In this sort of story I think there should be a sense of progressing deeper into the mystery yet each case seems to be pretty much in line with the others in terms of the dangers and the information to be gained. The problem is that while the stories are linked, the narrative still feels somewhat disjointed. This does seem to be a creative approach to generating a novel from previously existing material and I feel on balance that Christie manages to wrangle her material into enough of a coherent form that it feels purposeful. The reason for this unusual, more episodic storytelling style was that Christie reworked a number of previously published short stories into this novel, altering the openings to tie them into a wider thriller narrative. Typically Poirot finds himself engaged in solving a smaller problem, only to find there are links to that wider case.
The big four agatha christie series#
This book is composed of a series of cases, each of which work Poirot a little closer to discovering the identities of the four crime bosses who make up this shadowy organization. His imminent departure means that their conversation is brief but Poirot expresses some regret about how he is having to put another investigation to one side – a look into the activities of a worldwide crime syndicate called The Big Four. He looks forward to catching up with his old friend Poirot during his trip but arrives to find the detective will shortly head to Argentina on a case that he had accepted, in part, because of his hopes of seeing Hastings. The book opens with Captain Hastings returning to London from his new home in Argentina. Still, I tried to approach it in the hope that the memory may have cheated or that perhaps I might enjoy it more as an adult. While it has probably been fifteen years since I last read it, my memories of it were of being a pretty underwhelming experience.
Having thoroughly enjoyed rereading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd I approached The Big Four with a little less enthusiasm. Largely dull, this suffers from poorly defining the aims and motivations of its villains. A tedious attempt at a espionage thriller.
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