Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie

 

Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie.

This edition published 26th September 2013 by Harper Collins.

From the cover of the book:

Agatha Christie’s ingenious murder mystery, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers.

Beautiful Caroline Crale was convicted of poisoning her husband, yet there were five other suspects: Philip Blake (the stockbroker) who went to market; Meredith Blake (the amateur herbalist) who stayed at home; Elsa Greer (the three-time divorcee) who had roast beef; Cecilia Williams (the devoted governess) who had none; and Angela Warren (the disfigured sister) who cried ‘wee wee wee’ all the way home.

It is sixteen years later, but Hercule Poirot just can’t get that nursery rhyme out of his mind…

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When beautiful Caroline Crail was convicted of killing her famous artist husband Amyas, sixteen years ago, it seemed an open and shut case. The authorities, and everyone present at the time, considered her guilty of poisoning her husband in a fit of jealousy over the young and beautiful Elsa Greer, who he was engaged in a passionate love affair with - an affair which threatened to break up the Crale family. Caroline's claim that Amyas committed suicide was never treated with credibility, and she did not offer any other defence.

Years later, Caroline and Amyas' daughter Carla comes of age and learns the full story of her family history. Although she remembers little of the tragic events themselves, a letter left for her by her mother calls the verdict into question. Carla consults Hercule Poirot, asking him to look into the case, and he sets his little grey cells to work.

After quizzing the legal team and police involved with the Crail case, Poirot discovers that there were five other potential suspects present when Amyas died. Something about these five suspects calls to mind the nursery rhyme about little pigs to our famous Belgian, as they fit into the porcine roles of the song rather well - Amyas' best friend Philip Blake, the stockbroker, is the pig who went to market; Philip's brother Meredith, a dabbler in herbal potions, is the pig who stayed at home; Elsa Greer, the now three times divorced ex-lover of Amyas, is the pig who ate roast beef; Cecilia Williams the governess of Caroline's half-sister Angela, is the pig who had none; and finally, Angela herself, who was disfigured as a child by Caroline, is the little pig who cried' wee wee wee' all the way home.

Given the length of time that has passed, Poirot knows this is going to be all about the 'psychologies'. He gathers the information he needs by interviewing each of the five alternative suspects, and asks them to write an account about what they remember about the events surrounding Amyas' death. To Carla, these narratives reveal frustratingly little that puts her mother's guilt in doubt, but to Poirot they reveal all...

This mystery was such a joy to consume. Poirot's little grey cells are tested by an investigation in which he can gather very little in the way of fresh physical evidence, so this is all about the 'psychologies'. By taking note of the emotional responses, and sifting through the contradictory accounts, of the five witnesses, Poirot picks out telling inconsistencies and puts the pieces of the puzzle together in quite a different way to the one that has been accepted as the truth. 

Everything comes together in a classic gathering of the suspects when Poirot reveals all in his characteristically round-about way, casting the red herrings aside, and finally pointing the finger at the real murderer of Amyas Crail. Voila!

Aside from the fact that this is one of Christie's very cleverly contrived murder mysteries, I was struck by the way she explores some intriguing themes in this story. She delves into the perceived differences between the male and female characters, especially in terms of how experience, age, and class affect behaviour, and there is a lot to talk about in the way she examines the acceptability of reckless actions from those viewed as having an 'artistic' temperament. Betrayal and guilt are central to the story too, both as motives for crime and how they affect those left behind. I have a little soft spot for the governess Cecilia Williams given her forthright feminist views and support of Caroline Crail, but quite how Christie feels about her as a character is hard to judge. The themes make this a great choice for a satisfying book club chat if you are keen to read a Christie, and I loved that it gave me a lot to ponder upon.

This book is my May choice for #ReadChristie2023 which looks at betrayal as a theme in her books - a theme that is very common in many of her stories. Although is is not an 'official' suggestion this month, it definitely fits the brief!

As usual, I alternated between reading the book and listening to the dulcet tones of one of my favourite Christie narrators, Hugh Fraser.

Five Little Pigs is available to buy now in multiple formats.

About the author:

Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in over 70 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 20 plays, and six novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott.