Poirot: Set 8 - DVD

The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman - again more complex than many of the earlier cases, and it's nice to see the comic antics of Miss Lemon and Hastings in full-blast again! - 4.5 stars

The Chocolate Box - Very well done, and unique among all the episodes! Great flash backs, and great characterizations between Poirot and Japp! I loved how they explain the pin he's been wearing all through the series. One wonders if they thought ahead or if including it was an afterthought. I haven't read the original story of this one, so I'm interested to know if the pin was Agatha's idea, or the episode-writers'. - 4.5 stars

Box Set Overall score (Not an Average) - 5 stars

But setting aside the originals, here are three excellent mysteries, each with a little something special. In "The Case of the Missing Will," we have a good deal of upper class British male anti-feminine feelings as a background to a murder designed to disinherit everyone mentioned in a will by stealing it and bringing up the possibility of a long-lost heir. The actual solution ties in nicely with the patriarchal theme set up early in the episode.

"The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman" finally brings in "an admirer" for the usually machine-efficient Miss Lemon and plays up Hastings' love for automobiles. Here too, an early incident--the purchasing of the car-- comes full cycle to a "gag" at the end to create a symmetry that would please Poirot himself. The running theme here is the rise of Mussolini and Italian criminal organizations that pre-date the Mafia (as we are told by the dialogue).

Possibly "The Chocolate Box" is the most special of the entire series of short episodes. Here we have flashbacks of Poirot when he was in the Bruxelles police force, trying to prove that a death by "natural causes" was indeed a murder. Naturally those involved are powerful people and Poirot's superior tries desperately to get him to stop looking into the case. Many years later, when Inspector Japp is called to Bruxelles to receive an award, Poirot finally gets to resolve things in a most surprising way. Here the background theme is religion and its tie-in with politics.

Only two more sets to go. And look for the DVD versions of "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" and "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe," also issued by Acorn Media.