Book Club

Poirot Stories

Poirot is Agatha Christie's most famous and popular detective.  No doubt he would agree that he deserves that accolade!

Here is the place to discuss all of his stories in detail with other fans.  The most insightful comments will be added to the Stories pages.  But remember to beware spoilers!

If you can't find your favourite Poirot story here, don't worry - we'll be adding them all soon.

Warning: These discussions may contain spoilers!

The Big Four

Moderator1 05 Nov 09 at 9:42 a.m. GMT

A dying Secret Service agent alerts Poirot and Hastings to a group known as 'The Big Four'.  In France on the trail of a missing British scientist the duo are warned to leave well alone but as each member of The Big Four is releaved it takes Poirot deeper into the mystery.  When Hastings receives a telegram telling him his wife has been kidnapped things start to move rapidly to their conclusion.

Some have said that this is one of Christie's more unlikely stories - do you agree?  Did she stray into territory that she was just not familiar enough with?  And, did Achille Poirot really exist?

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18 replies

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Mr_Graves 20 Jun 10 at 2:31 a.m. GMT

OK, it seems there's just me.. Oh well.

This book was certainly not the conventional, typical Christie we're all very comfortable with. It was very much the sort of spy thriller, action adventure, world domination, evil adversary type of thing that we in the 21st century are so used to. After The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, I was a little stunned. It was very fast-paced, and wasn't exactly what you would call a mystery. Yet I do concede, there were still red herrings and deductions to be made by the wonderful Hercule Poirot, who in this book is surprisingly active and James Bond-like for a retiree... Oh well. A break form tradition, but overall an exciting read, even if I didn't get the twist-ending I was hoping for.

Mr_west 20 Jun 10 at 12:20 p.m. GMT

at the time Christie worte this book her life got upside down: her housbend left her and she (like everyone knows) just gone.

thanks to that alot of people get to know her and the sell fo this book were hugh.

AC wrote a diffrent book maybe beacouse the things that happen to her. i still think that this book is great like any other book sher worte and it's not matter that it does'nt have twist-ending. (there is alot of surprises in this book!)   

P_Lombard 24 Jun 10 at 2:06 a.m. GMT

Overall, I found this the most unlikely of Christie's stories. While I enjoyed the premise of a group of four evil villains, each with their own different, unique qualities, I found their aims a little far-fetched. The fourth member of the bunch, the actor, I found too unbelievable that he was responsible for so many different and seemingly unconnected happenings.

I found Countess Rossakoff the most interesting character in the book and loved her interactions with Poirot.

As for Achille Poirot, I do not believe he actually exists. I believe Poirot made up Achille in order to fool the Big Four, carefully creating an alter ego that would be believable, and since he did not exist, easy to impersonate.

Yunakitty 08 Aug 10 at 3:06 a.m. GMT

I also thought #4 was far-fetched.  Come on.  Infiltrating the lives of all these people - JUST to inherit some money (in the case of the Russian chess player) or to be there to trap Poirot (the weird family where #4 was the simple son) was just too much.  This is probably my least favorite of all her books.  But still, that's like saying, "this is the least valuable diamond of all these diamonds," lol.  Everything she writes is still good.

Mr_Graves 18 Aug 10 at 10:25 p.m. GMT

This probably is the worst of her books, to be brutally frank, but then could we really expect AC to bust out the best of mystery fiction every time? I can definitely see why she did not like it herself, and should probably have left it in short story form. 

Puffinjill 19 Aug 10 at 6:51 a.m. GMT

I think she would have if she was not under contract to deliver another book to her publishers when her husband left her and her life fell apart. The resulting book, The Big Four, is not good but the best the poor woman could do at a time of incredible stress. I would have preferred her to have just submitted the four short stories for publication as seperate entities but in one book. However, with the help of her brother-in-law, she attempted to glue them together instead. Obviously, due to all the sad memories this book must have provoked in her AND the fact that she was well aware it was not a good book, AC disliked this book and she also disliked The Mystery Of The Blue Train, which came next, probably because she wrote them due to demand from others and not because she wanted to write them. Suddenly she went from being a happy amateur, with her writing coming second to her role as married woman, to a professional writer without the rock she had built her life on.

xrysoula 19 Aug 10 at 4:06 p.m. GMT

I don 't consider The Big Four as one of her great novels either, but still, it had its fun.For some reason, the fact that  it was far-feched didn 't bother me as much as in other books of hers.I liked Poirot being more lively than usual and I also enjoyed a few more character descriptions that AC is so good at, such as the ex girlfriend of Nr. 4. 

What about Achille Poirot? I thought it was quite clear it was Hercule Poirot in disguise.

i do not own a copy of the book, but I remember in the end Poirot considering getting married, obviously to Countess Rossakova.

Question:Do you think there was actually a proposal, and if so, how do you suppose things turned out?

