So I’m going to confess up front that I did a very bad thing. When I got about halfway through this, I decided it would be a great idea to spoil myself completely on the ending. I don’t know why I do this. It’s like once a mystery’s got me, I can’t even wait five minutes to find out how it turns out. Wikipedia and the Internet are terrible enablers in this habit of mine. And yes, I’ve done it before, though never to a Christie. Usually I spoil myself because I’m stressed out, but here, I have no excuse. This book was as delightful and comforting as Poirot books usually are. But, worth noting, I didn’t like the book any less for knowing what was coming.
Like with so many of the best Christie books, the ending completely changes the way you look at the rest of the story, and you don’t see it coming, usually even if you’re trying. I also have a feeling this book would be very fun to re-read, just to see how she laid in all the clues without you knowing. This is probably one of her most famous books, and for good reason. Just for the ending alone, it’s now in my top five.
(There’s also a new film being made of this, with a pretty fun looking cast: Leslie Odom Jr, Daisy Ridley, Penelope Cruz, Josh Gad, Kenneth Branagh . . . and ugh, Johnny Depp. But at least he’s the one getting murdered.)
I would also highly recommend the audiobook, particularly the version I listened to, which had Dan Stevens as the narrator. That man has a voice like butter. And he’s really good at doing voices! Like sometimes I would forget that it was only one person reading the whole time. What a handsome, talented man.