It’s time for book #2 of my Poirot reading adventure! This book was The Murder on the Links, published in 1923.
Original Book
This is my second time reading this story, and I’m glad that I gave it another chance. Overall, this was an enjoyable story. It’s one of the first books Christie wrote that takes place in a country other than England, and that impacts the story in ways you might not expect. This story begins when Paul Renauld, a rich businessman living in France, sends Poirot a letter entreating his help. Poirot and Hastings, who has been living with Poirot while living a boring life as a private secretary, immediately travel to the Villa Genevieve to consult Monsieur Renauld. However, when they arrive, they are told by Monsiour Hautet, the examining Magistrate, that the man in question was stabbed in the back and placed in an open grave the night before. I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s up to Poirot to find out who killed this man and why. There’s also the very funny addition of Monsieur Giraud, a member of the Paris Súretė, who was placed on the case and is the rival of Poirot. Their disdain for each other is so strong, that they each bet the other 500 pounds that they can solve the murder before the other. It’s actually very funny when, of course, Poirot discovers the truth and spends his winnings on a picture of a foxhunt. Other characters included in this story are Madame Renauld, Jack Renaud, their son, along with Marthe Daubreil, Jack’s fiancé, her mother, and a mysterious woman Hastings meets on a train who leaves the name Cinderella. My favorite part of this story wasn’t even the mystery, it was the love story that grew between Hastings and “Cinderella”! There are the typical Christie twists and turns that will definitely leave the reader surprised, but they didn’t amaze me or seem to change the mystery genre like other stories of hers have. Despite not being my favorite novel so far in the Poirot series, there are still some important themes that emerge in this book that are worth talking about:
- English vs. French – Many of the characters in this book are French, obviously, because the story takes place there, but it’s interesting to see how the English characters (the Renauld family, Hastings, etc.) react to the French characters (Monsieur Giraud, Madame Daubril, Marthe Daubril, etc.). There’s a lot of animosity, which is to be expected given the history the two countries have of constantly being at odds. There’s a feeling given off by Hastings, as the narrator of the story, that you can’t trust these types of people because of the frivolous and deviant stereotype they carried in British culture at the time, and somewhat do even to today. Also important to remember is that Poirot is Belgian, not French, so he feels no connection to the French characters as fellow countrymen at all. This makes him the most ideal person to be investigating this case because he seems to be one of the only people able to separate their feelings from the facts of the case. Even Hastings as an Englishman has a moment of hotheadedness when he feels Poirot isn’t doing enough.
- Women’s Goodness – Hastings tells us in the first chapter that he doesn’t like the way “modern” girls behave. This is a theme that is constant throughout the book. He especially seems disapproving of the French women. There’s an idea throughout the book of the whore and the Madonna, with one woman leading a man to righteousness by her goodness, and another woman luring a man to damnation through her wickedness. Going much further into detail would force me to give away some of the plot, but, it’s sufficient to say that many women in the novel are viewed as these “modern” women who show no respect for the old-fashioned ideals of goodness. I’m somewhat disappointed that Christie as a woman would put such an antiquated trope in her writing, but I guess you have to remember the time period and what the ideas of the time were.
- Love – Love, in all its forms, is very important in this book. Not only typically passionate love, which there is certainly plenty of, but also gentler types of love. As mentioned before, I love the B Plot of the love between Hastings and “Cinderella,” which adds a lighthearted feeling to the book. However, love can also be deceiving. Sometimes it blinds people from seeing the reality of a situation, as Poirot often warns.
David Suchet TV version
This was a charming adaptation, but too many significant elements were taken out of it to enjoy it as much as I did the book. I really can’t go into too much detail, otherwise I’ll give away major plot points. The item taken out that annoyed me the most was the idea of appearances not being what they seem. It was heavily implied in the book that you cannot always trust outer beauty to correspond to inner beauty, which Hastings never seems to understand. This is barely referenced in the show at all. More screen time is given to trying to make the relationship between Poirot and Giraud as humorous as possible, which I must admit I did enjoy, but I think it would’ve been much better served to trying to allow Christie’s themes to come across as much as she would’ve wanted them to in the book. All that being said, the setting and actors were perfectly attuned to what I imagined them to be from the book. I was thrown off a bit that some of the characters who were supposed to be French had English accents, but I suppose that’s what you can expect from a British TV show!
Final Thoughts
I was not impressed with this story as much as I was with The Mysterious Affair at Styles. There were some interesting twists and turns that you might not see coming at first, but nothing that REALLY made me sit up and take notice. However, this was a fun enough little book that could be good for someone just starting out with Christie!
My Current Ranking
- The Mysterious Affair at Styles
- The Murder on the Links
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