Agatha's Hallowe'en and Christmas

54. THE ADVENTURE OF THE CHRISTMAS PUDDING (5xPoirot+1xMarple)
A collection of long short stories: Poirot celebrates true English Christmas and makes a fool of the kids wanting to play a fool of him; the Baghdad chest is now a Spanish chest but just as good if not better; Poirot has to deal with women's intuition, a stranger's meal and a bad dream. Miss Marple solves a case by knowing the good plants from the weeds.

Memorable quotes:
-"How lovely to be eleven years old and greedy."
-"Peverell in his old age was still the perfect butler. He noticed nothing that he was not asked to notice."
-"He liked women to be women. He liked them lush, highly coloured, exotic. ... But Miss Lemon he had never considered a woman. She was a human machine - an instrument of precision. Her efficiency was terrific. She was forty-eight years of age, and was fortunate enough to have no imagination whatever."
-"Money can quench publicity as well as flaunt it."
-"He was an extremely English-looking person. Tall, cadaverous and unemotional."
-"A young girl was a very interesting phenomenon, George. ... Especially, you understand, if she has brains."

Favourite Guest Character: Bridget
Favourite Story: The Mystery of the Spanish Chest
Mystery: **
Final Solution: ***
Entertainment: ***
8/15


53. MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD (Poirot)
Mrs Ferrars commits suicide and a few days later the wealthy Mr Ackroyd is killed. His stepson is the obvious suspect especially after he suddenly disappears. Luckily Poirot is in the village to decide who is telling the truth and who is lying. A true masterpiece, narrated by Dr. Wats...Sheppard, that includes plenty of suspects and a superb twist at the end!

Memorable quotes:
-"Everyone has something to hide."
-"All the troubles in the world can be put down to money - or the lack of it."
-"Women observe subconsciously a thousand little details, without knowing that they are doing so. Their subconscious mind adds these little things together - and they call the result intuition."

Favourite Guest Character: Caroline Sheppard
Mystery: *****
Final Solution: *****
Entertainment: ****
14/15


52. HALLOWE'EN PARTY (Poirot)
A girl, who claims to have seen a murder without knowing what it was at that time, is drowned in an apple-bobbing tub. Plenty of kids around, plenty of digging up the past, plenty of digging in an old quarry garden and a lie that was actually the truth in form of a lie ;-)

Memorable quotes:
-"Some children I consider are most unattractive."
-"The past is the father of the present."
-"In my experience the things that children do not tell their mothers are quite numerous."

Favourite Guest Character: Michael Garfield
Mystery: **
Final Solution: ***
Entertainment: **
7/15