Subpar Poirot?! A Review of "The Clocks"

This one gives me some serious mixed feelings. I've read a decent number of Agatha Christie's Poirot novels, and they are invariably excellent. Until today.

I was wandering around a physical, public library one day last month and the most interesting thing I found on their shelves was a copy of The Clocks, supposedly a Hercule Poirot mystery, by Agatha Christie of course. I managed to read a good chunk of it before my friends arrived, and I decided to come back and finish it this weekend.

The Mediocre Spy Thriller Agatha Christie Wrote: Destination Unknown!

I stumbled onto this weird little book when I was in a bit of an Agatha Christie kick. Destination Unknown, which was also published as So Many Steps to Death, is a grandmaster mystery novelist's attempt at a spy thriller. And sadly, though not wholly unexpectedly, it isn't very good.

Imagine Tolkien writing a courtroom drama.