Rating: 
Summary: Biting off more than she could chew
Review: After completing this fast paced, character driven, thriller/mystery, I immediately stocked up with more Christie titles. Slueth extrodinaire Poirot makes an unusally late appearance but, this serves to only highten his effectiveness and our interest. Ms. Christie's masteries include the ability to make us like and even care about characters in as little as 2 or 3 sentences. By doing this she clouds our judgement on motive, deception, and the ability to deduce what only becomes obvious after another classic Poirot confrontations with the suspects. This is one Christie's best "later" works.
Rating:
Summary: Biting off more than she could chew
Review: Agatha Christie, it is not often recognized, was a very good writer. Although her books never achieved the skin-tingling creepiness of John Dickson Carr, the best of the "Golden Age" mystery writers, and though Carr's books are perhaps more re-readable, the writing in Christie's best books (the 30s, 40s) was often as good as any other writer of the period.She was also as good at writing cloak and dagger books as well as convention detective mysteries, though these books are not generally as well known. "Cat Among the Pigeons" should be one of her cloak and dagger books. It veers into John Buchan territory with revolutions in foreign coutries and smuggled jewels. It is not, on the face of it, a Poirot novel. When he makes his appearance near the last third of the book, he is a welcome addition to a plot that's beginning to collapse under its own weight. Instead of being a novel of espionage or a novel of detection, it tries to be both. The result is a novel with three murders, but all of them coming late in the narrative and therefore bunched together. Because the set-up is so long, Poirot is forced to make some quantum leaps beyond his normal logic, that seem more like inspired guesses than deduction. One wonders why he was necessary at all. The book is set at a girl's school and there are many extraneous characters. Christie helps us with her usual page of character descriptions at the start, but many of the names remain little more than names. Christie was a good writer. She normally got to the point and didn't string plot threads together until her books got oppressive. And the two genres she tried to mix in this book could have been combined in a longer, more complex novel. An earlier introduction to Poirot might also have helped. He is anticipated, but, curiously, is never mentioned prior to his introduction and comes out of the blue. It looks almost like two books that have run together. Christie normally didn't waste more than one good plot on a book, but here she has the jewel story, which would've made a crackerjack espionage novel along the lines of _The Secret of Chimneys_; and the murder mystery, in the last half, that would've made a fine, typical Poirot novel. A young detective who goes undercover in the book would've made a fine solver of the jewel story. Too, many of the elements of this novel seem borrowed. The young detective's superior comes off as a lethargic version of Carr's H.M., for instance. However, one warning: there is an element of the jewel plot that you will guess almost immediately, and wonder why Christie was so obvious with it. Further reading shows that to become more complex, and the reason she wants us to guess it early seems to be so she can take a sudden left-turn with it. But the element itself is not, it turns out, very important to the plot and she can allow us a few pages to think we're clever. If you are a long-time Christie fan and want to read all her books, _Cat Among the Pigeons_ is a must; if you're just starting Christie, you might want to read a dozen or so others before getting to this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Agatha Christie mystery in Enid Blyton land
Review: An English pilot for a Middle Eastern ruling prince just managed to hide a fabulous fortune in gems somewhere in his sister's room, just before the prince was overthrown in a revolution. The unsuspecting sister returned to England with her daughter, just in time for the girl to start in Meadowbanks, an élite girls school, where a female cousin (& fiance) of the deposed prince, was also arranged to attend. Several interested parties had been on the prowl searching for the gems, the pilot's efforts had not been as clandestine as he had hoped. With new girls, new teachers, and also a new young handsome male gardener, was it a wonder that some residents of Meadowbanks felt as if there was a hidden cat among the pigeons. Agatha Christie painted an excellent picture of an English public school going about its daily business. There were staff as well as students who were trying to get use to a new environment. There was a headmistress, who having successfully established the school according to her vision after years of struggle, was considering passing the torch to the next generation. There were old faithfuls among the staff who were less prominent but had heard and seen much of what others missed.
