As I’m sure you all noticed yesterday’s blog post was missing. Whoops! Luckily it was found before it snuck its way to the back of my mind never to be seen again. In the spirit of missing or mystery things I thought I’d write about my favourite murder mystery novel, Agatha Christie’s Third Girl. Don’t worry, there aren’t any spoilers!
I’ve always been an Agatha Christie fan, in fact I love her books so much I wrote my dissertation on her books. “‘Dirty and Lunatic Scribble’ or Simply Realistic? The Portrayal of Women in Dorothy L Sayers, Agatha Christie, and Josephine Tey” in case you’re wondering!
Third Girl also made a great television episode for ITV’s Agatha Christie’s Poirot series. Jemima Rooper is a fantastic Norma Restarick, and David Suchet is, as always, the perfect Poirot. Plus Ariadne Oliver makes an entertaining appearance. She was only in six Poirot books don’t you know!
But back to the book!
Synopsis:
Three single girls share a London flat. The first works as a secretary; the second is an artist; the third, who comes to Poirot for help, disappears believing she is a murderer. There are rumours of revolvers, flick-knives, and blood stains. But, without hard evidence, it will take all Poirot’s tenacity to establish whether the third girl is guilty, innocent or insane.
Review:
I love love love this book! It’s an easy read, but still very entertaining, so if you’re looking for a weekend or holiday read this could be the book for you. If you think classic murder mystery novels are dull and slow you’ll be proved very wrong with this book.
Poirot uses his ‘little grey cells’ to full effect, the appearance of Ariadne Oliver provides some light relief to an otherwise pretty tragic tale of love, loss, greed, and revenge. The criminals are suitably nasty, there are more than a few red herrings, and as usual, Dame Agatha Christie is a lot of fun.
I find Norma Restarick a heroine that you can really root for, especially when you realise just how badly she’s been treated by her ‘family’ in their pursuit of money. When she’s not in a confused state of mind (see, no spoilers!) she’s a strong female character, something that Christie’s books were sometimes lacking.
I’ve heard people say that the books Agatha Christie wrote in her later life weren’t as good as the early novels, but I would have to disagree with this book. I think it’s a real page turner, with strong characters and a plot that keeps you interested right until the end.
LiteratureJunkiee 