I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
"The Adventure of the Clapham Cook”
by
Agatha Christie
It is part of the Hercule Poirot series and is a vintage mystery in a Kindle edition that was published by Dreamscape Media on January 1, 2019 and has 29 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Secret Adversary, The Unexpected Guest, Partners in Crime, Three Blind Mice and Other Stories, The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories, Passenger to Frankfurt, The Murder at the Vicarage, "The Million Dollar Bond Robbery", “The Submarine Plans”, “The Double Clue”
The ninth short story in Christie’s Hercule Poirot series and revolving around this short Belgian detective. The focus is on the disappearance of a woman’s cook.
This short story originally appeared in the November 14, 1923 issue of The Sketch magazine.
My Take
The Daily Blare sounds like the early twentieth century’s version of the National Enquirer.
Poirot is ticked off with investigating those small issues and yet when confronted by a lady whose cook walked off, capitulates when Mrs Todd tells Poirot that “a servant’s every bit as important as a tiara” and I do agree!
Poirot does crack me up with his vanity — witness that waxed mustache!, the little gray cells, and his pomposity, lol.
The point-of-view is that of Hastings, the unreliable narrator, whose perspective is that of an audience surrogate who continually asks Poirot how he figures out the mystery.
I do enjoy the dip into the 1920s with its expectations and technology!
For all that it’s such a short story, it’s such a complete story and very clever. It makes me think of all the scams we experience today.
The Story
Eliza Dunn walked off. Just quit without notice! And Mrs Todd wants to know why.
The Characters
The dapper (and OCD) Hercule Poirot is a Belgian policeman, who fled Belgium during World War I. He now works as a private detective based in London. Captain Arthur Hastings is his friend and roommate.
Mrs Todd is missing Eliza Dunn, the cook. The stingy Mr Todd doesn’t see what the problem is. Annie is the house-parlourmaid. Mr Simpson is their paying guest who works at a bank.
Jane Emmott is Miss Dunn’s maternal grandmother. Eliza Leech, in Australia, who died, had been Mrs Emmott’s best friend. Mr Crotchet is a lawyer with Hurst and Crotchet in Melbourne, Australia.
The missing Davis worked at the same bank. The Daily Blare is a sensationalist newspaper. Inspector Japp is with Scotland Yard. Carter Paterson is a carter.
The Cover and Title
The cover is so Art Deco with its geometric lines and dark brown background divided into four sections. At the top is a golden line supported by quarter arcs of tiny white rectangles bordered on each side with more golden lines, framing the author’s name in a serif Art Deco font in gold with white outlines. Another golden line separates the name from the graphic with those toasty thin lines angling across the background. A circular image with a golden background showcases Poirot’s black homburg and a full mustache surrounded by a golden border detailed with white rectangles around the top and sides. A fully encased border provides the series info in white. A gold trefoil scrolls out at the start and end. Another golden line is below this with thin, stretched-out golden spikes raying out behind the circle. The title is in white, sandwiched by the golden lines with a thin line at either end of the text. Below this is the rest of the title in white. Below this is another border of white rectangles encased by a golden line above and below.
The title is truly about “The Adventure of the Clapham Cook”.
