Agatha Christie is the world's third best-selling author of all time, her books sales only trailing those of the Bible and of Shakespeare. With books as cleverly crafted as Hercule Poirot's Christmas, it is not particularly difficult to see why. Our favourite Belgian dectective Hercule Poirot returns (without the accompaniment of Hastings) to business in order to unmask the killer of Simeon Lee, the unpleasant and malicious patriarch of the Lee family. While the brutal nature of the murder leaves no question as to the cause of death, the universally unsavoury character of Simeon Lee means that virtually all of his family are suspects. One ...  Read the complete review

Proud, unrepentant of former ill deeds and with a truly wicked sense of humour, elderly Simeon Lee saw no reason to suspect that this Christmas would not be enjoyable - for himself at any rate. His invitation to his sons to gather at his house over the Christmas period had been accepted and it was of no consequence to Lee that the reasons had not all been borne out of a sense of loyalty or love towards him. Instead he took a twisted pleasure in observing how the diametrically opposite characters of Alfred and his brother Harry were set against each other, the former weak but dependable, the latter untrustworthy but charismatic. A younger brother named David made no ...  Read the complete review