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Agatha Christie
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Five Little Pigs: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition (Hercule Poirot Mysteries, 23) Paperback – February 1, 2011

by Agatha Christie (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 7,091 ratings
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In this exclusive authorized edition from the Queen of Mystery, beloved detective Hercule Poirot races to solve a case from out of the past.

Beautiful Caroline Crale was convicted of poisoning her husband, but just like the nursery rhyme, there were five other “little pigs” who could have done it: Philip Blake (the stockbroker), who went to market; Meredith Blake (the amateur herbalist), who stayed at home; Elsa Greer (the three-time divorcée), who had her roast beef; Cecilia Williams (the devoted governess), who had none; and Angela Warren (the disfigured sister), who cried all the way home.

Sixteen years later, Caroline’s daughter is determined to prove her mother’s innocence, and Poirot just can’t get that nursery rhyme out of his mind.

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  1. Book 24 of 38
    Hercule Poirot
  2. Print length
    288 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publication date
    February 1, 2011
  5. Dimensions
    0.7 x 5.16 x 7.92 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0062073575
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0062073570
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“The answer to the riddle is brilliant.” — Times Literary Supplement (London)

“A brilliant piece of detective fiction, in which character plays an important part.” — Daily Telegraph (London)

“Straightforward bamboozling from start to finish.” — New Statesman (UK)

“As usual, Mrs. Christie hoaxes us with a double twist at the denouement, and provides excellent entertainment.” — Punch (UK)

“Agatha Christie never fails us, and her Five Little Pigs presents a very pretty problem for the ingenious reader.” — Manchester Guardian (UK)

From the Back Cover

Beautiful Caroline Crale was convicted of poisoning her husband, but just like the nursery rhyme, there were five other “little pigs” who could have done it: Philip Blake (the stockbroker), who went to market; Meredith Blake (the amateur herbalist), who stayed at home; Elsa Greer (the three-time divorcée), who had her roast beef; Cecilia Williams (the devoted governess), who had none; and Angela Warren (the disfigured sister), who cried all the way home.

Sixteen years later, Caroline’s daughter is determined to prove her mother’s innocence, and Poirot just can’t get that nursery rhyme out of his mind.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks; Reissue edition (February 1, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062073575
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062073570
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.7 x 5.16 x 7.92 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 7,091 ratings

About the author

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Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie

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Born in Torquay in 1890, Agatha Christie began writing during the First World War and wrote over 100 novels, plays and short story collections. She was still writing to great acclaim until her death, and her books have now sold over a billion copies in English and another billion in over 100 foreign languages. Yet Agatha Christie was always a very private person, and though Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple became household names, the Queen of Crime was a complete enigma to all but her closest friends.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
7,091 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the mystery content brilliant and page-turning. They describe the book as a satisfying, delightful read with an easy flow of words. Readers appreciate the wonderful characters and their exploration of love. The style is described as classic and timeless. The psychology aspect is explored in a fast-paced psychological whodunit. Overall, customers consider the book a good value for money.

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Mystery contentReadabilityWriting qualityCharacter developmentStylePsychologyValue for moneyPacing
111 customers mention "Mystery content"101 positive10 negative

Customers enjoy the mystery content. They find the plots, wit, and puzzles brilliant and page-turning. The author does a magnificent job of entwining mystery with authentic feelings. They appreciate the interesting structure and format of the novel, as well as the conclusion that blows them away.

"...read since the discussion on humanity and the nature of love in this book is astonishing...." Read more

"Agatha Christie seems to be regarded as a workmanlike writer--lucid and efficient...." Read more

"...Truly great writing! The plot is meticulously woven to entice you along and - POW!" Read more

"...in some of these works that are intolerable now but the plots the wit and the puzzles endure." Read more

108 customers mention "Readability"108 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's readability. They find the plot engaging and engrossing, with unexpected twists and turns. The book is described as a satisfying and enjoyable summer read for those who appreciate mystery novels.

"...However to me it’s a most satisfying read since the discussion on humanity and the nature of love in this book is astonishing...." Read more

"...Not my favorite Christie, but she never fails to be enteretaining." Read more

"...as with all of Agatha Christie's books, I highly recommend this enjoyable novel." Read more

"...The characters, some of whom were casually cruel have remained vivid in my mind. Agatha Christie was such an acute observer of behavior...." Read more

61 customers mention "Writing quality"47 positive14 negative

Customers enjoy the writing quality of the book. They find the easy flow of words makes reading enjoyable. The analytical aspects and colorful characters are appreciated. Readers appreciate the well-thought-out story with an unexpected twist.

