Rating: 
Summary: deja vu
Review: this book was published the title under murder for christmas in the US.in 40s ,when it was reissued in paperback in the US,title was changed to a holiday for murder .in this book,an patriarch is brutally murdered on christmas eve.suspects are members of family,which are a money-grubbing politician,a baby-in-arms man,a black sheep guy,a spain swart lass,a dad-lover man,a stranger from spain. book is one of the least realistic but most ingenuous CHristies and Poiret solves it brillantly.a singular book.watch out to DEJA VU reality that Tressilian had mentioned.
Rating:
Summary: Another wholly unexpected solution
Review: This is yet another stunner by Agatha Christie. There are lots of intriguing characters for you tp puzzle over the possible guilt or innoncence thereof, there is a brilliant victim. (Rather in the style of "Appointment With Death"'s Mrs Boynton) who, though a despicable character, is quirky and livens up the writing. He is fun to read about, and despite his apparent callousness, quite likeable. The final solution is incredibly good. Really, its almost as notable as the solution to "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd", completely unexpected, yet makes the reader kick themself for their ignorance and blindness. Poirot is on fine form once again this seasonal mystery, which has many twists and turns towards the end, which delight.
Rating: 
Summary: An Extremely Rare Christie Misfire
Review: This novel has worn several different titles since it was first published in 1939: first titled MURDER FOR CHRISTMAS and later republished as A HOLIDAY FOR MURDER, it is presently known as HERCULE POIROT'S CHRISTMAS. But no number of name changes can disguise the fact that this is one of the rare misfires in Dame Agatha Christie's long and distinguished career. Christie's great strength was her ability to create fiendishly complex plots that suddenly untangle with the most unexpected twist imaginable--and she doesn't fail us in that respect. The story concerns the wealthy and eccentric Simon Lee, an elderly man who summons his surviving family to attend him over Christmas. But this is not a kindly gesture: bored and meanspirited, Lee sets out to entertain himself by unnerving his family by changing his will, and murder is not far behind. Unfortunately the tone of the novel is incredibly wooden. Never has Christie created such incredibly flat characters; never has she been so sloppy in detail. And she ultimately stretches our willing suspension of disbelief to the breaking point in her solution, which is a mixture of unlikely mechanics and least likely suspect--and in order to accomplish it she glosses over even the most basic police procedures imaginable. Simply put, this book is an uphill read all the way to a completely implausible solution. I am extremely, extremely fond of Agatha Christie's work, and I do believe I've read every novel, short story, and play she wrote. So it pains me deeply to say this: whether the title is MURDER FOR CHRISTMAS, A HOLIDAY FOR MURDER, or HERCULE POIROT'S CHRISTMAS, this is one book that not even a die-hard fan such as myself can love. Give it a miss in favor of a different Christie title. In favor of ANY other Christie title! GFT, Amazon Reviewer
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