Rating: 
Summary: Agatha Christie's Locked Room Murder Mystery.
Review: Although generally regarded as typifying the cozy murder mystery writer in whose books there is either a murder in a locked room or a murder at a family reunion in a country house, Agatha Christie rarely tried her hand at either of these murder mystery genres. In "Hercule Poirot's Christmas", however, she combines both. The family is the dysfunctional Lee family, summoned to pass Christmas together in the house of old Simeon Lee, the patriarch. During this stressful reunion, a commotion followed by a blood-curdling scream is heard from the room on the first floor occupied by old Simeon. When the locked door is forced open, the furniture is found upended, the safe rifled, and Simeon is found lying dead with his throat cut. The door key is in place, on the inside of the door. Having depicted how the family members despise, hate, or resent each other up to this point, Agatha Christie next allows the investigations and theories to develop. Poirot is on hand, but she cleverly allows other police inspectors and investigators to do most of the work and make most of the mistakes. The solution is one you will never forget, but also one that you will probably never arrive at before Poirot reveals all. Agatha Christie is wonderfully clever at laying out all the clues in an arrangement that directs the reader away from the vital ones. Apart from a few lines of description, almost everything in the text is dialogue. To anyone in the world who has not yet read this 1940 mystery nothing more need be said. To those who are re-reading it, I suggest they notice how cleverly it is plotted and planned.
Rating: 
Summary: four points
Review: An average of 5 stars for this silly mystery? please. Nobody enjoys an Agatha Christie mystery more than myself, but I never expected all her books to be of the same quality. Therefore I wasnt too surprised to find that HERCULE POIROT'S CHRISTMAS belonged to that small group of lesser interesting writings. I can give you four reasons. Firstly, the characters are gravely underdeveloped. It just seems that there was such a great need for suspects that it didnt matter if some of them were almost completely left out of the scope of the pointing finger of blame.
Secondly, the most fascinating of a Poirot mystery is the little Belgian, pocket Hercules, himself. And although Dame Agatha usually does such a splendid job of describing him beautifully and thoroughly down to the smallest detail, here we are faced with just a shadow of this talent. The same goes for the story as a whole, it seems more a preliminary sketch rather than a finished project, as it always seems to rush you along, introducing too many characters and too many sub-plots in too little time and with too little detail.
As a third point Id like to point out, what all readers must have found very annoying, is that at the end, one supposed clue to the mystery is given as never having been a clue at all. It seems it was simply something necessary to baffle us even more in the beginning, that was forgotten by the writer during the solving of the mystery, and put in at the end when it was remembered, with a silly excuse. All this makes the haste and the hurry of the last pages seem even more annoying, is extremely dissatisfying and gives one the impression the writer just wanted to get it over with.
And finally, as for the last point. IT WAS OBVIOUS. Its true, we all try to find the culprit and with the brilliant Agatha Christie pointing the carrot in all directions we usually fail, and this makes the ending usually so exciting and fulfilling. But this time Christie has failed. When, still far from any conclusion to the story, Poirot goes to a certain store, and buys a certain item, then the solution was obvious, and the ending probably not even worth reading.
It may be argued the whole point of the Agatha Christie mysteries is the mystery itself and the suspense, and not the character analysis or the background or the complexity of the plot. But in this case, in the case of HERCULE POIROTS CHRISTMAS, I find there to be a lack of all expected ingredients. Had it been a mystery to the end, had the unveiling of the murderer been a surprise, then maybe it would have deserved 4 stars, but as I said before, Christie, this time made it too obvious.
Nevertheless I can only recommend that this Poirot mystery be skipped, because the rest are very enjoyable little pleasures (and I highly recommend THE MURDER OF ROGER ACROYD).
That little Belgian, with his little grey cells. Yes, he is truly a remarkable creation, is he not Hastings?
