My 5 Favorite and Least Favorite Hercule Poirot Cases

Nearly two years ago, I decided I was going to make an effort to read more books and, as part of that goal, I decided I was going to attempt to read all of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot murder mysteries in order.

It took me a year and 11 months (give or take) but, this morning, I finished reading Curtain and said goodbye to the Belgium detective.

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Normally, I would take the time to review the book. However, after realizing it was (while a bit sad) nothing that really stood out from her other novels (the mystery itself was somewhat interesting but other parts of the book were kind of predictable). I decided to, instead, think about the entire collection I have just completed and list my five favorite and five least favorite of his cases.

My 5 Favorites

1. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd This was one of the first books I read (back in November 2017) and remains, to this day, my favorite. This is mostly because it is one of the few murder mysteries I've read that has had me say "wow" out loud when the killer was revealed.

2. Death in the Clouds -  Part of this is because it is referenced in a Doctor Who episode. But, mostly, it is because the murder (which takes place on a plane in front of all the passengers) was entertaining from start to finish.

3. The Murder on the Links - One of the reasons why I feel Christie made a mistake when she ultimately phased out Poirot's companion Arthur Hastings.

4. The Mystery of the Blue Train- This makes the list more because the characters were memorable than the actual mystery itself.

5. The Clocks -A great murder mystery with a couple very effective red herrings.

My 5 Least Favorites

1. Elephants Can Remember - Published just two years before Christie's death, the book showed she just wasn't the same writer she used to be.

2. The Big Four - This book was much more of a spy novel than it was a murder mystery and, because of that, Poirot just seemed out of place.

3. Murder on the Orient Express - This book, which is arguably Christie's most famous novel, just didn't live up to expectations, at least in my opinion.

4. The Hollow - The murder mystery was a little too easy to solve and the overall story just wasn't that interesting as a result. 

5. Cat Among the Pigeons - Not enough potential suspects and obvious motive left this book in desperate need of a surprise twist that never came.