Reviews with content warning for Torture - The Big Four

Christie writes such thrilling sequences. This was almost a James Bond movie, surreal. Chemists making smokebombs, a mythical laboratory...But so much of the intrigue and smokescreens relied on the "mysterious east". Sly Chinese people who control the underworld and whatnot. That's why, even though it is such an exhilarating read, it's hardly a reread.

Christie's strength draws on her quiet knowledge. Of unpretentious, homebrew methods of murder. Science, yes, but nothing of this scale. Hastings is growing on me as I read on. I'll still say the cat and mouse game between Number 4 and Poirot was very entertaining, but thinking on it, it felt like a series of short stories stuffed into a novel to advance the plot.

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hannahcstocks's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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prashiie's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.25

"It is a duel to the death, mon ami. You and I on the one side, the Big Four on the other."

After being reunited with Hastings, Poirot goes up against the toughest enemies he has faced till now. Every time it seems like he’s one step ahead of them, the Big Four proves him wrong. But Poirot doesn’t give up easily! I liked that this mystery wasn't easy to solve. Poirot really had to give his all and put his little grey cells to work.

The structure of the story was different compared to the other Poirot stories. Whilst the focus mainly lies on the Big Four, Poirot has many side investigations which all in turn seem to be connected to the Big Four.

I liked that there were references to Poirot’s previous cases. Poirot and Hastings have inside jokes about Inspector Giraud, the human foxhound, who appears in ‘Murder on the Links’, and Hastings’ soft spot for girls with auburn-coloured hair. This became evident when he proposed to Cynthia in ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’.

Also, there were many similarities with Sherlock Holmes! The Big Four reminded me of the criminal mastermind Moriarty.

During his struggle with Moriarty, Watson believed Holmes was dead and that is exactly how it went down with Hastings and Poirot in this story. Poirot additionally mentions that he has a brother who is as smart as Poirot and maybe even smarter if he wasn’t lazy. We eventually find out that Poirot made this up to confuse the Big Four, but still it is very similar to Holmes’ brother, Mycroft.

There were some parts that I didn’t like that much. First of all, it bothered me that an Asian character was referred to as ‘Chink’ and secondly, Hastings’ comment about women in science.

“It has always seemed to me extraordinary that a woman should go so far in the scientific world. I should have thought a purely masculine brain was needed for such work.”

But it didn’t bother me too much. The story is nearly 100 years old and it is not entirely fair to judge it by today’s standards.

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