Review: Lord Edgeware Dies

Rating: 4 Stars

It is strange knowing that I have read all these books by Agatha Christie and loved them, yet I cannot remember even a little percentage of the stories! So, now reading them again feels like I’m reading a new book.

As the name suggests, in this book Lord Edgeware dies, leaving behind a confused police force, and a mystified Poirot. The case appears to be open and shut, as all suspicion falls on Lady Edgeware who was the last person to see him. The butler saw her, as did the secretary. They are positive about her identity. Her motive couldn’t be more evident, and she herself told Hercule Poirot that she wanted to kill him.

Yet, Lady Edgeware was present at a dinner party where at least 12 other people dined with her at the time when she was supposed to be visiting Lord Edgeware. She was within sight of someone or the other at all times until the party ended.

Lord Edgeware himself was no innocent. He had led such a life that had made many people his enemies, not least his nephew and heir, and his daughter herself. In addition to these people, there is the shady butler who is a bit too good-looking, and the prim secretary who is an unreliable witness.

As the murderer strikes again, it becomes a race against time for Poirot, who is convinced that a person who has killed once, will not stop at just one murder. The whole case is in danger of remaining unsolved, or a wrong person being punished for the crime, unless Poirot can get to the bottom of the whole affair. It almost becomes the case Hercule Poirot couldn’t solve.

I would have given the book 3 stars if I had even guessed half of the story right, As it turned out, while my mind was presenting many solutions, the actual solution never occurred to me. It is the genius of Agatha Christie that she came up with such brilliant plots for her novels. Read this book for the answers even if you get bored by the whole case after a while.