Murder in the Mews (Paperback)

Murder in the Mews took place on a location which Poirot and Inspector Japp happened to stroll by on the night of the crime. Despite it being Guy Fawkes day, it was such a place that they remarked it would have been perfect for a murder. And the next day, they were summoned to attend to a suspicious suicide at the very same location. In this short story, Christie tantalised the readers with a myriad of clues, most of which would mislead rather than clarify. A worthwhile mystery.

In the Dead Man's Mirror, Poirot was summoned by an old fashioned aristocrat, only to arrive moments before he apparently committed suicide. This story appeared in another publication as "The Second Gong". Suspicions were cast on the dead man's adopted daughter and his nephew - especially when it came to light that the aristocrat intended to cut them off without a penny if they did not abide by his wishes to marry each other. It was important in this story for the reader to visualise as accurately as possible the scene of the murder in order to find proof whether it was suicide or murder.

The Incredible Theft was almost a carbon copy of "The Submarine Plans". Two leading British politicians had a small weekend party which included a well-suspected female spy. Ostensibly, she was included to entrap her, to catch her in the act. However, when vital plans were stolen without a clue, the politicians had to call in Poirot to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Poirot had to question all those present carefully to clear their names, or nail them with the evidence.

The last story, "Triangle at Rhodes", had Poirot on holiday in a resort at Rhodes. Other guests at the resort included a glamourous socialite who was flirting with other men despite the presence of a jealous husband. In the absence of Hastings (which would not have fitted well into the setting), Christie used another female guest to hold conversations with Poirot to flesh out the narration. Being familiar now with Christie's sleight-of-hand tricks, I was not misdirected. However, it took an unrevealed-before-hand witnessing of Poirot to nail the culprit when someone did die in the triangle of passion.

I would recommend reading the book but not buying it.

Where a story has appeared elsewhere under an alternate title, the title given in this book is listed first.

"Dead Man's Mirror", a.k.a. "Hercule Poirot and the Broken Mirror" - An alternate version of this story also appears as "The Second Gong" in _The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories_. The dead man in question engaged Poirot to come to his country home to clear up an unspecified scandal, but before their first face-to-face encounter, the client is found shot dead in a locked room containing a broken wall mirror.

"The Incredible Theft" - Essentially the same story as "The Submarine Plans" in _The Under Dog and Other Stories_.

"Murder in the Mews", a.k.a. "Good Night for a Murder" - Always thrifty with good ideas, Christie used the same story structure in "The Market Basing Mystery" (see _The Under Dog and Other Stories_), although the stage setting, personalities of the supporting characters, and motives are different.

"Triangle at Rhodes", a.k.a. "Before It's Too Late", "Double Alibi" - As Poirot remarks to a fellow-guest at the seaside, he finds human behaviour somewhat monotonous, since it repeats itself so often - in patterns, such as the triangle. In this case, the notorious beauty Valentine Chantry, accompanied by her 5th (or is he 6th?) husband Commander Chantry is a fellow-guest, and despite her hulking brute of a husband, appears to be taking an interest in Douglas Gold - a handsome man with a pleasant wife but apparently no wits to speak of. Poirot, foreseeing trouble, eventually makes one of his rare attempts to prevent a crime before it takes place. Such attempts are rarely successful...