Rating: 
Summary: Slightly unusual Poirot
Review: This book's quite well written, but i could guess the ending much earlier than the last few pages, so i can't really give it five stars.The story : Elinor Carlisle is accused of poisoning Mary Gerrard, with the case against her apparently watertight. But Hercule Poirot, the famous Belgian detective, is not at all convinced. He undertakes the commission of finding out the truth, as opposed to defending Elinor .......... What's unusual about this as a Hercule Poirot story is that he doesn't dominate the book, and other characters have equally big roles to play. He's more like the 'usual' detective in that he comes every now and then to make inquiries - but of course in his powers of reasoning and analysis he's far from 'usual'. The various characters are well-etched, and the mystery unfolds nicely. However, it's possible for even the slightly alert reader to guess the ending well in advance, which to me is a drawback in this sort of a book. All in all, a very well written murder mystery, well worth a read - but Agatha Christie (even if not many others!) has done better.
Rating:
Summary: Lacks credible suspects
Review: This is a very very good legal/coutroom thriller. The scenes of Elinor Carlisles trial are excellent, and show yet another aspect of Christie's talent. However, this novels lacks one thing. Any credible suspects to choose from. (Apart from two.) As such, its a bit of a daft mystery. the other suspects only come into the readers orbit once or twice in the entire story, so we dont even really consider them. However, the plot construction is still good, the writing also, and the developement of the characters (especially Mary and Elinor) is very good. Poirots deductive powers are called to the fore once again. And even though there are so few real suspects, the solution manages to come as a bit of a surprise.
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