Ah, dear Agatha,
I loved all the stories in this collection, but I have to tell you that this wasn't my favorite work of yours. I'm sure it's not you; surely it's me. I think each of these stories could have lent themselves to a full-length novel. Each one was a fun read, but left me unsatisfied and wanting more. Still, I chuckled throughout the book and loved every page.
I stumbled across this blog post when trying to learn more about the Laverguier method to combat seasickness mentioned in the book (and, it seems like I've heard it mentioned in another book of yours as well). I thought it was pretty neat and made some great points, although his version of the book only contains 11 short stories. https://therealchrisparkle.wordpress.com/tag/poirot/
For funsies I made a list of all the words I had to look up in the course of this work. It actually doesn't feel like there were as many as usual, but still, quite a few:
colleen
dernier cri
courez
hein
epatant
joss-stick
celui-la
rook / rook rifle
widow's weeds
pecuniary
doucement
Michaelmas
tisane
bagatelle
punctilious
skinflint
voluble
dragoman
prefet
ignominiously
charlady / charwoman
punt
scarfpins
trinitrin
novitiate
But there was one thing in your book that made me gasp, dear Dame Agatha! I'm not even sure what to make of it. This book, published March 1924, pre-dates your own disappearance of December 1926. I wish there was more out there about that, and it's my understanding that it isn't even addressed really in your autobiography (although admittedly, I'm not that far with that yet.) In the story "The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim," Poirot said of disappearances:
"They fall into three categories: First, and most common, the voluntary disappearance. Second, the much abused 'loss of memory' case - rare, but occasionally genuine. Third, murder, and a more or less successful disposal of the body."
What, Agatha?! What does this mean?
Still with admiration,
Beth
