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!

Taken at the Flood

Moderator1 09 Nov 09 at 9:58 a.m. GMT

When Gordon Cloade is killed by a bomb blast during the London Blitz his young widow, the former Mrs Underhay, is suddenly very rich.  Naturally members of the Cloade family are unhappy that they will not inherit and when Poirot is visited by the dead man's sister-in-law he wonders why she is so convinced that Mr Underhay is still alive.  When a stranger is found strangled in the Stag Inn Poirot must join all the dots and discover just who is who...

Perhaps not one of Christie's best known books is it perhaps one of her most convincing mysteries?  Is this another case of a manipulative man preying on a weak woman to get what he wants? 

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Nofret 29 Dec 09 at noon GMT

Definitely in my Top Five! Such a varied cast of characters all struggling in one way or another with the aftermath of war. We are really made to empathise with poor Rosaleen, who, although a rich widow, still suffers from the after-effects of the bomb blast that killed her husband and most of her household. Her eventual death leaves us grieving.

But who was the mysterious Enoch Arden? A con-man? Or was he Rosaleen's first husband, making her a bigamist? Did she lie when she stated she'd never seen him before?

One of my favourite Poirot moments is when he declares that there have not been three murders, but one murder, an accident and a suicide. Does that lead us any closer to the solution? No, with so many twists and turns to this plot we're more confused than ever!

As I remember, there is one small clue near the middle of the book. Otherwise, the solution to this tortuous puzzle must be reached, as in Cards on the Table, by a study of the characters themselves.

Puffinjill 31 Dec 09 at 6:44 a.m. GMT

SPOILERS!!!! SPOILERS!!!!

Nofret, Enoch Arden was actually Charles Trenton, cousin to Frances Cloade, and asked to pretend to be Robert Underhay by her in order to obtain the money she and her husband needed to get them out of a financial hole and which David Hunter refused to give/lend them. So Rosaleen wasn't lying when she said she had never seen him before but, as Rosaleen ISN'T really Rosaleen, she would never of seen Robert Underhay anyway and wouldn't have known who he was! But Hunter couldn't risk Arden being Underhay and blowing apart his comfortable new life.

Glad you enjoyed the book, it's one of my favourites too!

MissQuin 30 Jan 10 at 10:22 a.m. GMT

This one interesting, though it wouldn't be in my top 10. I did feel it went on longer thatn it needed to. There is a really tense feel to the surroundings and the whole post war insecurity. David Hunter is what the books revolves around. I did feel him dressing up as woman wasnt convincing, because he could have been seen by a witness with good eyesight!

What disapointed me was the end. When Roly tired to kill Lynn she realises she loves him! This is my least favourite Christie romance. The reason being if I was in the situation Lynn was, I'd never marry Roly!! It suggests she will have to put up with a lifetime of jealously and domestic violence! Does anyone else feel Lynn made the wrong choice?

Attica76 30 Jan 10 at 5:27 p.m. GMT

MissQuin, I felt the same - when I read it for the first time, I thought, "What???? Is she crazy or a masochist??" The book does stress that she preferred a life of adventure and she actually opted to be a Wren, but war is one thing (and it's not for the rest of your life) and it's another thing to live with a person who tried to murder you once for real, and the next time Poirot won't be there when Rowley sees red.

MissQuin 01 Feb 10 at 3:48 p.m. GMT

Attica, I completely agree. I couldn't accept the ending. I think thats why on TV it was changed, so Lynn had no one in the end.

I could see why she was drawn towards David Hunter, as he had that dark, brooding hint of danger! But I actually really liked Rowley (until the end) who was handsome too, he seemed sweet and loyal. Theres a lovely scene where he was talking to Rosalie on the farm. I thought how well suited Rosalie and Roly were! But things didn't work out that way...

Roly turned out to be a liar, with a terrible temper. I never expected Lynn would end up a downtrodden farmers wife. Anyway, if I was Lynn I'd get as far away from the Cloade family as possible!

