Not the best Poirot novel. The mystery is OK, but the characters were not developed as well as in some of the other novels. They were just a bit lackluster. The final plot twist when the guilty party was revealed was very nice, though. I never saw it coming. ( )

Poirot and Hastings are enjoying a week's holiday at the Cornish coast and Poirot (in his usual humble fashion and, as it turns out, somewhat prematurely) proclaims that the passive life suits him admirably and that there's nothing better than to sit in the sun, secure in the knowledge that he stepped from the pedestal at the zenith of his fame. Right on cue he meets a young lady who tells him that only this week she has already had three narrow escapes from death this week; realising the seriousness of the situation, Poirot is determined to prevent a murder, but already two nights later he and Hastings come across the body of a young woman at End House ...

This was a fun and easy read with a slightly different angle, in that Poirot is actually trying to prevent a murder – but of course readers know that Agatha Christie sets him up for failure in this attempt as there would be no story without a crime being committed. For all the clues that the author puts in his way, I thought that Poirot would have been able to solve the mystery a lot sooner, but I guess his little grey cells were taking a holiday too, and it's probably more interesting this way.

In some ways the novel appears very dated as there are a few rather questionable statements relating to women and Jews (it first appeared in 1931). ( )

If there ever was a book in which I hated one character from the moment he or she entered the stage, it is this adventure of Poirot written by the so talented Agatha Christie. Detectives can be genious, full of mystery, but Agatha is alike her own Miss Marple, knowing people are they are or as they can be. In this case it took a while for me to like the story itself, The first chapter is somewhat irritating but soon enough the players each take their turn and become known to the reader, and lead as ever to the most unlikely climax imaginable. Maybe the thing that bothers me the most is the person "J' in the book. ( )

The Poirot audiobooks are such an enjoyable way to read these adventures, and “Peril at End House” is no exception. This story is a layered and twisty with nice full cast of characters to cause all kinds of deceptions. Definitely one of the strongest in the series!! ( )

Synopsis: Poirot and Hastings are on vacation when they meet as young lady named Nick. She has recently had several scraps with death. Poirot and Hastings decide the these scraps are not accidents but attempts on her life and they try to figure out who has it in for her before it is too late.

My Rating: 4/5

I really enjoyed this book. It is my second favorite of the Poirot's I have read so far. I do think your mileage on the mystery itself may vary depending on what other books you have read in the past. I read this with a friend and he said he figured out what was happening in the book very early on because a Sherlock Holmes novel which he read had a similar plot.

I loved the Hastings and Poirot were together in this book and they had their usual playful banter. Following them together is always such a good time and I wish Hastings was in all the books.
I appreciated that this book had a manageable cast of characters. My biggest complaint with Christie books tends to be that sometimes there are just too many characters and I lose track of who was who. I didn't have that issue in this book.
I thought it was interesting for Christie to have drug use in her books and her apparent social commentary on the youth at the time's attitudes towards life and substance use.
I like that this book gives the reader all the clues that they could solve the mystery.
I loved the reveal. It made perfect sense but also I had no idea until Poirot told us what was going on.
I have very few complaints about this book. There were a couple weird things that happened at the end but I generally try to be forgiving of Christie when those sorts of things happen because the genre and genre expectations have come so far since she wrote and her books are still amazing despite how long it has been since they were written.
This is a great Christie and very worth reading. ( )