The Murder on the Links
by Agatha Christie
Genres: Crime, MysteryPages: 273
Series: Poirot #2
Rating:
Synopsis:On a French golf course, a millionaire is found stabbed in the backā¦
An urgent cry for help brings Poirot to France. But he arrives too late to save his client, whose brutally stabbed body now lies face downwards in a shallow grave on a golf course.
But why is the dead man wearing his sonās overcoat? And who was the impassioned love-letter in the pocket for? Before Poirot can answer these questions, the case is turned upside down by the discovery of a second, identically murdered corpseā¦
The Murder on the Links is the second Poirot book, and mercifully gets rid of Hastings by marrying him off. He’s just unbearable — one can believe there’s someone so self-absorbed and unable to learn from mistakes, but one would rather not have to. Not that I love Poirot as a character, either, but Hastings’ deficiencies are much more aggravating.
The plot here is a bit over-convoluted, to my mind, and of course relies on characters appearing and disappearing like jack-in-the-boxes. “Cinderella” and Hastings’ relationship is based on less than nothing, and Poirot’s posturing toward Giraud does him no credit in my eyes.
There’s a satisfaction in seeing the plot work out, but it wasn’t enough for me. I wonder if I’ll get along better with Poirot without Hastings — I know I likedĀ The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, back when I read that.
Rating: 2/5
I read this book last month, and while I liked it a smidge better than you did, I also was glad that Hastings is married and living his own life after this one. (For me, his constant “Ooh a girl! I’m in love!” was what annoyed me about him.) I just finished Roger Ackroyd, and liked it a lot better than this book.
With Hastings, it’s that and his constant “Poirot’s making a fool of himself, poor old boy” when of course it’s Hastings who is the fool. Ugh.
I remember finding The Murder of Roger Ackroyd really clever — I actually first read it for a crime fiction course at university, so I was reading it with an eye to how it was constructed etc etc and it’s just so fun.
I opted for the TV episode of this story when I wanted to engage with it in the 100th year of its publication last year. That was fun.
Ha! If I was inclined to rate a book as 2/5, I probably wouldnāt have finished it. I admire your fortitude. And will definitely be avoiding this one.