Poirot short stories only takes twenty or thirty minutes to read. Maybe less, depending on how fast you are. This one? Three times that! So this ought to be exciting, right?
The plans for a new bomber jet have been stolen, and the only suspect has a rock solid alibi. On the same night, a witness reported seeing a ghost! Now, it’s up to Hercule Poirot to put these strange threads together and find the thief!
Right out the gate, this one sets itself apart from the others. The first chunk of this story doesn’t feature Poirot or Hastings in the slightest. Our mystery begins not with a character telling them what happened; we actually experience the crime from the perspective of the characters affected by it! Immediately, the mystery is more interesting and engaging than any before it!
Even when Poirot does take the stage, this short continues to be a drastic departure from the norm. Namely in that the story is told in the third-person from Poirot’s perspective. Our boy Hastings is nowhere to be seen!
No, this one is more akin to Christie’s full Poirot novels. A mystery is established, Poirot is brought, he interviews everyone, and solves the case. If you’re a fan of dissecting testimonies and cross-references lies like it’s a Phoenix Wright game, this short is the one for you!
The mystery itself is definitely one of the better ones. A seemingly impossible theft, with both the criminal and the goods still being in the building. On top of it all, our beloved Belgian needs to find a way to solve the case without letting on that there’s an investigation at all! It’s fun!
More than that, it allows for the cast to actually be interesting! In the usual fare, the side characters are just machines for spouting exposition. Here, each one has a distinct and fun personality! Like the maid who is extremely political or the horny family heir!
All of this comes to a head with one of the most satisfying endings to a Poirot short we’ve seen yet! It’s genuinely surprising, satisfying, and more than anything: it makes sense! You could actually put the pieces together and solve the whole thing yourself!
I’m genuinely surprised by how much I loved this one! It’s length only makes it better! Seriously, if you’re gonna read any Poirot story, read this one!
Jonah's Books & Rants 
Leave a comment