"A twisty tale of marvelous characters! Truly great writing! The plot is meticulously woven to entice you along and - POW!" Read more

"...through the "golden age" mysteries I am amazed at how well many of these writers wrote...." Read more

"...Granted, this is not Christie's worst novel and it is still an adequate read...." Read more

"...That does not stop this book from being very well written, but the entire time, you'll be smacking your head going: they so obviously did it!" Read more

38 customers mention "Character development"31 positive7 negative

Customers enjoy the character development in the book. They find it interesting to hear the story from each character's perspective and explore their love lives. The characters are colorful and well-developed, with great characterization.

"...And all those was because in this book it spent a lot of time building the characters that you understand each of them very well...." Read more

"A twisty tale of marvelous characters! Truly great writing! The plot is meticulously woven to entice you along and - POW!" Read more

"...Clever and with great method as well as order. Vivid lively characters too. M Poirot at his best." Read more

"...Her characters are excellent and you see them in your mind so clearly...." Read more

13 customers mention "Style"13 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the classic style of this Agatha Christie book. They find it timeless and gripping from beginning to end. The book arrives neat and new, with an English and suspenseful theme. It provides an insight into early 20th-century Britain.

"...Her books are classic, especially the Hercule Poirot mysteries...." Read more

"...Suffice to say this is a classic Poirot case - one of the best. Read it and you'll see...." Read more

"Prompt delivery. Item as described ... better actually. It looked new instead of used!" Read more

"...She is amazing and also gives us an insight into the early 20th century Britain...." Read more

9 customers mention "Psychology"9 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's psychology. They find it logical and emotional, exploring motives for murder. The characters' actions feel reasonable when you know them well.

"...such a complex human being full of dignity, kindness, remorse and self-control...." Read more

"Hailed as Queen of the mystery plot and psychological motives for murder, I am slowly making my way through her titles and discovering she’s earned..." Read more

"...satisfying read that follows sound logic, but also explores the emotional side a lot more." Read more

"Clever mystery using a children’s rhyme but addressing anything but childish feelings...." Read more

9 customers mention "Value for money"9 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's value for money. They say it's a great buy, good, and worth the $1.99 price.

"...Worth buying if you get it on sale." Read more

"...This was excellent." Read more

"...Suffice to say this is a classic Poirot case - one of the best. Read it and you'll see...." Read more

"Being an extreme Christie fan I have read several of her books. This one was great and I enjoyed reading it very much!..." Read more

10 customers mention "Pacing"0 positive10 negative

Customers find the pacing of the book slow and repetitive. They feel the story lacks action and deduction, making it not worth their time or money.

"...tends to lead to some redundancy in the interviews and ultimately slows the story down...." Read more

"Not a great read, not compelling, not stressful, but always interesting and very readable, occasionally a bit poetic...." Read more

"This book was a little slow & boring. Not much action or deduction. Not her best!" Read more

"...The characters are overly caricatured and unreal and uninteresting, except for Poirot himself...." Read more

Lovely book’
5 out of 5 stars
Lovely book’
Received the book today, and very pleased with the way the seller handled the shipment. The book arrived well packed and the book itself is wrapped in protective plastic cover. Will definitely enjoy reading this.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Lingna Ge
    5.0 out of 5 stars Personal favorite from Agatha Christie
    Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    I have been reading a lot of Agatha Christie books recently including the most famous ones like Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, and the Murder of Roger Ackroyd, however I find this one my absolutely favorite among all her books.

    I think of this book more of a love story than a mystery. Every choice each character made was based on his or her personality and the emotion they felt. All the actions they did felt very reasonable when you know them well. I felt like among all the Agatha books I read, the motive in this one makes most sense to me, it makes you feel you could understand, that you might have done it when you are put in the same position. And all those was because in this book it spent a lot of time building the characters that you understand each of them very well.

    I understand that this book may not be that attractive to many hardcore mystery fans who enjoy guessing the murderer before it comes to an end. However to me it’s a most satisfying read since the discussion on humanity and the nature of love in this book is astonishing. It’s just so interesting to see that all the participant in the same event view this whole thing so differently because their own special point of view. Also it is very interesting to see all those people’s comment on the charatertistics of the deceased couple. Caroline, the woman who was accused of poison her husband especially fascinated me, she is such a simple woman for her devote to love and at the same time such a complex human being full of dignity, kindness, remorse and self-control. All the female characters are vivid and powerful, while the male characters are not so well developed.

