The Complete Ariadne Oliver Vol.-II

The most biographical of Christie's character, Mrs. Ariadne Oliver accompanies the authoress' most egoist sleuth Hercule Poirot in three of the cases and finds herself a lone audience in the fourth one. The content of this volume are

1. Third Girl
2. Hallowe'en Party
3. Elephants Can Remember
4. The Pale Horse

Even an avid reader of Christie stories, I was not prepared for the incident that triggered the 1st case. In what I think a most curious start to an Agatha Chrisite novel that I've ever read, a girl rushes to Poirot apartment, informs him that she thinks she had killed somebody and leaves hurriedly. Quite obviously it was enough to upset the fussy detective's breakfast and he starts on a mission to unravel the mystery. He gets help from the mystery writer Mrs. Oliver and together they set upon a trail of truth and a body, both of which seems to be cleverly camouflaged. One thing that I noticed in this novel was that, starting from the confused client several of the major charaters are the 'next generation' types that is so unlikely of Christie and her fans who mainly associate her narrations with a more conservative and British surroundings. But this story, so to say seems more Amercanised which was clearly needed for the plot's sake and Christies again shows her talent of critically portraying all the generations in style. Though the end seemed somewhat obvious, at least a part of it, but the Christie twist will again keep even the critical of readers fascinated at this quite convincing yet cleverly concealed motive. Another point worth noticing is that this novel portrays a gradally ageing Poirot when we see how he relies on certain clues supplied by a Mr. Goby, another pvt. investigator who does much of the research part but the grey matter churning is left for the master himself.
The 2nd story begins with a teenager's murder during a Hallowe'en party where Mrs. Oliver was present as a guest. She requests Poirot to investigate the death and thus sets the detective unearthing a trail of truth shrouded by an evil past. Here too reference to Poirot getting old can be observed. A very interesting character in this drama is a Ms. Emlyn, a character closely resembling Ms. Marple with whom Poirot seems to compare notes on occassions. This may be the closest that Christie has brought Poirot face to face with Ms. Marple type lady and quite surprisingly Poirot is shown to be less egoist in her presence.
The 3rd story is about a mysterious double death that took place years ago requiring attention for such a long time. This story can be loosely categorised as a classic as it is more of a novel than a mystery. True it contains evil but curiuosly it evokes sympathy for the criminal at its completion. It is also devoid of any arrests and Poirot only unearths the mystery that had surrounded the episode and which remained dormant for years. Mrs. Oliver actively plays her part in gathering information from the 'elephant's that she labels for the aged persons with a memory like the quadruped. Actually it is only these 'elephant'ine minds that helps Poirot to gather the loose threads and though the ultimate truth is a bit predictive but the reading is enjoyable.
The final story is a Christie wonder where the author brilliantly camouflages the crime with her masterly imagination. The final twist will produce shok to the readers and also the unravelling may seem a bit simplified but the shroud of witchcraft that gets the better of the story is worth appreciating.