Hardcover, 334 pages
French language
Published Dec. 17, 2006 by Editions du Masque.
Cela fait tout juste un an que le mari de Mrs Ferrars est mort. D'une gastrite aiguë. Enfin, c'est ce qu'il semble. Après tout, les symptômes de l'empoisonnement par l'arsenic sont presque les mêmes...
Hier, Mrs Ferrars est morte à son tour. Une trop forte dose de véronal. Suicide ? Allons donc ! Elle était encore jeune et très riche...
Et puis, aujourd'hui, Mr Ackroyd a été assassiné. Cette fois, le doute n'est pas permis. Mais pourquoi ? Bien sûr, Mrs Ferrars et Mr Ackroyd paraissaient fort bien s'entendre. Surtout depuis la mort du mari. Mais de là à dire... Non, ce n'est pas possible... En tout cas, ce n'est pas si simple...
A rather blasé novel. It seemed a bit like Agatha changed her mind after having sent Capt. Hastings off to the Argentine. His "temporary replacement" was not a success... and not for the reasons you might expect. A very quick but, sadly, uninspiring tale.
Not one of my favorites due to its shortness -- too much is crammed in too little time, unnecessary narrative frame, very similar in structure to other short stories of hers.
Hugh Fraser, who played Captain Hastings on Poirot did a great job narrating the audiobook.
J'ai beaucoup aimé ce roman d'Agatha Christie qui avait fait polémique à sa sortie à cause de l'utilisation par la Reine du Crime d'une astuce d'écriture qui sort des "règles" du genre.
Oh, Agatha, you sly minx. Once again, Poirot solves the case before I have even narrowed down the suspects.
Really well done in a classic Christie style. Poirot is now retired and growing "the vegetable marrows" without success. He gets pulled into the case--not exactly reluctantly, as it is Poirot--but realizing the quiet village life is not for him. The case takes twists and turns, and you may find yourself switching your prime suspect by the minute. When you hear the clues you missed along they way, you will just shake your head and say, "Agatha, you sly minx. You've done it again." A unique mystery and one of my favorites. I would rank this one up with "And Then There Were None". 4 stars.
As usually, Christie was able to deceive me until the very end. A really great book!
