show up until page 134, this is still a very good story. If you've read any of Enid Blyton's boarding school series (Malory Towers, St. Clare's), they may be in your mind when you read about Meadowbank, the school in this book, except for the fact that Blyton's schoolmistresses don't get murdered. A total of three die over the course of the book, and the motive is tied in with exotic jewels that have been smuggled out of a revolution-torn country in the Middle East. The story is really interesting (and the Middle Eastern flavour adds a nice touch to this book) and the final twist was particularly ingenious. Well worth a read.

The games mistress at an exclusive girls' school is found dead in the gym. Is there a connection with a fortune in jewels smuggled out of a collapsing Middle Eastern regime?

In the beginning this read like one of Christie's spy stories, which I find less interesting than her detection-focussed works. However, we were back on familiar territory when the story shifts to the school even if Poirot only puts in an appearance about 2/3 of the way through. Entertaining and I loved the headmistress, even if (or because?) I did keep thinking of Alistair Sims in St. Trinians (not helped by the Joyce Grenfell reference in the book).