The Clocks - Agatha Christie

As an employee of the Cavendish Secretarial and Typewriting Bureau, Sheila Webb's usual working day was rather mundane and thus she had no reason to suspect that the afternoon of September 9th would be any different. Summoned to number 19, Wilbraham Crescent, by a Miss Pebmarsh, Sheila first noticed the plethora of clocks in the room she had been told to wait in, observing as well that a number of them were set over an hour faster than the actual time. Yet this slight oddity was to pale into insignificance as she stepped further and walked behind the sofa. Lying upon the carpet, the blood evident upon him, was the body of a stabbed man. When Miss Pebmarsh then returned ...  Read the complete review

The Clocks is an atypical Christie book. Although the blurb suggests that Hercule Poirot features heavily, he doesn't turn up till nearly halfway through the book! And even then he appears sporadically throughout, staying at his home while Colin Lamb (the main character) reports everything he sees and hears to the Belgian detective. The murder occurs at the very start of the book and takes place in the cosy little street Wilbraham Crescent. Its certainly one of Christie's oddest murders: the body is surrounded by clocks, all reading 4:13,in the house of a blind woman who doesn't know the victim. In fact, no one claims to know the victim and all the ...  Read the complete review