Reading wise I am declaring this year to be my Agatha Christie rereading year. Third Girl is my 7th Agatha Christie rereading of this year. This book was first published in the year 1966. Hence this is one of the latter day books of Christie.
Generally, I have observed many of her books published after 1960 are like some kind of fantasy or too farfetched or unnecessarily complex. Recently I reread At Bertram’s Hotel (1965), which never works for me. But Third Girl is one of the good ones from Christie’s 60s era.
My copy of the book is the exact replica of the first edition of the book, which makes me obviously very happy.
PREMISE
A young girl goes to Monsieur Hercule Poirot for help because she thinks she might have committed a murder. But before Poirot could help her she flees saying Poirot is too old. Poirot is hurt and intrigued. He gets a connection to the girl through his writer friend Ariadne Oliver. Both jump into an investigation. The investigation focuses on three flat mates in a modern London apartment. The other leg of the investigation lies in the supposed murderess’s country house, where her grand uncle, step mother, father live. The father has recently returned from South Africa after years. He has inherited lots of money after his childless brother dies.
Has the girl really committed a murder? Or someone is after her father’s money? Poirot will of course tie all loose ends. Readers must only sit tight and enjoy the ride.
I enjoyed reading the book. The mystery angle is well crafted.
Since the book is set in 60’s, the height of hippy culture. There are remarks in many places by older generation giving their disapproval of the younger generation with long hair and deliberately looking dirty.
CHRISTIE TROPES USED IN THE BOOK
1. Identity theft
2. With small change of styling and outfits people can change their look entirely
3. Pushing the card
4. Misdirection
REALISATIONS
In all latter Christie books it is mentioned again and again how parents have lost control over their daughters. They can’t give orders or instructions to their daughters. Hence girls are getting involved with most undesirable characters, some even ending up in unfortunate marriages. Girls getting undesirable matches is of course unfortunate but as a solution keeping them “tied up” is sort of misogyny. From the narration I would say, this is totally on Christie.
But there are some different kinds of narration where people especially men give misogynistic views on women especially on elderly women. In this case I can’t say it is on whom.
Maybe Christie herself went through it and projected those in her books. And her greatest joke on misogynists towards elderly women is creating an elderly women detective, Miss Marple. Generally men with their superiority complex don’t take Miss Marple seriously only to repent later. This book does not have Miss Marple though. This is a Poirot mystery.
HERCULE POIROT
Hercule Poirot is Christie’s most famous detective and he is the most famous fictional detective after Sherlock Holmes.
He worked in Belgium law enforcement and then came to England after the First World War as a refugee. He is supposed to be already retired by then hence in mid-1960s he must be nearing 100. This fact always makes his creator tensed. Actually while creating the character Christie had never imagined he would feature in more than a book.
After Poirot’s successful first case at Styles, his reputation increases gradually and he gets settled in London as a rich and famous resident. He is partial towards all the good things in life be it good food, or good patent leather shoes, or modern amenities in his modern London flat.
His detection method involves mostly thinking or “using the grey matter” as he calls it and interviewing people. He lets police and private investigators do the leg work.
He has a little obsessive compulsion for order, tidiness, and straight lines. The only non-straight lined thing in his life is his head, which is perfectly egg shaped.
The man is full of vanity. He takes great care in dressing up and grooming his moustache. He claims he has the best brain. His vanity can be insufferable at times with him looking down at people, especially his trusted friend Captain Hastings.
Although now a permanent resident, he is still a foreigner in England. People see him with distrust. But some time people easily confide in him as he is not “one of their own”. He is always mistaken for French although he is a Belgian. He uses many French phrases in his conversation as he is forever more at home in French compared to English. He can be quite emotional about his friends.
Christie writes these French lines in her Poirot books without giving their translations. She just assumes everyone understands French for some reason. Because of liberal use of French it was a little inconvenient to read Poirot books in pre-Google days.
There is one inconsistency I find in Poirot’s character – his knowledge on obscure English nursery rhymes. It would be difficult for a man who came to England at a ripe age and has not learnt English in his childhood to know nursery rhymes in a non-native language.
In The Clocks we read Poirot voraciously reading works of all English detective writers. In the beginning of Third Girl we read he has published his magnum opus – a critical study of detective fictions.
He had dared to speak scathingly of Edgar Allen Poe, he had complained of the lack of method or order in the romantic outpourings of wilkie Collins,….
Now these are Poirot’s personal views or Christie’s personal views?
ARIADNE OLIVER AND AGATHA CHRISTIE
As Christie’s fans know Ariadne Oliver is the writer’s self satire. Both are famous murder mystery writers who hate their own most famous detectives. Christie never knew Poirot would become so famous and she would be stuck with him. She has written in her biography how she does not know anything Belgium and she has no idea why Poirot has his typical quirks and fixation on order, patent shoes, indoor heating etc. Similarly Oliver claims in various places she has no idea why her detective Sven Hjerson is Finnish. She does not know anything about Finland. She has absolutely no idea why her detective is vegan. In her case too she just got stuck with a detective she hates.
They both seem to be bestselling writers yet not too comfortable in society of people.
And then people say things to me – you know – how much they like my books, and how they’ve been longing to meet me – and it all makes me feel hot and bothered and rather silly…. And they say how much they love my awful detective Sven Hjerson. If they knew how I hated him!
I love the books featuring Mrs. Oliver because she is anxious and neurotic with large dollop of wild imagination. She can make any case interesting. It is always fun to read about her wild conjectures, or trying to make her place tidy, or eating apple, or her constant struggle with her hair. To be honest I can see a little bit of me in her. She is so relatable. I wonder how much of these relatable qualities Christie had.
Mrs. Oliver always appears with Poirot except the first time her name was ever mentioned in Christie’s universe. She first appears in a Parker Pyne story.
We have never met Mr. Oliver. Is it because he is busy cheating on his wife or because he is busy in excavating archeological sites in Middle East?
I feel it is meta of Christie to satirise herself in her stories. And double meta is the recent plan of making a TV series revolving around Sven Hjerson.
END WORD
I am looking forward to more rereading of books by the Queen of Crime. Her books are a great comfort for me in this difficult time.
Musings 
[…] Third Girl – Agatha Christie (TBR […]