Lone_Wolf 05 May 10 at 5:33 p.m. GMT

My verdict:

Excellent first half, starts to be somewhat unnecessary confusing in the middle, ends up in a moral mess that betrays the first half's premises.

liz3280 05 May 10 at 9:33 p.m. GMT

And i agree with you all

go_leafs_nation 06 May 10 at 12:44 p.m. GMT

I find the whole thing excellent- it rightly suits the quote from Julius Caesar from which the title is taken, the plot is an elaborate puzzle, the characters and their relationships are complex, yet believable, and so forth.

I do agree, however, that the ending to the romance is unreasonable- it was very well done until that point, with the lovers slowly drifting away, yet once murder is attempted, they get right back together. It's a big question mark, as it was quite clear throughout the book that the two were just plain wrong for each other.

xrysoula 02 Jul 10 at 6:44 p.m. GMT

Once again, I disagree (I don 't do it out of habbit, though).

First of all, Lynn couldn 't get away from the Cloade family, since she was a Cloade herself.Second, what drove her away from Roly was exactly the stability and sweeetness of his demeanour, for she was rather restless and rebellious (and that 's why she thinks she found her soulmate to David, who represents the danger, the unknown).But once she realises that David is a cold blooded murderer and, more importantly, that Roly isn 't the boring little man she thought, that he loves her passionately and is ready to reach the edge for her sake, her attraction to him, that never ceased to exist, returns quite naturally.

I personally think that at the last chapter, Christie is winking at us, making a humorous comment on female capriciousness and generally on the unsteadiness of human nature.

MissQuin 03 Jul 10 at 9:06 a.m. GMT

Taken at the flodd spoilers:

Lynn was actually a Marchment. I felt she should get away from the other Cloades: a morphine addict, blackmailer, embezzlers and liars.

This ending been the topic of discussions before, but I still haven't changed my opinion. I found the end a huge disapointment. Even though I hated the Suchet adapt, the ending for me was much better. Lynn didn't end up with David or Rowly, she chose to travel round the world instead. I prefer that idea.  Lynn being a clever, indepentant and brave woman, she could have been brought back again for another Chrisite book. But alas..

I can see that Lynn might suddenly see Rowly as passionate, but if Poirot hadn't come in that moment, she'd have been murdered. Very romantic.  I think Rowly would make a very volatile husband and the novelty would soon wear off. Once Lynn's stuck with him all day long and sports two black eyes. 

 Lynn say's at the end "Ive come home" which means the farm. So after all her exciting adventures, she'd be a farmer's wife, milking cows, doing housework and ironing Rowly's underpants.

My own personal view ws that Chrisite was using her own feelings on the subject of women's postion in marriage. That they should stand by their men sort of thing. Which isn't my view, so I can't helped but be irked.

Ironically I think the fake Rosalie was ideal for Rowly. She was meek and submissive, knew about farming and was docile enough. Wheras Lynn can think for herself and would bound to lead to some huge rows with Rowly.

xrysoula 04 Jul 10 at 9:22 a.m. GMT

What I 've written above does not represent my personal opinion on the matter. In Lyhn 's shoes, I would run as far away as possible!Domestic violence isn 't my kind of thing, neither do I believe that a woman should be doomed eternally because of one single false choise in marriage.I just wanted to offer a different perspective, an explanation to what seems like a completely irrational decision of Lyhn 's.

I see why this ending couldn 't have worked on TV, but in the book I preffer it as a surprising and original one.

I found every single character of this book very fresh and real, too.I sincerely felt for all them, with a special prefferance to the Jeremy Cloade couple. Rowly and poor Rosalie aswell.I think she suffered the most and, if David hadn 't killed her, she would have killed herself in the end anyway.I believe AC offers us some splendid psychological profiles here, showing how a person who has been honest  and lawful his whole life can, under certain circumstances, become a criminal. Isn 't that Poirot 's moto, too?

This book probably didn 't get the appreciation it should.To me, it 's one of AC 's most complete and brilliant ones.

By the way, wasn 't Lyhn Gordon Cloade 's niece?

GKCfan 04 Jul 10 at 7:51 p.m. GMT

Yes, Lynn and Rowley are cousins.

xrysoula 04 Jul 10 at 9:36 p.m. GMT

That 's why I said that she was a Claode too.

liz3280 11 Jul 10 at 9:56 p.m. GMT

xrysoula

Once again, I disagree (I don 't do it out of habbit, though).