MissQuin 19 Aug 10 at 4:33 p.m. GMT

I don't actually think The Big Four was the worst book she ever wrote. I didn't enjoy it much, but that's because I'm not keen on that type of story. At least it's different. Would have worked better as a non Poirot? For instance Anthony Cade & Virgina in the Poirot and Hastings roles. I mean it was hard to picture old, plump Poirot (though I like him) running around and having this hectic time chasing meglomaniacs. It's just strange to picture it!

It's rather puzzling, as we don't see Vera for a long time. Then after we do in Labours Of Hercules, she vanishes out of Poirot's life, seemingly forever. There's a lot we don't know. If it was because Poirot's private life was always meant to be just that, if it wasn't part of the stories I don't know. The idea of Poirot marrying would have thrown off the balance of the books. Hercules and Vera- the new ageing detectives! Not quite ringing true. I think it was never meant to be and Vera wasn't the type to  marry and settle down.

Pongo 29 Aug 10 at 6:10 a.m. GMT

SPOILERS

I really like the The Big Four, but I admit that I consider it more akin to a short story collection (of stories that are closely linked) rather than a novel.  It feels very much like Dame Agatha is paying homage to Conan Doyle.  

One of the more moving passages is where we see Hastings reaction to the "death" of Poirot and his funeral.  

Also, it is nice that Poirot is given a formidable adversary in the form of Number Four.  This fixation by the detective on one main villain reminds me of Poirot's fixation on the elusive "X" in Curtain.  

Anyway, The Big Four is understandably not as well regarded as Dame Agatha's other works, but it provides some further insight into the Poirot-Hastings relationship.  

roboman1984 30 Dec 10 at 6:02 p.m. GMT

Just fininished it and I loved it. To be honest I have only read a few AC books so far - something I hope to remedy but I really enjoyed this. I can understand how this could be considered to be very different to AC's other Poirot stories. It's kinda like Poirot meets James Bond but I think I enjoyed it because it is different.

Hercuel_Poirot_7 29 Jun 11 at 6:19 p.m. GMT

Yes to all your questions.

Epsilon14 18 Jul 11 at 1:23 p.m. GMT

This book maybe different than the rest of it but it is certainly not her worst book? It was quite captivating and took some strange twists and turns but there were too many different cases and it was hard to link each one. Also, there wasn't much mention about the first 3 criminals. There was too much concentration on Claud Darrell (Number 4) if that was his real name. And Li Chang Yen (Number 1) wasn't even shown. So lots of loopholes and flaws. But I certainly liked the book as it was very different.

Tommy_A_Jones 18 Jul 11 at 3:19 p.m. GMT

There are weorse books than The Big Four but I appreciate that is a matter of Opinion, The Thought Murder On The Links, Murder in Mesoptamia, Endless Night and Passenger to Frankfurt are Much worse although it has its faults, Thew identity of No4 is revealed much too easily, The idea of Poirot's Brother was silly as it finished nearly as soon as it started, Having 2, 3 and 4 Die was too easy an idea but I didn't think there were too many cases but it started out as 3 stories and that is how it should have stayed but with a bit of clipping, (Take out the First and last Chapters and remnove mention of The Big Four it would have been a nice little volume of short stories, for me it was like Partners in Crime in that respect that is neither Novel or book of short stories because of ther First and last Chapters.  

cblanch912 22 Nov 11 at 3:53 p.m. GMT

I liked the book well enough, although as others have said, it is quite different from other Poirot mysteries.  I would definitely agree that it's over the top.  What others have said in this thread regarding AC's personal life at the time this was written certainly sheds a lot of light on why the book feels a little thrown together.  I also thought it ended a little flat,too.  However, the near death scrapes that Poirot and Hastings found themselves in were thrilling for me, as was the fact that Poirot seemed to almost be finally outmatched.  Almost...

treplag 22 Nov 11 at 6:58 p.m. GMT

If the book seems "a little thrown together", there is a good reason for that.  It was written as short stories originally, and later sewn together as a longer narrative.

carlotta_adams 12 Dec 11 at 12:36 a.m. GMT

Yet another Christie I couldn't put down. Hey, did anyone else think Hastings spent a large majority of the book unconcious??

LizzieLovesAgatha 06 Jan 12 at 8:34 a.m. GMT

Achille Might have existed, we'll never know, but for THIS book he was never near poirot. He had to convince hastings he did have a twin, so the end bit all worked out, with hastings reactions and stuff. This is her best book, I reckon. In the labours of hercules someone asks whether or not poirot had a brother call Achille, poirot thinks about achilles career, 'did all that really happen?' then replies 'only for a brief period' or something along those lines and the subject is led away.

LizzieLovesAgatha 06 Jan 12 at 8:37 a.m. GMT

Plus you all have to think how long ago these were written and our tastes are jaded now, these books are gems, hang on every word she ever wrote, cherish her mind and the stories she left for us, and hope one day we can be worthy to call ourselves her fans.