May 2022 Appointment with Agatha
I must admit the mystery plot of this book wasn't one of my favourites, but what fun to have M. Poirot, Colonel Race, and Superintendent Battle all in the same book. Both Battle and Poirot twinkling all over the place! Plus the delightful addition of Ariadne Oliver, Ms. Christie's alter-ego. Mrs. Oliver has her Finnish detective who she wishes she had never invented, as Christie reputedly felt about Poirot. But both of them soldier on, producing more books about these men.
When Rhoda Dawes goes to visit Mrs. Oliver, she is treated to that author's perspective on writing, that everyone thinks it's ever so easy, but there's a lot of planning involved and frequently plot problems that require a lot of work to iron out. I finally realized that I had previously met Ariadne in a much later novel, Hallowe'en Party. It took me a while to make the connection.
If I was to subtract points, it would be for the focus on bridge, a game with which I am completely unfamiliar (and I'll happily stay unenlightened). Those details are rather like Dorothy Sayers' railway schedules in The Five Red Herrings or the code breaking in Have His Carcase. I try to let all these clever details just flow around me without requiring serious thought!
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