Peril at End House: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition (Hercule Poirot Mysteries, 7)

Peril at End House, the eighth book in the Hercule Poirot cozy mystery series, was selected as the next book to read in the April 2018 Agatha Christie Readathon that I'm hosting on my blog at This Is My Truth Now. Four weeks of books from all her different series and lots of fun with her canon. I'm really glad this book won the poll as I hadn't read it before. And who wouldn't love a book with a title containing the words 'peril' and 'end' ?Poirot has never been more sarcastic and witty than in this book. It's charming but at the same time, if he said the things to me that he says to his sidekick, I'm not sure I'd turn the other cheek so quickly. But it makes his complex personality all the more interesting and readable! It's always amusing to see how he falls into the capers he investigates... in this one, he stumbles upon a woman who thinks she's just been hit with a tiny piece of falling debris, but it's a bullet. Then he learns someone is trying to kill her -- unsuccessfully three times prior to this experience. Who has that kind of luck? Both the victim for surviving all the attempts and the villain for not succeeding.The cast is a great size in this mystery. There are a number of servants, guests and friends in the house where main character, Nick, a woman with little remaining family, is trying to find her way. In typical Christie fashion, the suspicion is cast on everyone from Nick's suitors to her cousin, her best friend to her lawyer. Or is there a team of killers? It gets more complex as we learn she was set to inherit more money than even she'd known about; now there's a motivation to kill, Poirot thinks. What if it's not about the money you currently have, but the money you're set to get... so let's kill off a few people in a row and make that chain happen more quickly. I'm not giving away any spoilers here, this is discussed fairly early on in the novel. But knowing that makes the details even more delicious. So does the different types of romance happening in the book, as well as the visit from the Australian couple who seem to know something more than they are letting on! So many wonderful little nuggets in this 100-year-old detective wonder. It's a bit sad, too, when you see what happens at the end. People are complicated and really need guidance in life, and it was interesting to see how Poirot can fill that role sometimes.My only slight concern with this one and why I give it a ~4 is that the ending was a little confusing at the same time as open to a bit of interpretation. I can't say more than that without giving thigns away--and it's still a strong mystery--but I like my Poirot answers to be more concrete. He always leaves a few dangling threads but I was afraid if I pulled too hard on this one, I'd be left with a rather stringy garment, and who wants that? All in all, I'm really happy with this one. Descriptions are spot on and witty. I felt like I was at the house. The fireworks made it more spooky. The mysterious cousin who was really never intended to be there makes things even more interesting, especially when you learn some interesting facts about this family and their history.My favorite part was the list of suspects draw out in the book like a chart... really pulls it together, but also helps readers decide for themselves whodunit?!?! I may have to re-read them all this summer when I have a bit more time! Thanks to everyone participating on the blog with this Readathon!

Agatha Christie wrote a lot of really great books, but this one was only OK.Too much going on and more than a bit contrived.The ending was a surprise, but it wasn’t very satisfying.

Agatha Christie is still one of the greatest mystery writers of all time. I always enjoy reading her work because it is not gruesome or terribly violent.

M. Hercule Poirot and his sidekick, Hastings were on a week’s holiday in a little village in Cornwall when the lovely Magdala Buckley (called Nick by all) came to Poirot’s attention. The little accidents that had befallen Nick concerned Poirot but it was the bullet that caused him to look into the attempts on her life. Nick lived in the old family mansion on top of the nearby hill called End House. It was in disrepair but was a family home and Nick had no intentions of getting rid of it.As Poirot and Hastings waded through the mess that was Nick’s life, Poirot created one of his lists. But he couldn’t make head nor tail of it. Who was the person determined to end the young woman’s life? But most importantly, why? Poirot was determined to find the solution…Peril at End House is the 8th in the Hercule Poirot series by Agatha Christie and another enjoyable mystery. I have one point which didn’t seem to have a solution – but can’t ask about it as it would be a spoiler! Although published long ago – originally 1932 – it’s still a mystery which hits the spot. Agatha Christie was a woman ahead of her time with her works still being read and loved many years after they were written. Recommended.

