Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie

Five Little Pigs

Review of the novel Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie

First Published by PAN in 1942 (USA) – version reviewed: UK reprint 1954.

Cost: 2/- in 1954 (Currently: £7.99)

ISBN 978-0-00-727456-7 (Paperback Edition – 190 pages)

This is the March book of the month, on the Agatha Christie website.

Christie purchased Greenway in 1938 with her second husband Max Mallowan. She described it as ‘the loveliest place in the world’, and it provided the inspiration for at least three of her novels, one of which was Five Little Pigs. ©Agatha Christie Website

Originally titled Murder in Retrospect (USA 1942), the book is set sixteen years after the murder of Caroline Crale’s husband, when their daughter is determined to prove her mother’s innocence. Hercule Poirot is enlisted to take on the unprecedented challenge, but soon fears that the case may be just as cut and dried as it had originally been suspected. ©Agatha Christie Website

This is the 24^th Hercule Poirot novel and by now the avid reader should know the methods used by Poirot in solving crimes. The story shows Christie’s fascination with memory and time through testimonies of those who were present on the day of the murder, leaving Poirot to reconstruct the scene sixteen year later. It must be considered Poirot at his best. The location for the crime is closely based on the house and grounds at Greenway, with parts of the estate beautifully described in detail, as only Agatha Christie can, but Christie wants us to focus on the approach used by Poirot to solve the murder investigation.

On page two Christie defines quite clearly the methods used by her detective, and his success based on psychology, so the reader knows what to expect:

‘Rest assured,’ said Hercule Poirot. ‘I am the best!’ ….. [He continues]

‘One does not, you know, employ merely the muscles. I do not need to bend and measure footprints and pick up the cigarette ends, to examine the bent blades of grass. It is enough for me to sit back in my chair and think. It is this’ – he tapped his egg-shaped head – ‘this that functions!’

Poirot is speaking to Carla Lemarchant, who is on the point of asking him to investigate the murder of her father. She is described as ‘a tall, slender young woman in her early twenties. The kind of young woman that one definitely looked at twice’. But it’s Carla’s eyes that reveal her feelings; in the introductory chapter they are described as; ‘dark eyes’, ‘two burning lights’, ‘dark dim pools’, and finally, ‘shinning eyes’.

Christie wants her reader to be fully aware how challenging this investigation is going to be and uses Carla to reminded us:

‘Oh! Of course it’s going to be difficult! Nobody but you could do it!’

Hercule Poirot’s eyes twinkled slightly.

Christie focuses on the way characters change over time, and in this case, the five possible suspects; the way they are able to recall past facts, crucial to the solving of this case. She wants the reader to be see everything through Poirot’s eyes and this is evident early in the story.

Having agreed to investigate the case, Poirot begins by talking to the Council for the Defence, Council for the Prosecution, the solicitors and Ex-chief Superintendent Hale; all concluded that the verdict of murder was correct based on the information to hand. During each conversation, the reader is presented with both facts and red herrings, typical Christie. It is the method of murder that has the eminent individuals under no doubt that Amyas Crale was murdered by his wife.

In this story, Christie reverts to one of her favourite methods of murder, poison. This time it is Coniine, defined in different terms by some of the characters, it is also known as hemlock, and the effects on Amyas Crale are described perfectly by Christie, after he drinks the poison:

‘Amyas tosses it off, making a face, and says: “Everything tastes foul to-day.”

[Quotes Poirot and then]… Philip Blake he speaks of Crale’s staggering a little and wonders ‘if he has been drinking.’

Early in the investigation Poirot is reminded of a Nursery Rhyme and matches the lines of the rhyme with the five suspects perfectly:

This Little Piggy went to Market.          Philip Blake

This Little Piggy stayed at Home           Meredith Blake

This Little Piggy had the Roast Beef     Lady Dittisham (Elsa Greer)

This Little Piggy stayed at Home          Cecilia Williams

And This Little Piggy went wee            Angela Warren

wee wee all the way home

After interviews with each suspect, Poirot asks them to write an exact account of what happened on the days leading up to the murder of Amyas Crale. When he interviews Meredith Blake he is invited to visit Alderbury, the house and grounds where the murder took place, and Christie is at her best in describing this location, one which she seems to know very well - Greenway.

Greenway: ‘Alderbury is just opposite – there you can see the house through the trees’ … a white house could just be distinguished high up amongst the trees’.

The Battery: ‘The Battery was an artificially cleared plateau with battlements set with cannon. It gave one the impression of overhanging the sea. There were trees above it and behind it, but on the sea side there was nothing but dazzling blue water below.’

The garden: [they walked up] ‘the zigzag path. At a higher level than the Battery there was another small plateau. It was overshadowed with trees and there was a bench there...’

Christie clearly uses her holiday home as the setting for the crime and its description is Christie at her best.

When Poirot reads the accounts of the time at Alderbury provided by the five suspects they appear to confirm Amyas Crale was murdered by his wife. At this point Christie has set out the facts before her readers, it is down to them to try and solve the crime. But it is only Poirot that is able to see through the truth, the red herrings, the misunderstandings and the true facts placed before him. In the accustomed way, he invites all his suspects to Alderbury to reveal his findings. As each suspect declares to be innocent, the murderer is revealed on the penultimate page. The reader is either delighted that they have solved the crime or startled that the murderer is a most unlikely suspect.

The characters are beautifully described by Christie, the reader becomes very familiar with them, during the interviews and their tales of the time at Alderbury. The plot is a master piece and Christie at her best; the rhyme that links the characters is not forced, but managed perfectly reflecting the individual’s mannerisms and life styles. The challenge of solving a sixteen year old crime must be considered daunting, no forensics or traceables, but Christie weaves a tale that is one of her best and might be considered a masterpiece of crime writing. Are there any faults with this tale? I question one aspect: while visiting Meredith, Poirot asks if he can visit Alderbury and is told that the shortest way is to row a boat across the creek or a three-mile drive by car:

Two boats were drawn up on a little beach. Meredith Blake, with Poirot’s somewhat awkward assistance, dragged one of them down to the water and presently they were rowing across to the other side. Page 78.

I find it difficult to image Poirot assisting in launching a boat, and willing to be rowed across a narrow stream; for Poirot, the thought of getting his shoes dirty and sitting on a possibly sandy/wet bench seat in the boat is unthinkable! However, I would point out that there is one nice touch in the story, and that is that one of the five suspects is named after the small village of Dittisham across the river Dart from Greenway.

A note: When Agatha Christie adapted the story into a play in 1960, not only did she change the title of the story to ‘Go Back For Murder’ but she also removed the character of Poirot, opting for the investigation to be carried by a young solicitor acting on behalf of Carla Lemarchant. It’s still a great story.

I really have loved re-reading this story. In September 2013 as part of the Agatha Christie Literary Festival week in Torquay, The Agatha Christie Theatre Company performed the play at The Princess Theatre and it was an excellent production. Rating: 5 stars

Dr James Sheppard

17th March 2015