Meadowbanks was probably Agatha Christie's of what an ideal school should be like. Having got the background set, Agatha Christie got down to business with the first murder, the victim being a rather unpopular new staff in the recently completed Sports Pavilion. Readers would have been given enough outright hints before this as to what would be of interest in the Sports Pavilion. The object of the mystery quickly turned from recovery of the gems to the discovery of the murderer. Midway, a second murder almost threw the investigators off-track, and a third murder was committed before Hercule Poirot who was called in late in the game seriously got down to business. Mystery readers could find little fault in way which the authorities set about trying to find the culprit, but it took bringing back a student's mother from Anatolia to trap the murderer. All the while, Christie managed to maintain a light hearted atmosphere despite the deaths in the story, with occassional injection of humour and wit. She included important and interesting roles for the diverse characters from students to faculty to police to parents in how the mystery was played out. This is truly one of her most readable book.
Rating:
Summary: On Children She Could Write Nothing False
Review: I first read this book when I was twelve, about the same age as the main characters in the story. Some of the motivations of the adults seemed murky to me, but the children, especially young Julia, were all spot on! Good work writing about children, as is typical of Agatha (CROOKED HOUSE) Christie.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book I've Ever Read!
Review: In school I was assigned to read an Agatha Christie book. I read this one and I thought it was great, I couldn't put it down. Now I'm hooked on Christie's books. This book isn't that easy to figure out but Poirot's little grey cells did it again.
Rating: 
Summary: Poirot Solves Murder Mystery At English Boarding School
Review: The plot is simple, the characters memorable, and the clues, motives, and suspects pure Christie in this wonderful mystery that takes place at an English boarding school for girls. A young prince of a Middle East kingdom is killed in a flying accident and leaves behind a valuable collection of jewels to be smuggled into England by his friend Bob Rawlinson. It is believed the jewels will turn up at Meadowbank School since not only the prince's sister but also the sister and niece of Bob Rawlinson are all students there. Not surprisingly, murder after murder takes place at the prestigious school. Everyone from the headmistress and teachers to the students and parents are suspects until Poirot's clever little grey cells solve the mystery.
Rating:
Summary: The Most Unforgettable of the Agatha Christies
Review: There was a time when I would honestly read this book about every two months. I simply HAD to be reading Cat Among the Pigeons, no matter what else I was reading at the time. I would alternate between two different Agatha Christies and this one, and it actually lasted about a year! That's my testimonial to how absolutely perfect Cat Among the Pigeons is. And what makes this book so great and worth the money? Well, for one thing, Agatha did a flawless job of capturing atmosphere in this book. Ramat doesn't even exist, I don't think, yet I could feel myself there, feel the heat, practically see the opulence of the unfortunate young prince's palace, and feel the current of danger and imminent disaster present in every Ramat scene. I have no idea how she did it, because she was never one to give readers a lot of local flavor. And now, here is Agatha Christie making us feel the heart of an IMAGINARY CITY! The same goes for the girls' school. I could clearly picture Meadowbank in my mind, with its lazy afternoons and young students concerned more with boys and hiding places for cigarettes, than the relationship between Iago, Desdemona, and Othello. The characters could reach out and tap you on the nose, they are made so perfectly. There are no faceless, plastic people in this novel (not that there always are in other Christies.) I've often mentally applied Christie's wonderful description of Ann Shapland's hair to other people in my life: "hair that fitted her like a black satin cap." And even though there isn't much else to Julia Upjohn's physical description besides having a freckled face like her mother, she forms a distinct appearance in my mind because of Christie's description of her personality. I don't want to give too much away, but I'll say that she's the kind of girl that Poirot would respect. And last but never least: How is the actual 'mystery' part? Well, as other reviewers have said, you will have NO IDEA who 'did it.' I can guarantee it. Truthfully. Honestly. You will pause for a second in that wonderful Agatha-Christie-Stupor while it soaks into your head. So don't worry about that part. Agatha didn't miss with this book. The shock effect for this one is one of the highest I've actually ever felt, higher than Death on the Nile, and actually getting up there with Roger Ackroyd and Orient Express. I'm serious! That's how surprising this mystery/thriller is. To sum it all up: The atmosphere is great, the characters are great, the mystery is perfect, and oh yes! I nearly forgot! The thrill factor is VERY high! There is one particular scene toward the end (it involves a chair; that's all I'll say) that will make you AT LEAST a little paranoid that there is someone watching you. Very creepy and very well done. That happens many times throughout this book. Cat Among the Pigeons is one of the best. To be fair, it is THE best of all the mystery/thrillers. Buy it and enjoy it!
