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Even the great detective Hercule Poirot harbored a deep and abiding fear of the dentist, so it was with some trepidation that he arrived at the celebrated Dr. Morley’s surgery for a dental examination. But what neither of them knew was that only hours later Poirot would be back to examine the dentist, found dead in his own surgery.
Turning to the other patients for answers, Poirot finds other, darker, questions.…
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.The story begins with the 'murder' of the dentist of Hercule Poirot (soon after Poirot visits him), with apparently no motive whatsoever. Apparent motive soon arrives in form of 'suicide' to avoid loss of face after professional bungling.
Poirot undertakes to find out the truth. Pretty soon, posible motives and suspects begins piling up, and it all gets very complicated.
Unlike most of Agatha Christie's stories, this could've had several possible conclusions, even if 'read backwards' - which means the ending, though easy to guess, is almost impossible to deduce.
This means that the (highly interesting) journey through the book doesn't have a very satisfying conclusion.
However, it's very well written and i read it in no time at all - recommended !!
Christie is always at her best when working a tightly structured plot, but although enjoyable (how can you resist Poirot at the dentist?) SHOE is not among her best efforts. The novel begins as very tightly-plotted, then suddenly flies in a dozen different directions at midpoint. Christie has considerable difficulty recapturing the different strands for her conclusion--and for once her solution fails to impress. Worth reading, certainly, but old fans and newcomers alike may be a bit disappointed with the end result.
Amidst the array of witnesses; those who had been present on the scene at some time or other on the same day, Poirot tried to piece together a puzzling picture; who was, or is, the intended victim ? How were the persons of Blunt, a most influential figure in the world of British finance who remained largely in the background ? Or the rebellious Raikes who was in love with the niece of Blunt ? Or the retired civil servant Barnes ? Or the mysterious missionary lady Seale who inexplicable went missing soon after?
Red herrings abound in this story, with numerous twists and turns. The time interval was long, with weeks or more passing between chapters, making one marvel at how Poirot managed to keep the right focus on the murder even though he must have attended to numerous other affairs in the meantime.
Unhappily, when all was revealed, what the book lacked was a credible motive for the murder of the dentist. Given the resources available to and the intellect of the culprit, the killing seemed most unnecessary.
however, the story goes on and on and it became a bit complicated. Read more
