When podcaster and author Kemper Donovan said he rated Agatha Christie’s Five Little Pigs as Christie’s best novel, I was intrigued. Better than And Then There Were None or Murder on the Orient Express? When I learned it was a cold case, I was even more interested. And, once I started it and discovered there was no Captain Hastings, all the better. I’ve never been a fan of Poirot’s sidekick. I see him as a weaker Dr. Watson.
Sixteen years after her mother’s death, Carla Crale asks Hercule Poirot to examine the cold case. Her mother, Caroline Crale, was convicted of killing her husband, artist Amyas Crale, by poisoning him. A year later, Caroline died in prison, but not before sending her daughter a letter insisting she was innocent. Carla had been sent to Canada to live with relatives after her father’s murder, and remembered nothing of the events that occurred when she was only five. When she reached adulthood and planned to marry, her aunt and uncle gave her the letter from her mother. Now, Carla wants Poirot to find out the truth about her father’s death and her mother’s innocence or guilt.
The book is broken into three sections. In the first, Poirot interviews people involved in the original case, the lawyers, a clerk, and a police officer to learn their opinions. Then, he turns to the five people who were present when Amyas Crale died; his best friend the brother of the best friend who was the man who accidentally supplied the poison, Crale’s lover, Caroline Crale’s daughter who was a teenager at the time, and the sister’s governess. They all have a different view as to the relationship between Caroline and Amyas, but four of the five insist she was guilty of murder.
Then, Poirot asks the five survivors to write their memories of the day the artist died. That’s section two. The final section of the mystery features Poirot’s conclusions. All along, Poirot was interested in the characters involved, saying that was his interest in all of his cases.
Because I read for character, I enjoyed following along with Poirot’s investigation, and reading his summary. Unlike Murder on the Orient Express, Poirot did not seem to be all over the place with his conclusions. I can’t say it’s Agatha Christie’s best mystery. Unlike Kemper Donovan, I’m no expert, and I haven’t read all of Christie’s books. However, I can say it’s my favorite of the Hercule Poirot mysteries I’ve read, a solid investigation into a cold case with a satisfying conclusion. And, I thought the five suspects fit the nursery rhyme “This Little Piggy” perfectly. I finished the book with a satisfied feeling.
Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie. William Morrow, 1942. 288p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I bought a copy of the book.
