Curtain (Hercule Poirot Mysteries #42), Written about 1940, published 1975, Agatha ChristieAbstract: The crime-fighting careers of Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings have come full circle they are back once again in the rambling country house in which they solved their first murder together. Both Poirot and Great Styles have seen better days but, despite being crippled with arthritis, there is nothing wrong with the great detective and his “little gray cells.” However, when Poirot brands one of...

Curtain (Hercule Poirot #39), Agatha ChristieCurtain, Written about 1940, published 1975, Agatha Christie (1891 – 1976).Characters: Hercule Poirot, John Franklin, Barbara Franklin, Judith Hastings, Stephen Norton.Abstract: The crime-fighting careers of Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings have come full circle they are back once again in the rambling country house in which they solved their first murder together. Both Poirot and Great Styles have seen better days but, despite being crippled with

Rating: The Full FiveWhen this novel came out in 1975, my older sister was a bookshop owner and gave me and our mother a copy to savor. None of the three of us were particular Christie nuts. My sister felt that Dame Ags played gawd with the clues a bit too much...my mother found Poirot insufferably smug. I read the book without discrimination or comprehension, and moved on to other things I liked better. I believe that was the year I read Stand on Zanzibar, but am not positive.Now that I'm the a...

Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case! (So since major things happen in this book, don't 1) read this is as your first book first, and 2) try to reading spoilerish reviews like this one. But read a few others from the series, then read this one, for sure.“Nothing is so sad, in my opinion, as the devastation wrought by age”—Hastings, on PoirotI’m done, whew, having read all of 38 Christie Poirot novels (and a couple short story collections) in order of publication, over the past 2-3 years. I’ll listen agai...

It's with a heavy heart that I read this last novel in the Poirot series. I've been in companionship with him and solving mysteries alongside (not successfully all the time) for nearly two and a half years, so saying goodbye wasn't easy. And it was made all the more painful by the author's decision to end the series by ending the life journey of her favourite hero. In any case, it was a very sad parting. However, I'm happy that Agatha Christie has closed the curtain in style by giving us yet ano...

You Chose Your Own Adventure!You are the killer: you kill yourself. You deserve it. Or do you? Are you the hero or the villain? But what does it matter; in the end, death comes to us all. Your adventure is over.If you decide to reject your notorious life and start anew, choose http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Poirot's last novel and last case. Things came full circle and Captain Hastings went to Styles where he had seen a Poirot's investigation for the first time. Only now Poirot was crippled and lost use of his legs, but the gray cells... the gray cells still worked. Hastings had no clue that Poirot was about to match his wits with a genius serial killer who could never be accused of his crimes by any court, or even suspected - sort of like Professor Moriarty if you will, but their methods were very...

Agatha Christie Book Reading ChallengeBOOK 14 :- JAN 20204 STARS

Agatha Christie's swan song for her most famous character, Hercule Poirot, fittingly returns him and and his friend Arthur Hastings to the setting of her very first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Aside from the fact that it's Poirot's final case, a rather unusual twist and the recurring Othello theme make this one of Christie's more memorable works, if rather melancholy. It was interesting to find out that Christie originally wrote this novel during World War II, possibly fearing that s...

"For a murderer, my friend, is more conceited than any creature on this earth. A murderer is always more clever than anyone else- no one will ever suspect him or her- the police will be utterly baffled"The above quote is a perfect way to describe this mystery.I have been wanting to read this for some time now and what better day than Christie's birthday.I have now read numerous mysteries by Christie but there is no pattern (apart from a cozy setting)Each and every mystery, murder suspects, the e...

I admit it, I teared up at the end; I don't ever want there to be a final Poirot novel. However, two things comforted me: one is that this was not actually the last novel Dame Agatha wrote about Poirot, not by a long shot. Since Elephants Can Remember is largely regarded as a weak later effort, I think of Hallowe'en Party as the last excellent novel written about Poirot. Curtain was written somewhere around WWII most likely, and put away to be released decades later as Agatha neared the end of h...

What does one think when a read of 3 years comes to an end. It has been an enjoyable 3 years, and although I had read some of the books, some were certainly new to me and were an enjoyable revelation.This was no exception, yes I have seen the David Suchet tv episode, but I do not remember reading this novel despite owning the book for many years. Firstly I have to say I found it very moving as well as being a great detective story. Both Hastings and Poirot were the epitome of Hastings- ness and

Ratings: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Poirot! I was in an emotional rollercoaster after I finished reading this one! Not going to get into details, but, what a treat there is ahead of you! 🔥💓

I am sad that I had to give 2 stars to an Agatha Christie book because I am a huge fan. I took this book with a lot of hope. This book is so famous I thought I will have a fantastic reading experience with it. I felt distraught after reading it. The 2 stars are for the following:The original idea of the story, a criminal who puts thoughts into people and make them commit crimes. It was brilliant. Totally awesome.Secondly, the book portrays many kinds of people and their relationships. And I thou...

Outstanding. Better than the first time that I read it.

