Mord i smøgen

by Agatha Christie

Paperback, 1972

Status

Available

Call number

823.912

Library's review

Indeholder "Mord i smøgen", "Poirot og den umulige forbrydelse", "Trekanten på Rhodos".
Oversat fra 'Murder in the Mews', 'Incredible Theft' og 'Triangle at Rhodos' ved Poul Ib Liebe, Tage la Cour og Ellen Duurloo.

"Mord i smøgen" handler om et tilsyneladende selvmord, der opdages af en ung
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kvindes medlogerende Jane Plenderleith. Inspektør Japp bliver tilkaldt og han tager Hercule Poirot med. Denne gennemskuer at det faktisk er et selvmord, men at Jane har forsøgt at få det til at ligne et mord, så en pengeafpresser. der havde en klemme på den afdøde Barbara Allen, kunne få sin straf.
"Poirot og den umulige forbrydelse" handler om Lord Mayfield, der holder selskab. Lord Mayfield hed indtil for nylig sir Charles McLaughlin og var leder af et ingeniørfirma og selv en dygtig ingeniør. En af gæsterne er sir George Carrington, general i luftvåbnet. Lord Mayfield er nyligt blevet rustningsminister. En anden af gæsterne er mrs Vanderlyn, der er kendt for spionagevirksomhed. Lord Mayfield har planerne til en revolutionerende bombemaskine liggende og vil drøfte dem med Carrington, men tegningerne forsvinder tilsyneladende. Hercule Poirot bliver tilkaldt. Efter at have udelukket alle gæsterne en efter en, konkluderer Poirot i enrum med Lord Mayfield at tegningerne må være forsvundet ned i Mayfields egen lomme. Motivet var - indrømmer Mayfield - at blive en ubehagelig afpresning kvit mod at overlade tegningerne til en fremmed magt. Men kun efter at tegningerne var blevet dygtigt saboteret. Efter at være blevet afpresserne kvit, står porten til statsministeriet åben for Lord Mayfield og Poirot bifalder det, for Mayfield er dygtig og snarrådig.
"Trekanten på Rhodos" handler om miss Pamela Lyall og Sarah Blake, der tager solbad i selskab med Poirot. Omkring dem udspilles et lille trekantsdrama. Et ægtepar Chantry og et ægtepar Gold. Douglas Gold bliver fanget ind af Valentine Chantry. Poirot råder Marjorie Gold til at tage væk fra øen, hvis hun har sit liv kært. Kort efter dør Valentine efter at have drukket en drink, som hendes mand kommandør Tony Chantry egentlig skulle have haft. Douglas Gold bliver arresteret og man finder giften ved ham, men Poirot har forstået at det er Tony og Marjorie, der har planlagt og udført mordet. Han holder nøje øje og kan vidne mod dem, så Marjorie ender sikkert i galgen.

Ok lidt længere historier med Hercule Poirot som detektiv. "Poirot og den umulige forbrydelse" er en længere (57 sider) version af "U-båds planerne" (20) fra Klørkonge.
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Publication

Forum, 1972.

Description

Fiction. Mystery. HTML: In the title work in this collection of novellas, Poirot and Inspector Japp collaborate on the investigation of a suspicious suicide. The supernatural is said to play in the disappearance of top secret military plans in The Incredible Theft�??an incredible claim, indeed, as Poirot will prove. The bullet that kills Gervase Chevenix-Gore shatters a mirror in Dead Man's Mirror�??just the clue Poirot needs to solve the crime. And, while basking on white Mediterranean sands, Poirot stares trouble in the face�??the beautiful face of Valentine Chantry, now celebrating her fifth marriage�??in Triangle at Rhodes. This title was previously published as Dead Man's Mirr

User reviews

LibraryThing member cbl_tn
The audio version I listened to contains three Poirot stories: “Murder in the Mews”, “Triangle at Rhodes”, and “The Incredible Theft”. In the first story, Poirot assists Chief Inspector Japp of Scotland Yard in the investigation of a suspicious death. Coincidentally, just the evening
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before, the two men had walked together through the quiet street where the death occurred. In “Triangle at Rhodes”, a vacationing Poirot solves the murder of a fellow tourist. There's no death in the final story. Instead, Poirot investigates the mysterious disappearance of top secret plans for a bomber.

“Murder in the Mews” is the most original of the three stories. The other two stories remind me of some of her other works, and seemed vaguely familiar to me as I listened. The three stories are a fairly representative sample of Christie's work, and it might be a nice introduction to Christie for readers who don't want to commit to a full length novel.
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LibraryThing member rosalita
I didn't expect this, the next in my chronological read of Christie's Hercule Poirot series, to be a collection of short stories but there you are. The title refers only to the first story, where a young widow is found dead of apparent suicide in a locked room but suspicion quickly mounts that her
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death was murder. The ending has the characteristic Christie twist that makes her mysteries a delight to read.

