Elephants Can Remember - Classic Mystery Review

Goodreads:  Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christe

Rating: Liked It!
Source:  Published

Description:  Hercule Poirot stood on the cliff-top. For here, many years earlier, there had been a tragic accident – the broken body of a woman was discovered on the rocks at the foot of the cliff. 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 a crime committed 15 years earlier and discovers that, when there is a distinct lack of physical evidence, it’s just as well that ‘old sins leave long shadows.'

This story is part of Agatha Christie’s murder in retrospect series, a collection of stories which look at a crime several years after the fact, piecing together testimonials and witness reports to finally uncover the truth. This time we see Mrs Oliver’s goddaughter, attempting to find out the truth about her deceased parents – who killed whom?

Genre: Mystery - Classic

Why I Picked This Book:  This was the next book in my Poirot reread!  

My Impression:  Without a doubt Christie's later books are considerably weaker then her earlier books.  This was the last Poirot book that Christie wrote (Curtain was written in the 1940s to be published after her death) and in her looser plotting and repetitive writing it definitely shows.  However, this has the charm that is so present in her earlier books but lacking in her older books.  I feel like in this book Christie was writing what she liked and not trying to play with trends and "modern up" her books like she had in the past few.  

I love seeing more of Mrs. Oliver and her dislike of literary lunches had me laughing.   The mystery was entertaining and I enjoyed the active investigation.  As usual I didn't feel like it was as cleanly written as her earlier books.  There were a few jumps in logic and the occasional coincidence but I did enjoy this one more then I have the last few books.  I would probably recommend Five Little Pigs/Murder in Retrospect which has a similar premise over this one but this is still a fun read.

I listened to the audio on this one and unsurprisingly Hugh Fraser did a fantastic job!

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  Of course!  I will always be reading Christie.

Would I Recommend this Book?  I would though with some caution.  While it's not her worst it's not my favorite either.