Elephants Can Remember (Hercule Poirot) by Agatha Christie

 

Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie.

This edition published 8th September 2016 by Harper Collins.

From the cover of the book:

Hercule Poirot is determined to solve an old husband and wife double murder that is still an open verdict…

Hercule Poirot stood on the cliff-top. Here, many years earlier, there had been a tragic accident. This was followed by the grisly discovery of two more bodies – a husband and wife – shot dead.

But who had killed whom? Was it a suicide pact? A crime of passion? Or cold-blooded murder? Poirot delves back into the past and discovers that ‘old sin leave long shadows’.

***********

Famous novelist, and part time associate of Hercule Poirot, Ariadne Oliver is accosted by a very persistent stranger during a literary dinner. The unpleasant Mrs Burton-Cox demands to know whether Ariadne has the inside information on the mysterious death of the parents of her god-daughter Celia Ravenscroft, citing the interest of her son Desmond, who is engaged to Celia.

Ariadne does not know quite what to make of this, especially as she was not in England at the time of the demise of the Ravenscrofts, who apparently died in a cliff-top suicide pact twelve years ago. She decides to consult her friend Poirot to see if she should take this approach seriously. Poirot sets Ariadne the task of talking to her contacts from years before who knew General and Mrs Ravenscroft, to see if they can remember anything about the circumstances surrounding the deaths. Meanwhile, Poirot undertakes to speak to the police detectives involved in the investigation of the apparent suicide.

Ariadne. bolstered by Celia's revelation that she would actually quite like to know the truth, gathers an odd collection of erratic testimonies from her 'elephants'. They seem to her to reveal little in the way useful facts, but Poirot's little grey cells detect sinister shenanigans that point to murder. 

This is one of Christie's more reflective mysteries that looks back in time to events which have already been investigated by the police, very much like the very entertaining cases in Five Little Pigs and Mrs McGinty's Dead (which both get a mention in this text, and one of which Poirot also worked on with the charming Ariadne). 

The theme of elephants as having excellent recall of past events runs throughout the story, with Ariadne and Poirot on the trail of clues from a mixed bag of human pachyderms among old friends and colleagues, former domestic staff, a psychiatrist, a hairdresser, and even Ariadne's very aged childhood nanny. Poirot's acumen is tested, but titbits about dogs, wigs, twins and broken promises lead him to the truth about what really happened all those years ago - and to the nefarious side quest of the awful Burton-Cox woman too!

Ariadne Oliver is one of my favourite Christie characters, and I love it when she and Poirot work together. The journey to the solution was very entertaining, but even though Poirot ties up all the ends beautifully, and sends the young love-birds Celia and Desmond off to a bright future, somehow this ending falls a little flat for me. I am not sure why as it has all the elements that should make it sing. 

Even so, I consumed the audio book of this mystery, narrated by one of may favourites Hugh Fraser, old Captain Hastings himself, which is perfect comfort listening.

This book is my August pick for #ReadChristie2023 which explores a fall from a height as a method of murder.

Elephants Can Remember 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.