Mrs McGinty’s Dead by Agatha Christie

James Bentley has been convicted of Mrs McGinty’s brutal murder and awaits sentencing. But Inspector Spence, who carried out the investigation that led to the successful prosecution has a niggling doubt about Bentley’s guilt. With no evidence and only a feeling the wrong man may be heading to the gallows, Spence asks Poirot to review the case.

Poirot travels to the small village where the murder took place and can find nothing to cast doubt on the murder verdict until he discovers an old cutting from a newspaper that Mrs McGinty kept. The cutting relates to a Sunday paper article about four women involved in murders in the past.

Determined to provoke the local residents, Poirot throw caution to the wind to see what his actions will reveal. It’s not too long before another murder takes place.

It’s another distinctive and complex murder mystery that throws up a large number of suspects for such a small village. But the way Poirot teases out the truth from the lies and misdirection is what sets this novel apart. With almost nothing to work with, he slowly teases out motives and suspects until he solves the case.

The pace is gentle, the characters sharply drawn, and Poirot is at his arrogant best as he refuses to be waylaid in his mission. There are humorous moments, social commentary and some clinical deduction to unveil the killer, revealing why Agatha Christie sells so many books.

Description

An old widow is brutally killed in the parlour of her cottage…

Mrs McGinty died from a brutal blow to the back of her head. Suspicion fell immediately on her shifty lodger, James Bentley, whose clothes revealed traces of the victim’s blood and hair. Yet something was amiss: Bentley just didn’t look like a murderer.

Poirot believed he could save the man from the gallows – what he didn’t realise was that his own life was now in great danger…