After the Funeral

After the Funeral by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“You—er—acted as companion and also did the—er—well—looked after the house?”
It was evident that he had touched on a delicate subject. Miss Gilchrist flushed a little.
“Oh yes, indeed. I did most of the cooking—I quite enjoy cooking—and did some dusting and light housework. None of the rough, of course.” Miss Gilchrist’s tone expressed a firm principle. Mr. Entwhistle who had no idea what “the rough” was, made a soothing murmur.
“Mrs Patner from the village came in for that. Twice a week regularly. You see, Mr. Entwhistle, I could not have contemplated being in any way a servant. When my little teashop failed—such a disaster—it was the war, you know…”

The Second World War has taken its toll on everyone, the genteel Miss Gilchrist included. The ageing but sharp-as-a-button lawyer Mr Entwhistle recognizes the type: “a composite picture of hundreds of ladylike figures approaching him in numerous Bay Trees, Ginger Cats, Blue Parrots…all chastely encased in blue or pink…and taking orders for pots of china tea and cakes.”
One of the things that struck me on re-reading this much loved Poirot (as you can see, not only is the cover missing, the bottom couple of lines have been ripped from the first seventeen pages by happy young canine teeth) was that many of the cozy mystery writers of today go to great lengths to recreate a sense of past, whereas Ms Christie grounds her novels in her own time—whilst using contemporary issues that her readers would already be quite familiar with. As a consequence she needs to say very little to define her characters and convey her setting—yet how well she adoes it nonetheless!
But that’s just my own humble opinion…what do you think? Do let me know! Read (or rather re-read) for the Goodreads’ Agatha Christie Reading Group—and enjoyed once again!

View all my reviews