Third Girl: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot Mysteries (Audio))

Rating:
Summary: Not a bad plot, but very dated
Review: Agatha Christie attempts to depict the swinging sixties, and falls on her face. The mystery is interesting enough, and, as usual, the solution to is discovered not through forensics but through analyzing the pyschological undercurrents of the situation. (The "third girl" idea is used very cleverly, I thought.) On the other hand, Christie writes about swinging London from an outsider's perspective, and she clearly doesn't know what she's talking about when it comes to drugs, so some parts of the book are laughable. Still, unlike many novelists who jumped on the hippie bandwagon, she's compassionate and doesn't go for the cheap shots -- the villain isn't a drug-crazed hippie but a person with more traditional (and despicable) motives. Worth reading in spite of its flaws.

Rating:
Summary: The thirtieth Hercule Poirot novel
Review: Hercule Poirot has just completed his analysis of great writers of detective fiction when he is interrupted by Miss Restarick, an unimpressive lass of twenty or so with long straggly hair. The young girl starts by explaining that she might have killed someone, but before Poirot can ask more information, she says she's changed her mind and must leave. Before she closes the door, she adds "You are too old. Nobody told me you were so old... I'm really very sorry." Poirot is intrigued by the girl, and enlists Mrs. Oliver's help in investigating Miss Restarick. The detective duo soon discovers that not only is the girl nowhere to be found, but that no one seems to care that she is missing.

In his thirtieth appearance in a novel, Hercule Poirot is claimed to be too old. But that is surely not what the reader will think of the author's wit and cleverness. At the age of seventy-five Agatha Christie still succeeds in composing a quite entertaining mystery. Admittedly The Third Girl is not one of her masterpieces, but it still has the basic ingredients of a good detective story. The things that have changed more dramatically, in comparison to the novels she wrote in the 30's, are the flamboyant characters that make up the story. It is clear that Agatha Christie does not totally agree with the way teenagers are beginning to behave in the sixties. All they seem interested in is "sniffing snow", "swallowing LSD" and "using hemp". Surely, this is an exaggeration in which Agatha Christie reveals slowly losing touch with modern age.

Nevertheless Poirot is as absurd and as able as ever, which pulls this story out of the pool of mediocrity. And be warned: the book starts of with a vital clue, so try to avoid reading the denouement while blaming yourself: "I should have known it!"

Rating:
Summary: A Minor Christie Mystery
Review: Most critics feel that Christie had exhausted herself by the 1960s--and they frequently point to THIRD GIRL as a case in point. But although the novel is very much a "minor" effort by the Queen of Crime, it is nonetheless well written and often amusing, a quick and entertaining read.

The plot concerns three young women who share a London apartment at the height of that city's "swinging sixties"--when drugs, pop art, and wild clothing fashions are at their height. And one of the young women, Norma, thinks she just may have committed a murder. This nagging worry drives her to Hercule Poirot's door, but she both intrigues and annoys Poirot when she rejects him as too old to be of any use. Fortunately, Poirot is not over the hill quite yet, and with the aid of novelist Mrs. Oliver he begins to unravel the mystery of a murder that may or may not have happened.

This is one of Christie's more farfetched novels, a tale that relies on multiple impersonations and a solution that hinges on the recognition of several unlikely coincidences; even so, the book still has considerable interest in the way Christie looks upon the counterculture of the era--and takes a leap away from her typically "cozy" mysteries to make certain aspects of the counterculture key to the motivation of her typically complex plot. Dated? In the sense that it regards an era long past and therefore alien to most moderns, yes... but one would do better to regard it as a period piece. Final word: unlikely to become a favorite, but worth reading once.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Rating:
Summary: Christie Gives Us A Mystery Set In Modern London
Review: This book, first published in 1966, gives us a very different look at London than the wonderful novels Christie wrote in the 40's did. Poirot amongst the swinging Bohemians? Well, it happens. Christie and Poirot both changed with the times and the result is interesting, although probably not her best work.

The term "third girl" refers to a way of leasing flats, very similar to the term "roommates" in the US. One girl rents a flat, then advertises for a second and third girl to share accommodations and expenses.

Ariadne Oliver once more assists Poirot in this tale of impersonation, drugs, smuggling, forgery, blackmail, and a young girl who can't remember committing a murder.

This is a great commentary on English life in the sixties and, as always, excellent plotting and character development in the Christie tradition.