Another day, another murder. How Poirot does this without his soul withering away, I’ll never know.
A wealthy man is murdered in his nephew’s lodge at the hands of a mysterious bearded stranger. Distraught, the nephew seeks Poirot’s aid in the case. Problem is, the great detective is bedridden with influenza! Can Hastings handle this case on his own?
I love the premise of this short. The all-powerful detective is down for the count and it’s up to his significantly less skilled partner to solve the mystery. It’s a refreshing break in the formula these shorts always follow.
Unfortunately, not a whole lot is done with this. Rather than solve the mystery himself, Hastings constantly reports back to Poirot. We never even get the satisfaction of seeing the killer get busted; they get away because of the communication issues between Poirot and Hastings!
Well, at least Poirot didn’t treat Hastings like dirt this time. Although Hastings himself has a pretty dark reaction to the ending.
Now, the case itself is actually pretty clever. Its got some pretty decent clues that are used to subtly misdirect you from the truth. Sure, the reveal itself is a bit of a stretch, but it still mostly makes sense looking back on it.
Overall, I enjoyed Mystery of the Hunter’s Lodge well enough. While I do wish it did a little more with its premise, what we actually got was still a satisfying enough read. If you’ve got half an hour to kill, reading this one would be a good way to spend it.
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