The final Appointment with Agatha book for 2022 and it's one I liked. Despite the fact that I am getting mightily tired of Poirot! He was less annoying than usual in this book, to my way of thinking.
I am rather pleased that I had worked out the identity of Mary Gerrard well before the end. However I can't be too proud of it, as Dame Agatha practically laid it out on a silver platter (or silver picture frame, maybe). I was reasonably sure that Elinor was too obvious to be the true murderess, but I also know that Christie plays with the reader's expectations and assumptions. The whole situation was quite damning and I can see why Elinor had quite given up.
As for the man in the mix, Roderick is a useless sort. I can't imagine falling in love with a man I grew up with, but it is a frequent plot point in books of this vintage (and older). I guess it was a way of keeping resources in the family? Roddy is a Barbara Pymian guy, shifty, feckless, selfish and self-dramatising. He likes his relationship with Elinor because she has pretended not to be head-over-heels in love with him. It makes it more comfortable to represent himself as a sensible man, settling for a good financial prospect, not a passionate man marrying for love. It's a pretty tepid thing on his side of the engagement.
It's the doctor who believes in Elinor's innocence and ropes in Poirot. I'm not well versed in the niceties of the English class system—is Elinor normally out of his league? I suspect so. Despite that, he is the passionate one.
At some point in the future, I may reread the book to note the placement of clues and red herrings. And perhaps to figure out the title!
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