A masterpiece for finishing the series. Although I haven't read all the books, only 5-6. I read what I had in hand.A really good crime plot. I guessed some parts about the story, but not the parts of murderer.Thought I grew out of classical crime fiction after school, but no. The impression was as good as it was about 15 years ago. Maybe it's time I reread Sherlock Holmes?

It would be wrong to say I loved this book (despite the 5 stars)... I hated it. I love Poirot so much that I couldn't bear to see him pass beyond the veil.That said, I consider this one a fantastic mystery - and one which could be resolved only this way, with the death of the detective (read the book, and you'll get what I mean). Many people have complained that the premise is far-fetched, but IMO, that is its main charm. And let me tell you, it's not all that impossible... (view spoiler)[There

| | blog | tumblr | ko-fi | |4.5 stars “Who is there who has not felt a sudden startled pang at reliving an old experience, or feeling an old emotion?” Curtain bids a bittersweet farewell to the one and only Hercule Poirot. While I know that by this point Agatha Christie feelings towards him were less than amicable, her novel doesn't convey its creators impatience. Rather than hurrying Poirot off from the stage, Christie grants him one final performance.I will admit that seeing the formidab...

Dear Agatha, whatever possessed you to write this piece of nonsense? I'll give you that it's built on an interesting concept but so much of it is so transparently obvious and the ending........whatever possessed you? My favourite phrase in the book is "It behooved us to forestall that happening" - not a phrase much in use these days, if ever. Frankly, Mrs Christie, you should have behooved yourself not to write this book. It's criminal!"My first 'borrow' from Open Library. A few pages missing fr...

With apologies to all the Agatha Christie fans of the world, I simply could not get myself interested enough in this book to finish it. I tried, I really did, because my mother gave me her paperback copy after she heard that I had read the first Poirot novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles . She said that since I had read the first one featuring the Belgian detective, I should also read the final one. Although I had decided not to read any other Christie titles, I gave in and took the book. How...

The book MUST be read only after you have read 33 novels and the 56 short stories featuring the ace detective. And what a befitting end to the series. Reading it i could feel myself part of the entire story line. I could hear Poirot telling- "We shall not hunt together again, my friend. Our first hunt was here-and our last…. Yes they have been good days". The range of emotions one goes through reading the story is difficult to put into words. Having read the entire series there is no way I can e...

An unforgettable end to the best detective in fiction, I would recommend reading this book AFTER you've read ALL the Poirot books.Reminding very much of The Crooked House, however much better. Christie was a genius.

In his last case Poirot returns to where it all began for the reader, Styles. Here an old and physically ailing Poirot tries to track down his greatest challenge adversary: a murder who appears completely unconnected with a string of murders. A villain so devious his very existence is unknown to all but Poirot's little grey cells. As with The Mysterious Affair at Styles Poirot enlists the help of Hastings in tracking down the villain and it is from Hastings point of view we get the story.As per

The first time we meet Poirot, he is at Styles St. Mary during World War 1. That is where Hastings first pairs up with Poirot. Many years later, they meet again at the same location. This latter meeting is the where Curtain takes place. Poirot is old physically, but still sharp mentally. Hastings is mourning the death of his wife and worrying about his daughter, Judith, who is also visiting at the same house as her father.Poirot has discovered that a series of deaths seem to be connected. One pe...

Meh! It’s all gestures, nostalgia, obvious red herrings and filler until the BIG TWIST at the end. You may as well read the first 20 pages and the last 20 and call it a day. I’ll stick with Miss Marple for the time being.

"It was a marshalling of the forces of a human being to widen a breach instead of repairing it."Flawlessly, diabolically plotted. Will write more when not an emotional wreck.

"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain" - Mark CarriganHastings and Poirot meet up at Styles. Poirot is wheelchair bound with a failing heart, Hastings is a widower with 4 children, his youngest daughter is also at Styles. The mystery itself is fine, what I liked more is the peak into Christie. The choices she makes in this book. The characters, the things that stay the same and those that change. How she defines a murderer.I'm glad to have reached the end

A great mystery that made me sad. I guess I'm a sentimentalist, because I kept hoping as I was reading the postscript that (view spoiler)[it would turn out that Poirot wasn't really dead and this was his final joke on his old friend. (hide spoiler)] If that had happened, it would have been worth five stars for me. I know, I'm a sap. This story takes place at Styles, where Hastings and Poirot solved their first case together. If you want to enhance your enjoyment, I recommend going back and re-re...

4.25*“Everyone is a potential murderer-in everyone there arises from time to time the wish to kill-though not the will to kill.” The last Poirot... I never really wanted to read this novel, for that reason, but here was I at last. Christie wrote this during WWII and then locked the manuscript in a safe until 1976, when it was clear she didn’t have much time left. I guess that is another reason for my reticence. With a poetic hand, Christie brings us back to Styles, where Poirot and Hastings had

I had no idea I was capable of hating so indifferent a book so passionately. It's like Agatha Christie decided to pull a carefully crafted ACD-style "fuck you" to her readership and this was the result. That so many people regard this as the best of her novels is appalling. I don't want to become the Linus Torvald of goodreads reviewers (I am really, really not remotely in the same league of being a jerk (or the same league of intelligence or creativity, alas)), but seriously: this book sucks. E...