    First time after reading a Agatha novel I felt sad, for most if not all the main characters in the book. Everyone made their choice but really no one is a winner in this particular event. At least I felt that the two deceased person had some level of peace before they die.
    11 people found this helpful
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  • Donald G. Marshall
    4.0 out of 5 stars Unusual narrative structure and neat twist in crime
    Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2025
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    Agatha Christie seems to be regarded as a workmanlike writer--lucid and efficient. But she deserves more credit for her ingenuity with narrative structure--often giving a twist on some convention of the detective genre or even violating what seems a fixed rule. The twist in "Five Little Pigs" is that Hercule Poirot is engaged to investigate a murder that took place 16 years earlier and for whom the victim's wife was found guilty (she died before her sentence of hanging could be carried out). In the absence of direct evidence, Poirot has to interview the police officials and lawyers who conducted the original investigation and trial. That leads him to the five surviving eyewitnesses to the events. We get his interview of each one. But an added twist is that at his request each prepares a written statement of what they recall of the incident. Poirot has to solve the crime on the basis of the psychology of the eyewitnesses and the facts as they report them, along with the police and court records. Christie is rather deft in meeting the challenge of having five different witnesses, each with his or her particular style, both oral in the interview and written in the statement. The one disadvantage of this structure is that we do not get to see Poirot in action--only responding to the recollections of the characters he interviews. As a bonus, this is another in the series of her mysteries that ingeniously build on a nursery rhyme, though in this case, it is rather incidental. Not my favorite Christie, but she never fails to be enteretaining.
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  • Rick O
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wee, wee, wee, I had the right murderer, then I changed my mind and I shouldn't have.
    Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2012
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    Wee, wee, wee, I had the right murderer, then I changed my mind and I shouldn't have. Mais voyons, I made a faux pas that Hercule never would have done, now I'm talking gobbledegook! Once again Agatha Christie entertains the reader with the great Belgian detective who lives in England and loves to speak French. This time Hercule Poirot relies on a little epistolary to solve this sixteen year old crime. I say faugh to the murderer in this 1943 novel. I cheated, the word faugh was used in this novel by Agatha, and it is a interjection meaning ' expressed contemp!'

    Our favorite detective is asked by a convicted murderess's daughter to investigate whether her mother killed her father. Apparently before Carla Lemarchant's ( nee Crale) mother died in prison, she wrote Carla ( then five years old ) a letter stating that she was innocent of the murder of her husband and Carla's father, the artist Amyas Crale. Carla, brought up by a Canadian family for the ensuing sixteen years, gets the letter when she turns 21 years old. Her fiance is upset that he is possibly marrying the daughter of a murderess. Carla wants to find out the truth in order to facilitate their fears. Poirot decides to take the case using the pretense that he is writing and, or editing a book about famous past murders. Did Caroline Crale really poison her artist husband sixteen years earlier? The jury believed she did and sentenced her to life in prison, but she died shortly after the conviction.

    There are five suspects ( little pigs ) that our 5' 4" sleuth zeroes in on. They include Amyas Crale's best friend Philip Blake and his brother Meredith Blake, Crale's lover Elsa Greer, the governess Cecillia Williams, and Caroline's disfigured sister Angela Warren. He interviews each suspect and then ask them to put their recollections in the form of a letter to him so he can clear up any ambiguities before the book is published. Needless to say, Hercule summons the five suspects together at Meredith Blake's house and to their surprise he solves the murder case.

    I think what makes Agatha's novels intriguing is the way Hercule Poirot solves murders. He really doesn't rely on clues, but instead he arrives at a decision by pure reasoning and only then does he draw a logical conclusion. In his own words he states " My success, let me tell you, has been founded on the psychology- the eternal why? of human behaviour." He is the forerunner of later detectives such as,'The Thin Man' and 'Columbo' . Once again, as with all of Agatha Christie's books, I highly recommend this enjoyable novel.
    8 people found this helpful
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  • getnoldr
    5.0 out of 5 stars Oh, You Think You Know
    Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2025
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    A twisty tale of marvelous characters! Truly great writing! The plot is meticulously woven to entice you along and - POW!
    2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Clive
    5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 25, 2025
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    This is the first of this year's Agatha Christie's reading challenge. And I am well into the kindle reading challenge also. This book I throughly enjoyed and is as good as Agatha's other stories. Highly recommended
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  • Abel Hecht
    5.0 out of 5 stars Uno de los mejores casos de Poirot.
    Reviewed in Spain on August 15, 2024
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    Buen libro.
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  • Mary J.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
    Reviewed in Germany on January 19, 2024
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    Book is so beautiful. I am collecting the agatha christie frim harper collins and i am really happy how the hard over books are sturdy and beautiful
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  • Livraison plus rapide que prévue, belle chaise au montage facile, mon fils est ravi. A voir à l'usure car le simili cuir semble peu épais. Mais pour le prix, je suis très contente.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Rapport qualité prix
    Reviewed in France on November 4, 2023
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    Correspond à mes attentes
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  • Louise
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good value for money
    Reviewed in the United Arab Emirates on September 26, 2020
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    The book came in perfect condition and was delivered way earlier that ETA.
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