The ABC Murders

I jumped a little further down the list of Poirot books as this one came well-recommended, and I must say it was terrific. If Death on the Nile is the definitive exotic murder case, the “this is what a Poirot book is” book, then ABC is a great bending of the format.

For a start, the book doesn't start out as a whodunnit, more of a howdunnnit, but it turns out who we think - or are lead to think - dunnit doesn't tell the whole story. As such, the narrative sometimes jumps back and forth between Captain Hasting's narrative with Poirot, and some snapshots of the would-be culprit, ABC. Constantly Poirot is remind us that the who is not the end of the case, but that without the why we cannot be fully satisfied, so it goes on to be proved that it's a bit more complicated than it starts out.

One of the things that distinguishes this hunt for a serial killer nicely, is that rather than solve one murder alone, Poirot solves a spate of crimes with the help of some of the people closest to the previous victims. This cabal of adjacents forms our cast, where the usual playbook is that it's all the people who live in a manor house, the gardener, the butler, the maid etc.

I would say the initials of the guy being ABC is a bit of a cartoonish indulgence, but I don't mind that so much. Likewise, when the narrative does switch, we get a little “Not from Hastings' Narrative” sub-title, which I didn't need. I think Christie could trust the audience to know this is a cut-away, and not have her narrator accused of omniscience. I don't like being reminded that I'm reading a book, and this is how books work. Let me get lost in it.