Rating: 
Summary: A Bloody Good Mystery
Review: Have you ever gotten one of those easy-to-assemble kits and discovered that no matter how you try, the pieces just will not go together? Have you ever labored to solve a puzzle only to find a piece or two missing? In this case Christie assembles a cast of suspects, gives them ample motive and opportunity, gives them all reasons to lie, throws in a group of clues that simply cannot be reconciled in any logical fashion, and then brings off a solution which explains everything and exposes a killer you'd never suspect. The story (originally titled "Murder for Christmas") was written in 1938, the same year Christie wrote "Appointment with Death." The two stories share much in common. "Appointment" features a fabulously wealthy, tyrannical matriarch who delights in tormenting her children. "Christmas" features a fabulously wealthy, tyrannical patriarch who delights in tormenting his children. By the time the matriarch/patriarch is bumped off, the reader is ready help kill him/her. The children in both stories are all pathetic weaklings. Despite their weakness, the reader can develop affection for some of them. "Appointment" featured a rather straightforward, easily achieved modus operandi and Christie's favorite murder weapon--poison. "Christmas" served up a locked room mystery with a diabolically clever methodology fraught with the peril of miscarriage. One feature of the murder was the vast amount of blood shed when the victim was stabbed. The murderer would have been covered with blood, but none of the suspects seems to have any blood on them. Having read "Murder on the Orient Express," I was familiar with Christie's seeming lack of understanding of the dynamics of blood spatter in stabbing cases. In this case, however, there was a very good explanation for the non-detection of blood on any of the suspects. Christie never ceases to amaze with her perpetrators. In one case the narrator was the killer. In another the apparent victim turned out to be the murderer. Murderers keep falling out of the woodwork from the most unexpected places. She once even had the butler do it! Poirot's theory of the case insisted on the murderer being a family member. In the end, I think even Poirot was surprised at which family member it was. Christie plants the clues to the murderer's identity so skillfully, that even though they're there, you'll read right past them without taking any note whatever. When the killer is revealed, you'll slap your forehead and say "of course!"
Rating:
Summary: A cracking Christmas mystery
Review: Hercule Poirot is spending Christmas in the country with his friend Colonel Johnson, Chief Constable of Middleshire, and suffering greatly from the lack of central heating, "Nothing like a wood fire" says Colonel Johnson, but Poirot disagrees. Then nasty, malicious old millionaire Simeon Lee is bloodily murdered, and Poirot is called in to investigate.
The house is full of Simeon Lee's put-upon sons and their put-upon wives, any one of whom might have wanted to do the old tyrant in, especially as Lee was about to change his will, apparently to include his beautiful granddaughter Pilar, just arrived from Spain, whom none of the family had ever set eyes on before. The family are naturally anxious to insist that the murder must have been an outside job, whereas Poirot is equally convinced that one of the family is responsible.
This is one of the most delightful of the Poirot mysteries, with an interesting set of characters,especially vivacious, unconventional Pilar, amusing dialogue, and a cunning murderer to unmask. A real Christmas treat.
Rating:
Summary: Who-done-it? Agatha. Again.
Review: I highly recommend this book to all her fans and even people who haven't read any of her work. She gets you thoroughly wrapped in her clutches within the first 20 pages and keeps you there until the end. Better get some sleep, because you'll be up 'til 2 with this one!...
Rating:
Summary: Most puzzling and exciting yet!
Review: I'll have to agree with the first reviewer of this novel. The title is a bit misleading. However, I do believe that Agatha meant it to be that way. I have studied literature for a while and know that the everything that is in the novel is meant for something. To all the people wanting to read this novel, here's a tip: Everything that is stated in the book, diaglogue, details, etc. are all key to solving the mystery. To all of us Agatha fans, it proves to be true. The characters are very well developed, much better than any other Agatha novel I've read to date. The plot is priceless, the identities confusing (deliciously so!), and the conclusion is a shocking. Agatha knows how to lead her readers on, and proves so with this tale of murder and mayhem around Christmas time. At the beginning of the conclusion, who think it's Suspect A, but then you lean towards Suspect B, and at the end, Poirot reveals in all grandness the killer, and you're sitting there kicking yourself saying, "Why didn't I think of that!" The pacing of the book is good and I read it in two days. The suspense builds and the storytelling is at it's finest. For those of you waiting for a plot summary, read the synopsis above. I won't reveal anything for it'll ruin the surprise of the novel. Though not one of her famous books, it's one her best, this one definitely deserves your money!