A good story in the vein of A. C. Doyle. A brilliant detective with an able assistant. Solving the crime through deductive reasoning. Done very well

I just discovered Agatha Christie and Poirot this year, and have been obsessed. I enjoyed this book but I found the ending to be a little bit crammed. There were too many twists, which I think took away from the main storyline at the end. I did really like the fact that Hastings is in this book, I find his love/hate bromance with Poirot hilarious and endearing. These two characters have such great chemistry that it alone can liven up a whole book.As far as the other characters, I thought they could be a little bit more developed. I'm not good with names, I love when Agatha Christie describes her characters in such detail that I don't even have to learn their names I just remember their characteristics. I found that I did have to learn the names of most of the characters in this book, which was fine.If we break this book into 3 acts, I'd say the first 2 acts were slow but full of hidden details that are easy to miss. The final act was crammed full of stuff and very fast moving. It's the equivalent of climbing up a slow hill for a very long time only to fall off a cliff! Overall, it's a great read. The mystery is solved and all your dying questions are answered. The twists are not forced like a lot of modern mysteries, there is a method to Christie's madness. If the final act was a teeny bit less busy and the characters were a little more complex, I would have given this 5 stars.

No one out does Agatha Christie in writing murder mysteries. She is a one-of-a-kind author! Her Belgian sleuth, Hercule Poirot, and his friend, Captain Hastings, are two of my favorite characters. The Peril at End House is great! I love her books and never tire of them.

While I enjoyed the twists and turns in this story, the voice did not sound like Agatha Christie stories I’ve read in the past. Did she have ghost writers? The Herculean summary at the end reveals a surprise or two. In spite of the voice not sounding like Agatha Christie, the plot was engaging and Poirot did not disappoint.

One of Poirot’s better mysteries. Recommended for easy comfort reading. Some of Christie’s books are very dated. This one less so. Interesting characters, and a decent twist. I did, for once, guess the villain, but that is very unusual. I probably read all her books 40 years ago, so it is fun to be able to re-read and enjoy them afresh. In most of her books there are some pretty outrageous sexist and racist lines. These are a reflection of the times she wrote in and I do not recall even noticing them when I read them in the 70’s. This indicates a gradual process towards a more open and fair society and I urge younger readers to see them in this context rather than abandon reading Christie because of some occasional material which may be offensive today.

Following the well-documented struggles of writing her previous two novels, Peril At End House is a welcome return to form for the Queen of Crime. Poirot is once more assisted by his good friend Hastings who chronicles events and even Inspector Japp makes an appearance.While staying at a Cornish hotel, Poirot discovers a bullet hole in local resident Nick Buckley’s sun hat. After talking to her and learning this is just part of a recent run of bad luck, he feels his age as he tries to convince the young bon viveur that it’s actually something more sinister.But Miss Buckley is poor and has no enemies, so who would want her dead and what’s their motive? Poirot can’t find the answers as he frantically tries to protect her and more attempts are made on her life.Tragedy strikes before the case is solved but there’s an ingenious twist and once more Christie has everybody fooled. Only this time, not just the reader!

I always enjoy it when Poirot and Hastings go further afield and I picked this novel after watching the TV version and I was not disappointed. I love the relationship between Hastings and Poirot and reading more of Christie's novels makes you realise what a truly excellent job Suchet did of bringing Poirot to life. The story is a bit fantastic if you think too much about it but she does the twists and turns so well that you don't really notice and just enjoy it for what it is an entertaining whodunnit.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable murder mystery with a difference - Poirot attempts to solve the case not only whilst on holiday but also before the murder has taken place! If the characters are somewhat larger than life, I think that only adds to the fun of this rather dramatic novel. I loved the banter between Poirot and Hastings, not to mention the little barbed asides about his friend from the Captain.The plot is clever and I only got half way to the solution, which I feel is a good outcome; it's gratifying to be on the right lines, but good to find that Christie had something unexpected up her sleeve.

An ingenious story in which Hercule Poirot, on holiday with Captain Hastings, attempts to solve a murder before it happens. While reading, I thought there was one too many subplots but, at the end, I realised I was mistaken. Many times, of some details, I said to myself “this isn’t right, it couldn’t happen like that” only to realise when Poirot reveals the solution that it could and it did. Great characters and great interplay between Poirot and Hastings. A classic and thoroughly enjoyable read.