Agatha Christie rarely makes a misstep in her mysteries but Third Girl, originally published in 1966, falls a little short of her usual fare. The book features Hercule Poirot, but an older, slower Poirot who takes a long time to put the pieces together and figure out exactly what is going on.

He is approached by a perplexed girl who thinks that she might have killed someone. She appears totally spaced out and announces that Poirot is too old to help and leaves. Although his feelings are hurt at being called “old”, he tracks her down with the assistance of Ariadne Oliver to her London flat that she shares with two other young ladies but she is missing both from there and from the family’s country house.

Although Ms. Christie tries very hard to inject excitement to the story with hints of drugs and gas-lighting, the story actually plods along and Poirot’s efforts to establish whether the third girl is guilty, innocent or insane never really picks up. I guess you could say that I prefer Poirot in the 1930s and 40s to seeing him fuddle around with long haired mods in the 1960s. ( )

A delightful return to the antics of Hercule Poirot and his interest in love. A neurotic young girl visits Poirot and states that she may have murdered someone. The young lady, Norma Restarick, then quickly leaves Poirot’s home. Through many twists and turns, and with the aid of Ariadne Oliver, Poirot finds and rescues Norma. Many wicked events transpire before the mystery unfolds. What a mystery! This reader never reveals the sordid details, you must read the book yourself. Agatha Christie shines with her description of characters and setting. The ending runs the gamut of surprises and false identities, so much like Shakespeare. Of course, with Hercule Poirot, the ending always seems to highlight a romance and forthcoming marriage. ( )

Agatha Christie's mysteries often do strange things with the plotline, and this one did too. At first, it wasn't even clear if a murder had been committed! The resolution also had some fun twists I never saw coming. ( )

Having read several 'Poirot' books now, I find it curious that Poirot stories continues to exist a lot later than the TV programmes make you think. [return][return]This story is set in the 1960s (also written around the same time), and involves: money, drugs, drugging others, killings, artists (did I mention drugs?), etc etc. ( )

Feb. 2021 reread:
While the basis of the plot was ingenious, Christie's comments about life in the mid-1960s England felt dated and, to be frank, somewhat of the disgruntled elder who disliked the culture & attitudes of the youth of the time. But on the plus side, I always enjoy when Ariadne Oliver is a major character. ( )