December's Quill

By Agatha Christie

CW: Murder.

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To be honest, it took me a little while to become invested in this book. I really like Poirot’s character, and not having him show up for a few chapters was rough. I struggled through the first quarter of the book.

But then…the murder happened, and I finished the entire book in one sitting!

I couldn’t put it down! I had to know. While I was reading this one, I thought to myself, ‘I’m not overly invested in this, as I had been with previous Poirot’s.’ Is that because of the writing or because I’m getting used to Agatha’s flow and I’m able to see things coming? I’ll tell you what, it wasn’t the latter. Darn Agatha, she did it again, what a legend! That woman can WRITE. She truly OWNS that title of the Queen of Mystery.

There was a lot of time spent on the rubies in the first few chapters that I personally don’t think are necessary for the story. I think it could have been mentioned briefly that Van Aldin purchased some extremely famous rubies, and two men attempted to rob him of them before he could deliver them to his daughter. I also had the thought that the whole Comte de la Roche was drawn out for too long, but I think it was good in the end. The conversation that Ruth had with Katherine was interesting. I concluded that it was meant to mislead the reader. See, that conversation where she was saying she’s going to do something and she’s worried about it, added with the disfigured face of the body – I thought maybe that Ruth was alive, but she had run away with the Comte, or something like that.

I quite enjoyed the significance that grew with the letter K. There was Katherine, the two Ketterings, and Knighton. Sometimes I wondered if Katherine was involved, but then it felt too “Murder of Roger Ackroyd”-y. I knew Knighton was involved from the chat on the bench Poirot had with Katherine. When he said, “You could love a thief but not a murderer”. It was brilliant writing on Christie’s part. She set it up so well as to mislead the reader into thinking he was referring to Derek, who was the main suspect for the murder at the time and was also pursuing Katherine as a future wife. But yet, at the same time, so was Knighton. But Knighton was playing the role of a regular assistant. While one might think he was warning Katherine about Derek, Poirot has already started to suspect Knighton in secret. Christie set up that scene marvellously. She glossed over it so fast that if the reader hadn’t already started to suspect Knighton, you wouldn’t have caught it. I only caught it because I started to suspect Knighton, solely, because his name started with a K. After reading a few Poirot novels, I know to look for any tiny clue and try to come up with my own theories of what happened.

I, however, did not put together Knighton and those other jewel thefts, nor Kidd as Mason at all! I thought for sure Lenox or Tamplin was involved.

Also, can we talk about how quickly people moved back then?! Derek and Knighton met Katherine, what, three times, and both asked her to marry them immediately? Damn. Also … Was it insinuated that Lenox and Poirot are together at the end?! That would be wild. I can’t wait to read the next one.

On the night before my birthday last year, I got to see a local theatre reenact Murder on the Links, and it was everything I could have wanted. This year, the theatre is putting on its own spin on a Poirot novel around my birthday again. I could not be happier! I hope they do one every year. It’s called “Peril in the Alps”. Supposedly a mix between something that happens in Poirot Investigates and the actual story “Peril at End House”. I will for sure finish the latter before the play. If any keen eyes have noticed, I skipped Poirot Investigates for two reasons. 1) I ordered the book, and it had book lice. Immediately no. I tried to freeze it a bunch of times (the internet said it would kill them), but they were stern little guys; I couldn’t risk them ruining my collection. 2) From the reviews online, the short mysteries in that book are somewhat of a let-down when it comes to the legend of Poirot. Apparently, they are too short to get invested, so I decided to skip it, and I have no regrets.

I wonder how much this book inspired her famous “Mystery on the Orient Express.” Which I read a long time ago, I won’t spoil it just yet, but it’s fantastic. I’m really looking forward to reading it again.