Rating:
Summary: And you thought your family holidays were stressful!
Review: Simeon Lee was not a nice man. He was, however, very rich. His chief form of amusement since his retirement from business was to torment his sons and their wives. All, including the long absent black sheep of the family, are summoned to spent Christmas in the isolated family home. They are joined by a never before met granddaughter and the son of a former business partner. Before the the holidays are over Simeon is found dead in a locked room, diamonds are missing and suspicion is cast over the whole household. In the hands of an author less skilled than Christie this would be just another locked room murder but Christie brings the story to life. As always her characters seem real, her detective (Poirot) is marvelously quirky and even if the reader should happen to solve the crime first it is still a fun read. This book has been published under several titles, always a problem with Christie's works, which can lead a reader to inadvertently pick up a 'new' book only to discover an old friend in disguise. To further complicate matters the basic premise of this work is very much the same as 4:50 From Paddington - a Miss Marple story.
Rating:
Summary: And you thought your family holidays were stressful!
Review: Simeon Lee was not a nice man. He was, however, very rich. His chief form of amusement since his retirement from business was to torment his sons and their wives. All, including the long absent black sheep of the family, are summoned to spent Christmas in the isolated family home. They are joined by a never before met granddaughter and the son of a former business partner. Before the the holidays are over Simeon is found dead in a locked room, diamonds are missing and suspicion is cast over the whole household. In the hands of an author less skilled than Christie this would be just another locked room murder but Christie brings the story to life. As always her characters seem real, her detective (Poirot) is marvelously quirky and even if the reader should happen to solve the crime first it is still a fun read. This book has been published under several titles, always a problem with Christie's works, which can lead a reader to inadvertently pick up a 'new' book only to discover an old friend in disguise. To further complicate matters the basic premise of this work is very much the same as 4:50 From Paddington - a Miss Marple story.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting Holiday Mystery
Review: Simeon Lee, an aging millionaire, and the master of Gorston Hall, has invited all of his relatives for a holiday vacation filled with fun, games, mystery, and death. As soon as Simeon's relatives are comfortable, the alterations begin. First Simeon changes parts of his will, leaving many relatives unhappy, and him dead. The strange part of the murder isn't who slashed Simeon's throat, or why, but rather how, as he was murdered in his bedroom, where the door was locked from the inside. Now a new guest has arrived at Gorston Hall, Hercule Poirot, and he's brought with him the gift of detection. Written in scenes, instead of chapters, as if it were a play, HERCULE POIROT'S CHRISTMAS, has brought a new element to the mystery world. Christie has outdone herself with this novel. Weaving strange story twists and plots into one, to create an amazingly creative, and interesting mystery that will keep all readers on the edge of their seat until the very last page. A must-have book for all mystery fans. Erika Sorocco
Rating:
Summary: Hercule Poirot's Christmas
Review: This book has one of the best conclusions of all the Agatha Christie novels I have read. I very highly recommend it to anyone who likes mystery novels, even to people who haven't read an Agatha Christie book before. Simeon Lee is one of the richest men in England. He is estranged from most of his family, but one Christmas, he invites them to come to his mansion to spend the holiday with him. He is found brutally murdered in a pool of blood in his bedroom, which was locked from the inside. Each of his relatives has a motive, but it is up to Hercule Poirot to figure out which one of them is the murderer--before he or she strikes again.
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