Book Review: Hercule Poirot’s Christmas (Hercule Poirot #18) by Agatha Christie

Originally published in 1938 and the 18th book in Agatha Christie‘s Hercule Poirot series, Hercule Poirot’s Christmas follows a family reunion which is marred by murder — and the notoriously fastidious investigator is quickly on the case. The wealthy Simeon Lee has demanded that all four of his sons — one faithful, one prodigal, one impecunious, one sensitive — and their wives return home for Christmas. But a heartwarming family holiday is not exactly what he has in mind. He bedevils each of his sons with barbed insults and finally announces that he is cutting off their allowances and changing his will. Poirot is called in the aftermath of Simeon Lee’s announcement.

Book Review: Halloween Party (Hercule Poirot #32) by Agatha Christie

“You and I have a principle in common. We do not approve of murder.”

Originally published in 1969 and the 32nd book in Agatha Christie‘s Hercule Poirot series, Halloween Party sees a teenage murder witness drowned in a tub of apples at a Halloween party. Joyce — a hostile thirteen-year-old — boasts that she once witnessed a murder. When no one believes her, she storms off home. But within hours her body is found, still in the house, drowned in an apple-bobbing tub. That night, Hercule Poirot is called in to find the ‘evil presence’. But first, he must establish whether he is looking for a murderer or a double-murderer…

My 2020 Reading Wrap-Up

Over the past couple of years, I have documented every film that I have watched and reviewed them all using Letterboxd. As a way to motivate myself to read more, I thought I would do the same for what books I have been reading, using Goodreads as a way to set myself a reading challenge every year.

I initially set my target as 25 books this year, but a few things happened that meant I reached this goal quite early on. Firstly, I had a baby, so this meant that I was awake at silly hours with plenty of time to read. Then, there was lockdown. Because of lockdown, I decided to join Bookstagram and NetGalley and get more serious about reviewing books. So now, instead of reading two books at most a month, I’ve been reading up to ten.

I upped my goal to 60 around halfway through the year, and still managed to pass that by reaching 74 books. This year has really rekindled my love of books, and I can’t wait to start 2021 with this new passion.

Here’s how my 2020 challenge went:

Book Review: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot #4) by Agatha Christie

“The truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to seekers after it.”

Originally published in 1926 and the fourth instalment in the Hercule Poirot series, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie is narrated by the local doctor, Dr James Sheppard, who finds his friend dead after an evening meal together. But Roger Ackroyd knew too much. He knew that the woman he loved had poisoned her brutal first husband. He suspected also that someone had been blackmailing her. Then, the evening post brought Roger one last fatal scrap of information. But before he could finish reading the letter, he was stabbed to death. Luckily, King’s Abbot has a new resident – none other than Monsieur Hercule Poirot himself – who enlists Sheppard’s help to find out who’s behind the murder of Roger Ackroyd.

Book Review: Death On The Nile (Hercule Poirot #17) by Agatha Christie

“They conceive a certain theory, and everything has to fit into that theory. If one little fact will not fit it, they throw it aside. But it is always the facts that will not fit in that are significant.”

First published in 1937, Agatha Christie‘s most exotic murder mystery, Death On The Nile, sees the acclaimed Hercule Poirot set to board the steamer Karnak to tour along the Nile while on holiday in Cairo when he must investigate the murder of a young, rich and beautiful socialite, Linnet Ridgeway. She had everything – until she lost her life. Nothing is ever quite what it seems in this exotic setting, as Poirot must find out the truth by questioning those aboard, including Linnet’s husband Simon; her best friend Jacqueline de Bellefort; her maid Louise Bourget; her trustee Andrew Pennington; romance novelist Salome Otterbourne and her daughter Rosalie; Tim Allerton and his mother; American socialite Marie Van Schuyler, her cousin Cornelia Robson and her nurse Miss Bowers; outspoken communist Mr Ferguson; Italian archaeologist Guido Richetti; solicitor Jim Fanthorp; and Austrian physician Dr Bessner.

Book Review: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

“There was something magical about an island—the mere word suggested fantasy. You lost touch with the world—an island was a world of its own. A world, perhaps, from which you might never return.”

Agatha Christie‘s bestselling crime novel of all time, And Then There Were None was first published in 1939 under a different name and is based on the minstrel song which serves as a major plot point, which has since been changed to Ten Little Soldier Boys. The story follows ten strangers who apparently with little in common, who are lured to an island mansion off the coast of Devon by the mysterious U. N. Owen. Over dinner, a record begins to play, and the voice of an unseen host accuses each person of hiding a guilty secret. That evening, one of the guests is found murdered by a deadly dose of cyanide. The tension escalates as the survivors realise that the killer is not only among them, but they are preparing to strike again. And again…

My 2018 Reading Wrap-Up

Over the past couple of years, I have documented every film that I have watched and reviewed them all using Letterboxd. As a way to motivate myself to read more, I thought I would do the same for what books I have been reading, using Goodreads as a way to set myself a reading challenge every year.

After reading only 6 books last year, I kept my target low this year and set myself the goal of 10 books. However, I somehow managed to read 20 books this year, mostly due to reading a book a day on my honeymoon.

Here’s how my 2018 challenge went, with a short review and rating for each of the books that I read:

Film Review: Murder On The Orient Express

Directed by Kenneth Branagh and based on Agatha Christie‘s train-set 1934 whodunnit, Murder On The Orient Express centres on the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh). When a passenger is murdered in his compartment aboard the Simplon-Istanbul Express, Poirot has to work out who did the dirty deed on the snow drift-stalled train.