Rating:
Summary: Poirot visits a girls' school
Review: This 1959 novel begins in a fictional mideastern country. The country is on the brink of revolution, the young prince is planning his escape he entrusts the family fortune in gems to his closest friend to smuggle out of the country. Arrangements are made shortly before the two young men are killed. Meanwhile, back in England it is the beginning of the summer term at Meadowlands, an exclusive girls' school. Students and staff from all over the world are there, including a princess from the mideast whose cousin/fiance has just been killed. The famous gems have also found there way there. Various unusual occurances begin to take place at the school, strange visitors, unusual behavior among the staff and then murder and kidnapping. One of the students uncovers part of the secret and decides that she needs outside help so she contacts Hercule Poirot. Poirot, of course, resolves the mysteries both large and small that have been plaguing the school. There are more characters introduced in this novel than is usual in Christie's work which makes this one of the more challenging of her work to figure out. There are several subplots woven into the action that things confusing as well. This is a departure from Christie's usual 'cozy' stories of village life or house parties. It is more of a thriller than her usual work, some of her most sympathetic characters are killed and Poirot only appears at the end of the novel. Even so it is a very enjoyable mystery and one of my personal favorites. We are also treated to an update on the Summerhills, old friends from a previous book, MRS. McGINTY'S DEAD. Mrs. Summerhill is a friend of one of the students' parents. Poirot is delighted to hear that although Mrs. Summerhill's house is still disorganized and her cooking is generally deplorable she makes wonderful omelets, a skill that she learned from him.
Rating:
Summary: Poirot visits a girls' school
Review: This 1959 novel begins in a fictional mideastern country. The country is on the brink of revolution, the young prince is planning his escape he entrusts the family fortune in gems to his closest friend to smuggle out of the country. Arrangements are made shortly before the two young men are killed. Meanwhile, back in England it is the beginning of the summer term at Meadowlands, an exclusive girls' school. Students and staff from all over the world are there, including a princess from the mideast whose cousin/fiance has just been killed. The famous gems have also found there way there. Various unusual occurances begin to take place at the school, strange visitors, unusual behavior among the staff and then murder and kidnapping. One of the students uncovers part of the secret and decides that she needs outside help so she contacts Hercule Poirot. Poirot, of course, resolves the mysteries both large and small that have been plaguing the school. There are more characters introduced in this novel than is usual in Christie's work which makes this one of the more challenging of her work to figure out. There are several subplots woven into the action that things confusing as well. This is a departure from Christie's usual 'cozy' stories of village life or house parties. It is more of a thriller than her usual work, some of her most sympathetic characters are killed and Poirot only appears at the end of the novel. Even so it is a very enjoyable mystery and one of my personal favorites. We are also treated to an update on the Summerhills, old friends from a previous book, MRS. McGINTY'S DEAD. Mrs. Summerhill is a friend of one of the students' parents. Poirot is delighted to hear that although Mrs. Summerhill's house is still disorganized and her cooking is generally deplorable she makes wonderful omelets, a skill that she learned from him.
Rating:
Summary: One of Christies BEST!
Review: This is definitely one of Christies best novels, right up there with Death Comes as the End, And Then There Were None, and Murder in Mesopotamia. Yeah, ok, she might not be a literary genius, but she definitely has genius of a kind. She practically invented this type of detective novel (i'm not counting Conan Doyle. Why? Because i hate his ludicrous novels), using the brain, whilst at the same time creating great character sketches. She doesn't develop her characters loads, but then, that is NOT what her novels are about. they're about enjoying a great puzzle. And boy, can she construct a great puzzle! The one here is probably the bestm in that is lacks Hercule Poirot for about the first three quarters (some of her best books were those which were without Poirot or Marple). through that she was able to create a good psychological detective story, then bring Poirot in at the end to tie it all up neatly and provide the solution. The climax is great, and probably one of her best. I read this when i was about 12, and was not at all versed in the workins of a detective novel, in that it is the least likely person who did it. I just enjoyed the read, and was gladly surprised when i found out the identity of the culprit. No doubt, those with mroe experience would have been able to spot the killer straight away. However, this remains one of her best novels, and one which i will enjoy reading again and again.
| 
