The Big Four / Agatha Christie

 

The Big Four by Agatha Christie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Agatha Christie may be most loved for her mysteries, but she was obviously highly enamoured with writing in the espionage genre (see The Secret Adversary, The Man in the Brown Suit, and The Secret of Chimneys) . So what could be better than a spy story investigated by Hercule Poirot! With the added benefit that Christie could bring Captain Hastings back to be Watson to Poirot's Sherlock.

She has such fun with Hastings! He may be married, but he still has an admiring eye for an auburn haired woman. Even the Big Four know of his proclivities and make use of them. She takes great joy in introducing him to a formidable female scientist, whom he regards with wonder. A mere woman who understands principles that he can only attempt to grasp. But he is right in his element when doing seating plans for dinners held with aristocracy—part of the hostess's duties. He looks down on women, but excels at their duties. Oh, Christie does love to make fun of him.

However Hastings isn't his usual distracting self in this adventure. He still completely missed the obvious set ups by the minions of the Big Four, but he wasn’t able to take me with him this time. Christie fools me so regularly that I was as triumphant as Hastings to actually be correct about something. With just as little reason to be proud.

This whole romp had a very James Bondian feel to it. My 2018 Summer of Spies introduced me to the work of Ian Fleming (which wasn't published until 1953), but I know from a biography of Fleming that he read Christie. It makes me curious if this book was inspirational for him. It certainly has international intrigue, underground lairs, and criminal masterminds!

A personal note: This title amuses me because of an accident of Calgary history. Our city hosts the Calgary Stampede each July (at least until Covid), locally known as the greatest outdoor show on earth. It was established in 1912 by four wealthy Alberta cattlemen who came to be known as the Big Four. There is a building on the stampede grounds named after them, the Big Four Building. I have a hard time envisioning an international criminal organization in conjunction with this name.


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