The Clocks by Agatha Christie

In contrast to highly dramatic and explosive detective/crime stories which cater to a rather desensitised audience, Agatha Christie's series of Hercule Poirot is refreshingly witty, perplexing and subtle. A murder is of course to be expected in this novel, however the context of the crime scene (in the house of a blind, retired school teacher, at which four clocks set to 4:13 are left), the body (the identity of which is unknown), and the characters (all of which seem rather unrelated) are anything but predictable. The attention to detail with shifts between narratorial perspectives and carefully articulated dialogues make for a captivating text, however require the full attention of the reader (who in the back of the minds secretly wishes to solve the case before Poirot - however, inevitably knows that this is a rather futile goal). My only complaint would be the large absence of the Belgium detective himself, whose senses of quirk and wisdom seem paralleled perhaps only by that of Professor Dumbledore. All in all, a very enjoyable read however with such an intriguing character as Poirot, why not include him a little more?