Very nice, very nice indeed. I liked a lot this book. Until the end I was not sure, I could not decide which of three people was the real murderer. I never even considered the fourth one because that was practically impossible.
I like the story, and I like the characters, and I like the psychological description Agatha makes of many of them.
The story: for a weekend, a group of people get together at The Hollow, Lady Lucy Angkatell and her husband Sir Henry's house. He's an ex governor, a serious and just man; she's a strange old lady, often forgets what she was doing and always speaks what her wandering mind thinks, and she's gifted with a special charm that everybody feels, specially the servants that love her very much.
Their guests are: Midge Hardcastle, an independent , warm and practical woman forever in love with Edward; John Christow, a brilliant doctor married to Gerda but in love with Henrietta: still, his greatest love is his work; Gerda, totally submissive to John, she has made him an idol, and totally adores him; Henrietta Savernake is a sculptor, in love with John; Edward Angkatell has always been in love with Henrietta, but she's always rejected him; David Angkatell, an 'intellectual' who seems to dislike everything and everyone, as always intellectuals do in Agatha's books, for some reason.
Poirot was also invited for lunch, and he arrives to see a strange scene: John dying near the pool, Gerda with a gun in her hand, Henrietta Lucy and Edward looking at the scene. He thinks of a bad joke, due to his reputation and line of work, but it's not, John has been shot.
He was coming back from Veronica Cray's home: he had left her 15 years ago for his work, they had spend the night before together (well, until 3am) and now he had just told here that she could not have him, that he would not divorce his wife because he did not love her. I never really suspected her because she could not have had access to sir Henry's weapons collection, and did not even know the house. It could have been Edward, because he saw John as the only obstacle to his marrying Henrietta, or strange ethereal Lucy because John was also an obstacle to her plans for Edward's estate (she wanted him to marry and have kids who could inherit it, and he loved Henrietta, so...) but also Henrietta herself and Gerda too, out of betrayed love. I did not really believed Henrietta did it, she was not the type, but both Gerda and Lucy seemed the type to me, and I feared for Edward because I did not like the idea of Edward being the guilty one as that would have spoiled the whole happy ending. I'm happy to say Agatha gave it to me, my happy ending, Midge and Edward finally in love and engaged :-)
Gerda did it, the idol falling into misery when she saw him with Veronica. Henrietta had tried to help her, because John wanted it: he loved her too, in his own way. I also like the ending: Gerda dying of the same poison she wanted to give Henrietta (only because she knew about Gerda. Gerda did not know of the affair), Poirot taking care of the dead while Henrietta went home and took all her pain out in her art, already imagining her new creation, because life goes on.
I want to point out that the idea of old Lucy killing John was not so crazy as it might seem; at some point towards the end she admits candidly to her husband that she had thought of that and was almost about to do it, when she considered that he was a guest, that they invited him, and being the Lady that she is she could not have that ! :-)
I know Agatha hated Poirot, but I always loved him and I love him in this book too. I can understand why she hated him, because I can imagine how she felt 'forced' to write about the same characters, forced to put Poirot everywhere because the readers loved it and wanted more books with him (and I'm one of them). Although I know all that, I still love every scene with Poirot in it, and I appreciate that she never mistreated him out of personal dislike :-)
ITA: Poirot e la salma
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