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Death in the Clouds (Poirot)

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In the last book, Christie has Poirot pontificate about the importance of observation: We don’t do enough of it, and surely, we have not observed what he has observed, to prove his point. Observe harder, look more closely, come on. Mysteries teach us to pay attention. So we set that goal. I always enjoy it when Christie's books have diagrams in them. This one does and spells out where each character is sitting. I honestly didn't try to guess who did it and just enjoyed the ride that Christie takes us on. We get to follow a couple of different characters POV in this one and so at first glance you wonder if you are being fed a bill of goods by someone. It's honestly not til the end until everything neatly ties together. A review in the Daily Mirror of 20 July 1935 concluded, "We leave Poirot to figure it all out. He is at it and in it, with his usual brilliance, till the end." [8]

So here we are on Monday, and I'm still thinking its about a 4.4 rounded down to 4 stars ⭐️ The story is an excellent one, with a uniquely limited cast of characters (suspects). I know in the past I have seen the David Suchet version of this, but I don't remember reading it at all, and I certainly didn't work out (guess) who was the perpetrator. Rue Norvins, Montmartre - at the beginning Poirot passes the Restaurant Le Consulat on his way to the Sacré-Cœur Not only is the idea of a murder on an aeroplane intriguing, but we need to remember that air flight itself was brand new, when this novel was first published. A regular London to Paris air service began in 1935, and the aeroplanes were converted bombers! There were eight models, all named after mythological figures, so Agatha Christie invented a name on the same theme: “Prometheus”. Sadly, by 1940, all the original Imperial Airways planes had either crashed or been irreparably damaged and destroyed. Thus the aeroplane that Agatha Christie describes here, feels very authentic; moreover it feels specific to the 1930s. During the flight, Lady Horbari calls her maid from another cabin. A bee flies in the cabin, and one of the passengers kills her. In Chapter 7, Poirot refers to a case of poisoning in which the killer uses a "psychological" moment to his advantage, an allusion to Three Act Tragedy.

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I'm there, too. This is it for me, at least for a while. I can't deal with Poirot's smugly superior attitude again. Some time away from each other is required, and since he exists in books, he won't care and I will probably return, refreshed and emboldened, to an unchanged Poirot.

The February 2022 selection for the Appointment with Agatha reading group. Yet another Hercule Poirot mystery. I think I may be quite tired of the little Belgian by the end of this reading program. An admirer of Christie, Milward Kennedy of The Guardian began his review of 30 July 1935, "Very few authors achieve the ideal blend of puzzle and entertainment as often does Agatha Christie." He did admit that, " Death in the Clouds may not rank with her greatest achievements, but it is far above the average detective story." He finished by saying, "Mrs Christie provides a little gallery of thumb-nail sketches of plausible characters; she gives us all the clues and even tells us where to look for them; we ought to find the murderer by reason, but are not likely to succeed except by guesswork." Rue des Ursins, Paris - Japp and Poirot rush in a taxi to hotel of Mrs Richards. The taxi makes a cyclist lose his balance on the Rue des Ursins.

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The book was serialised in the US in The Saturday Evening Post in six instalments from 9 February (Volume 207, Number 32) to 16 March 1935 (Volume 207, Number 37) under the title Death in the Air with illustrations by Frederic Mizen. More than 42 years later, the same magazine republished the story, in 4 parts, in their Oct, Nov 1977 and Mar, Apr 1978 issues. [1] Because you are deducing from things that you have seen. Nothing can be so misleading as observation.” It was interesting to see Poirot working in a team rather than alone. And Inspector Japp plays quite an active role here. And Poirot amid the investigation does a bit of matchmaking. :) Our dear Poirot cannot resist the temptation to secure the "happiness of young people". There was also subtle humour throughout which elicited a few laughs despite the serious nature of the story. Sometimes Agatha Christie seems to be telling us more than the actual story. Is this her own view of life too, when Poirot grandly says:

Este libro es una chulada, veamos, el asesinato, es super ingenioso, no solo donde se perpetra si no el como y el con qué, no puedo, por mucho que lo intenté imaginarme a esta mujer ideando estas cosas, debía ser un proceso fascinante verla concibiendo sus asesinatos, ya sabemos que la señora era la reina de los venenos, así que aunque muy interesante no me sorprende, lo que si que sorprende es como hace llegar dichos venenos a sus víctimas, luego pasas por darte cuenta que le da sus giros para que resulte todavía más intrincado e ingenioso dicho asesinato.The novel was adapted as an anime film for television as episodes 36-39 of the NHK anime series Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple and broadcast from 14 April 2005 to 15 May 2005. Madame Morisot comes to the lawyer her daughter, showing his inheritance rights. She is married to Mr. Richards, who lives in America. Poirot meets Madame Richards. She worked as a manicurist, then a maid, but a month ago she met Mr. Richards and is now about to leave for him. Poirot has no doubt that in front of him is the daughter of Madame Morisot, but it seems to him that he has already seen her somewhere. The detective recalls that he saw her on the plane - this is the maid of Lady Horbari. Very few authors achieve the ideal blend of puzzle and entertainment as often does Agatha Christie ... Death in the Clouds may not rank with her greatest achievements, but it is far above the average detective story ... Mrs Christie provides a little gallery of thumb-nail sketches of plausible characters; she gives us all the clues and even tells us where to look for them; we ought to find the murderer by reason, but are not likely to succeed except by guesswork.” Death in the Clouds (hardcover), Greenway edition of collected works, William Collins, 1973, ISBN 0-00-231187-9 , 256 pp. This rounding up has nothing to do with the flak I have received at only giving it 4 stars, honest 😬

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