A fine book, but a sad one. From the start I had half solution, meaning that I felt a certain woman was guilty, but didn't think of the other murderer until very late in the book.
There is Ariadne Oliver again, calling for Poirot's help because at a children's party a 13 years old girl has been killed. That day poor Joyce had said that she had witnessed a murder years ago, and someone had silenced her forever, so Poirot goes to Woodleigh Common and starts investigating the past. Two years before an old woman died and her au pair girl vanished (ex-superintendent Spence's sister calls her "opera girl" :lol: funny). A man had been stabbed but no arrest was made.
Everyone says Joyce was a chronicle liar and yet she had been killed because of it. Her little brother, who seems to have too much money, is killed too, because instead of talking to Poirot he chose blackmail. Spoilers, future me be warned, if you care. Mrs Llewellyn-Smythe had changed her will leaving all to Olga, the au pair girl, but Olga was accused of having falsified the will and she said she had a friend that would have helped her to tun away, but she didn't. She was killed.
The party was in Rowena Drake's house, because she's so efficient she always organize everything. The murder happened in her library, but the house was open and at least 30 people were there... but she never fooled me, I felt her right away, she sounded so false... well, ok, it may seem ridiculous to say "sounded" because I just read them, but when you read a book you live the story and hear the conversations, so as I was saying, she sounded so false to me I was sure about her being guilty of having killed Joyce and also of taking her mother-in-law's money by making it look like the poor girl Olga was dishonest. She wasn't, but she was in love with Michael Garfield, Drake's lover, so he knew about the will and they killed her. They paid Lesley Ferrier to make another will and presented that one which was of course declared a false and the blame fell on Olga. Then they stabbed Ferrier. Joyce's brother had been spying on people and blackmailing for money, so they killed him too. At the end they understood that liar Joyce had not seen them, but poor innocent Miranda had, and had told her friend all about it. Michael tried to poison her, but once found out he drank the poison and died. Good.
I think Agatha wrote this book in 1969 and it is said in the book that hanging had been banned, no more death even for murderers, which in a book is a pity because Michael and Rowena deserved it. In real life of course it's a good thing, we don't have many Poirot, Columbo or others that always get to the truth, the true truth, and never give up until they find it because they care.
It was sad to read about poor Olga and Joyce, killed because Michael wanted to be so rich as to buy a greek island and make it a garden of Eden, or about a woman able to kill children.
A few light notes: while preparing the party, someone asks Ariadne Oliver to plan a Murder-Hunt, but she goes Never again! I tried once and it didn't go well... or something like that, and I thought it was funny because I've just finished that book, the Dead man's folly, precisely before I took this one amongst all the other books. Funny huh? One of those coincidences that happen.
Ariadne Oliver's passion for apples is much talked about here, but when she sees the girl she starts hating them: she eats dates instead; there's a young couple leaning on the door of the room where she "needs" to go and she's forced to insist to make them move, and they are all: she saw we wanted to be left alone! People are so selfish, they only think of, they have no consideration for others than themselves.. :-p points of view, right?
Remembering his past, Poirot thinks of a few cases of many years before that he called The labours of Hercules :-)
Conclusion, I knew about Rowena, Joyce and Olga, but had not thought of the Michael and Miranda theme until I saw them together in that garden and she talked about the well...
Ita:Poirot e la strage degli innocenti
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