Mini Review – The ABC Murders

From Goodreads:

There’s a serial killer on the loose, working his way through the alphabet and the whole country is in a state of panic.

A is for Mrs. Ascher in Andover, B is for Betty Barnard in Bexhill, C is for Sir Carmichael Clarke in Churston. With each murder, the killer is getting more confident—but leaving a trail of deliberate clues to taunt the proud Hercule Poirot might just prove to be the first, and fatal, mistake.

Poirot hunts a serial killer and Hastings tags along! This was a fantastic mystery. Its the first read dual perspective novel we have got from the Poirot books as we follow both Hastings’ narrative of events as well as little asides into the mind of a mysterious character going about his day to day while these events are taking place (I won’t name due to spoilers). It makes for such an interesting story as we see a lot more of the crime and the deduction methods of Poirot than we have before. The structure of the mystery builds so nicely, from mysterious letters, to the murders themselves and the hunt for the killer which might not be quite what it seems. I really enjoyed this one and am glad to see Hastings back to lend his account of things but also the little bit of comic relief he always gives as Poirot sasses him.