First of all, Lynn couldn 't get away from the Cloade family, since she was a Cloade herself.Second, what drove her away from Roly was exactly the stability and sweeetness of his demeanour, for she was rather restless and rebellious (and that 's why she thinks she found her soulmate to David, who represents the danger, the unknown).But once she realises that David is a cold blooded murderer and, more importantly, that Roly isn 't the boring little man she thought, that he loves her passionately and is ready to reach the edge for her sake, her attraction to him, that never ceased to exist, returns quite naturally.

I personally think that at the last chapter, Christie is winking at us, making a humorous comment on female capriciousness and generally on the unsteadiness of human nature.

Yeah cause the last time someone tried to kill me I fell right in love with them.

We are currently living happy ever after (in between the visits to the prison where he is on remand for showing me how ready he was to reach the edge).

MissQuin 12 Jul 10 at 3:54 p.m. GMT

lol

I can't help but wonder if this is the books "token marriage" . Now I love AC, but few books don't end with marriage! If Lynn hadn't married, then no one would have. Did AC write herself into a tight corner and decided to have a "romantic end"? I didn't find it at all romantic and it always strikes a chord of disapointment with me. I would have believed that lynn was the type who wanted control over her life, not the dutiful wife. The minute Mrs Rowly Cloade looks at another man, then her life's in danger!

There's a few books where engagements, weddings and romantic matches seems to be pretty unexpected. Ackyrod, Towards zer etc.

Puffinjill 13 Jul 10 at 7:01 a.m. GMT

Possibly, MissQuin, as I remember AC herslf saying in her Autobiography that from as early Murder On The Links, she felt under pressure from those publishing her books to include 'love interest'. Even when writing The Mysterious Affair At Styles, without the influence of editors and publishers as she had no deal for her books, she herself felt she needed to include something along these lines, probably because it was the expected thing to do. After all, love and romance will certainly attract some readers and many people feel more comfortable with a happy ending. And publishers will always want their writers to appeal to the widest possible market.

MissQuin 13 Jul 10 at 3:31 p.m. GMT

From reading her autobiography, I got the impression that AC was a romantic person. All the little crushes she had on her brothers friends from a young age sound so sweet. Some of the couples are great in her books.

 I don't find the pairing of Rowly and Lynn "romantic". But maybe AC was expected to have a end with marriage.  Some of the engagements seem to come out of the blue. Like Towards zero for instance.

xrysoula 09 Aug 10 at 10:57 p.m. GMT

liz3280

Yeah cause the last time someone tried to kill me I fell right in love with them.

We are currently living happy ever after (in between the visits to the prison where he is on remand for showing me how ready he was to reach the edge).

I 'm sorry you find it so hard to even consider a point of view diffirent than your own.

I 've said before and maybe I should say it again:I tried to offer an explanation to what otherwise seems to be a compeletely irrational decision of Lyhn 's.Why, in Heaven's name, is that SO incomprihensible?

By the way, I haven't seen anyone offering us a different aspect.Have I missed something?Or should the whole world unanimously agree that the book 's ending is weird and disappointing, so we can all be done with it once and for all?

As for the rest, I agree with Puffinjill.

Lone_Wolf 10 Aug 10 at 5:24 a.m. GMT

Well, it may make sense from a certain point of view (Russian language has a somewhat ironical proverb "if he beats you, then he loves you"), only that point of view is somewhat twisted, and I feel that a woman like Lynn wouldn't subscribe to it for long. And the "excitement" factor will be worn up pretty quickly. In fact, a smart woman like Lynn to turn out like that is a bit incoherent.

See also the (negative) thoughts on the ending here .

And I've been expressing my annoyance with obligatory endgame pairings on that site. They stop being cute after 5th or 6th novel.

MissQuin 10 Aug 10 at 10:15 a.m. GMT

 It's good to have a male point of view.

Hey Xrysoula relax!! We didn't say your view was wrong, it's just the rest of us feel the end doesn't match the rest of the book. In favt Taken At The flood would be one of my favourites, if it hadn't been for the end.

 I agree that David Hunter is the most interesting chaarcter in it. I hated the adaptation and wish they'd used an Irish actor, or someone who can do a convining Irish accent. The only good thing about the adapt was Lynn didn't marry.