The Clocks

An unidentified man lies dead in a blind woman's house. Surrounded by four stopped clocks, the body is discovered by a typewritist. An apparently innocent passer by, who is also in knowhow with the police and Poirot, coordinates with the authorities. Narrated mostly from his perspective, the story unfolds its hues as one of the most perplexing investigations due chiefly to no identification of the victim. So when police seems to crawl through the sleuthing, the master is challenged to solve the crime sitting in the drawing room. A couple of more deaths occur. As doubts on many creep up it seems Poirot can only solve it. But he is actually primarily absent in most of the situations. So the way he solves the crime is a real revelation for all.
Written in an uncharacteristic slackened pace with a riddle subtly hinted upon to solve for the readers this Christie will rank a bit on the lower side but its unique style of crime keeps the signature intact..

Good old Secret Seven

Something strange was happening in a far off ruin of a castle. Had it not been for the telescope that came handy for the Secret Seven it would not have been discovered. Once piqued, it was no stopping the seven adventurers who tumbled onto something yet more serious. With their dog Scamper in tow, Peter, Janet, Jack, George, Colin, Pam and Barbara resolved to get to the bottom of the mystery while the ever annoying Susie and Binkie posed some additional problems. What were being continuously guarded at the castle? Why residents jackdaws were unsettled? Was there a wailing spirit? Or is it something more sinister? To know all these the book is a must read for the young readers. But I will say that this birthday present of my son gave some merry moments of nostalgia that was refreshing as well as enjoyably thrilling. This book had the smell of the school days when detective fiction at its enjoyably best were offered by the authors who wrote solely for the young dreamers.

The Man Who Knew Too Much

A collection of political mysteries with a flavour that is slightly different from conventional mystery stories. Infact the sleuth is related to the PM, the FM and several other in the higher rungs which gives him ample chance to study the intricacies of regional along with private politics. So it is not surprising that each story unveils the crimes in private circles but the actual perpetrators are sometimes to be excused from bringing to justice just to avoid a greater political chaos. So Horne Fisher, the investigator with the self proclaimed omniscient knowledge of almost everything finds it hard to bear the burden of information that he is cursed with. His analytical mind gets easily to the truth but diplomacy prevents unmasking the villains publicly quite a few times. Fisher vents his solutions to Harold March, a political journalist who gets attached to Fisher in a case that is supposed to be the first for the duo. Besides this case and the final one, the others are not chronologically arranged. The stories are unique in the sense that philosophy plays a greater part than concrete evidence in unveiling the truth but the finale remains convincing always. The final case is a bit predictive that has seemed to influence Christie in one of her masterpieces where the master falls after preventing the calamity in the way that is tragic yet supremely heroic satisfying justice. The signature style of Chesterton can be felt in the subtle cues, the serenity of the ambience that makes the stories gripping yet calm. Written from the third person perspective, the contents are as follows

1. The Face in the Target
2. The Vanishing Prince
3. The Soul of the Schoolboy
4. The Bottomless Well
5. The Fad of the Fisherman
6. The Hole in the Wall
7. The Temple of Silence
8. The Vengeance of the Statue