Third Girl: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition (Hercule Poirot Mysteries, 34)

I've never really warmed to this story very much, but I always enjoy reading any story in which Mrs Oliver appears. This novel has some very funny scenes with her. There is also amusing moments when Poirot is depressed at being told he is "too old" (see below).Nevertheless, I find the story a bit depressing; in fact, I find many of Agatha Christie's later stories very depressing (the one written after this, "Endless Night" is the most depressing of all her novels).Norma Restarick is a "third girl" - I've not heard that phrase in the United States, and I'm not sure how common it is in Great Britain. It is explained that when a young woman takes a flat, she often has a friend to share it and help with the expenses. If there is room and they need additional help, they advertise for a "third girl" to help with the expenses... this is often someone that neither of the other two know (or may know slightly).Norma goes to see Poirot, stating that she "may have committed a murder", which piques Poirot's curiosity: you'd think anyone would know whether or not one murdered another. But after meeting Poirot, she decides that he is "too old" to help her, which depresses him.Despite her giving up on him, Poirot does help her and involves his friend, Mrs Oliver.As is usual in Agatha Christie's mysteries, there is plenty of misdirection and it's hard to determine who is guilty.It is well worth reading it if you haven't read it; it just wouldn't be my first choice of a Poirot novel.

Another in the exhausting line of Christie novels. Not the best and not the worst. It follows the Christie pattern of crime, mystery, detecting, and denouement. If you are an Agatha fan, it is fun to read her stories over again. (I read this one so long ago that I can't remember when). Her books never get old and Hercule never gets tiring. Sacre tonner!

Good mystery with turns the reader may not see. Interesting solution to the crime. True Agatha Christie style with her detective Hercule poirot

Good before bed reading. Light and entertaining.

Agatha Christie sure knows how to write! I whizzed through the book. It has a great pace. Suspenseful. Just so good.

This book drags at times, but otherwise the plot is exciting and a departure from the Agatha Christie norm. The story concerns a young girl convinced that she has committed a murder. It is Poirot's task to keep her safe while he unravels the circumstances surrounding her life, assisted by a popular author of crime fiction. Recommended for a short, enjoyable read.

This novel is quite unlike anything else Miss Christie has written. I kept thinking it would suddenly change and pull itself together, so to speak. Nothing much happens. It is highly repetitious. There are very few clues laid down and so little detecting done on Poirot’s part it becomes clear that the author was just throwing something together in a hurry. She plugs in one paragraph after another from some of her other works. Certainly, Agatha Christie would not have approved of this book. Perhaps she was sick and there was great demand put upon her to produce this book in a couple of weeks’ time? Puzzling. The repetition evidently serves to make the story “book-size”.

A young woman goes to Poirot and tells him she thinks she murdered someone. Then she changes her mind about engaging him and leaves. What follows is a beautifully put together puzzle for Poirot to figure out. Was this girl crazy or had a murder actually take place?There are many people in her life and a number of odd and perplexing actions by those people. Most of them say she is "batty" or "troubled. There is danger about but is the danger coming from the girl or for the girl? Mrs Oliver and Poirot investigate. This was a marvelous read!!

After the bus-crash that was 'At Bertram's Hotel', 'Third Girl' represents a return to form for Christie.This may be because it features Poirot rather than the increasingly pointless Miss Marple but the plot is more puzzling and the narrative more interesting than most of Christie's post-war stories.The major problem however, with Christie's later work remains. Reading them now her works are period pieces and she best describes the 1930s when she was at her peak. This was recognised by the televsion adaptors who when filming the entire Poirot oeuvre set them all in the 1930s. Christie simply has little or no contact with the popular culture of the 1960s.In her novels blocks of flats like the one lived in by the three girls still have dedicated restaurants and door-men while her understanding of youth culture is limted to what she ahs obviuosly read int he newspapers. She shares Ian Fleming, her contemporary's disdain for The Beatles ( James Bond in 'Goldfinger': That's just as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs!); identifies David as a 'mod' when he clearly affects the Victorian revival style rather than the sharp suits. parkas and scooters of the genuine 'mod'. She also shares with Sayers a prewar belief that all young people who do not adopt the conventional upper-class dress code are 'dirty'. In Sayers's work they are usually socialists and their ilk, in Christie it is artists, or indeed most young people. That said this is still a good airplane read and Pirot and Mrs Oliver work well together.Perhaps it is time for a TV rework a la Bendeict Cumberbatch's 'Sherlock'. Poirot a former Belgian detective seconded to Interpol and now retired to England; Miss Lemon a Newnham graduate with a Double First from 'Silicon Fen' and Captain Hastings an Iraq War veteran Poirot met while investigating war crimes. I think it would run!

I'd never heard of this Agatha Christie novel, and I thought I'd read them all, especially the Miss Marples and Hercule Poirots. But as I started to read through it I began to realize why perhaps this was. It was just so unlike the Hercule I know and love and I didn't really enjoy it at all. It was also I think written in the time in which it was set, i.e. early 1960s, which just didn't suit HP at all - way out of his comfort zone I think, and also probably Agatha Christie's as well. Both she and her wonderful detective seemed way out of their depth, I thought, and I wasn't too enamoured of the plot, either. This was a novel too far.

Agatha Christie has written so many crime novels that it's not surprising some of them are less than riveting, This story was rather flat and easy to solve, which takes the fun out of it. However, as a time filler, I've read worse books. At least with Agatha Christie, those of us who learned our spellimg and grammar thoroughly all those years ago will not have cause to complain.

Set in quite a different age (the 'swinging sixties' ) this novel has quite a different feel to it altogether - I felt, out of the normal comfort zone. The mystery surrounds three girls who share a flat and a possible murder. The scatty Ariadne Oliver plays a large part, as does Miss Lemon, and M. Poirot appears, practically, right from the start. The book itself is full of humour and quick dialogue which keeps it very readable indeed -just not one of my favourites from Agatha Christie.

From the interesting title and explanation of who a third girl is to the conclusion, this is yet another absorbing book from the largest selling author of all (yes I know apart from Shakespeare but then he had a head start and the bible - ditto), What I love about Christie is how fresh all her plots are. How she came up with totally new ideas and personalities amazes me but she does and never repeats herself, Another one for the Christie fan