The second story, The Incredible Theft, features no murder at all, but rather the mysterious theft of a set of top-secret military plans from a government minister's home. This wasn't quite a locked-room mystery but nearly so. Poirot has the key, as always.

Dead Man's Mirror is another locked-room apparent suicide that turns out to be murder. Christie plays with fire by including two such similar puzzles in the same collection but manages to come up with two very different solutions without breaking a sweat.

And finally, Triangle in Rhodes finds Poirot on holiday, where the sun is hot and the tourist ménage à trois even hotter. Once again, though, all is not what it seems to the mere bystander, and it is up to Poirot to clear things up.
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LibraryThing member riverwillow
This collection of four not quite so short stories is great as each story has a twist in the tale. Even so Poirot solves each puzzle. The collection is also interesting as there are hints of plots to come in later novels.
LibraryThing member mstrust
A collection of four short stories featuring Poirot. The title story concerns an arrogant Lord who summons Poirot to his manor to discuss fraud, but the detective finds himself investigating a locked room murder instead. This is the only Christie I've read so far where the answers seemed so
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glaringly obvious.
This book also goes by the title of Murder in the Mews, which is the best story in the collection. A young woman with a good life commits suicide, or maybe someone has made it look like suicide. Poirot is assisted by Inspector Japp and the woman's roommate.
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LibraryThing member smik
Murder in the Mews
This novella gives the collection it's name.
The investigation of suspicious suicide that begins with Hercule Poirot and his friend Inspector Japp from Scotland Yard walking home on Guy Fawkes Night after meeting for dinner. They speculate that all the noise of firecrackers could
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disguise the report of a gun, and that a murder could easily go undetected.
Next morning a young lady is found dead in her flat, shot, apparently suicide. Japp invites Poirot to join him on the investigation.

The Incredible Theft
The disappearance of top secret military plans.
A honey trap to ensnare an espionage agent who is a house guest apparently backfires when plans disappear from a study moments before top level discussions of them are to take place. Hercule Poirot is brought in to investigate before the news leaks out.

Dead Man's Mirror
The bullet that kills Gervase Chevenix-Gore shatters a mirror.
Hercule Poirot receives an urgent summons from "the last baronet", Gervase Chevenix-Gore and catches up with his old friend Mr Satterthwaite to learn what he can about the baronet. He learns that Chevenix-Gore is extremely wealthy, very arrogant, very eccentric and the last of his line.
When Hercule Poirot arrives for dinner and Sir Gervase does not appear when the dinner gong is sounded, he realizes he is already too late. Sir Gervase is dead.
It looks like suicide but the shattered mirror points in another direction.

Triangle at Rhodes
Hercule Poirot is sitting on the beach watching the byplay between the sunbathers.mValentine Chantry, recently married for the fifth time, flirts with a new arrival, Douglas Gold, while sending her own husband off on petty tasks.
As his holiday progresses, Poirot finds what is happening rather distressing.
When Valentine Chantry dies his interpretation of the crime show that others have seen what they wanted to see, not the way he saw it.

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I suspected I had already read these novellas, perhaps not as this collection, and perhaps seen a television version of at least one of them. They all show how acutely Hercule Poirot observes others, and how he often interprets things very differently.
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LibraryThing member DebbieMcCauley
Inspector Japp from Scotland Yard invites Hercule Poirot to a house in Bardsley Garden Mews where, during Guy Fawkes Night the previous evening, a Mrs Barbara Allen apparently shot herself. Her flatmate, Miss Jane Plenderleith, discovered the body. The doctor believes that there is something
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strange about the death - possibly murder made to look like suicide... a great short story.
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LibraryThing member bbbart
I was rather surprised, if not disappointed, to learn only after I started reading Murder in the Mews, that this book in the Poirot series in fact consists out of four totally independent stories. Even for Agatha Christie I would say that four mysteries in less than 350 pages is a bit of a
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stretch.

All four of them were - of course - very nice and again unique examples of Christies' endless wittiness, but I would rather have enjoyed them wrapped in longer stories.
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LibraryThing member jguidry
This was a collection of three short stories starring Hercule Poirot. Of course, they were mysteries that only Poirot could solve with twists and turns. In one story, only Poirot realized who the real victim was. Classic stories and mysteries--a story of blackmail, a story about a love triangle,
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and a story of political intrigue.
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LibraryThing member passion4reading
A nice little collection featuring four mysteries involving Hercule Poirot, with Agatha Christie displaying her skill with the short story. My favourite was the locked-room murder mystery 'Dead Man's Mirror', where Poirot dazzles the reader with his ability to deduct a sequence of events and
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pinpoint the perpetrator from the seemingly most random and unconnected statements and objects.

In particular, the stories are:

Murder in the Mews: The morning after bonfire night a woman is found dead in her apartment. At first things point to suicide, but on closer inspection doubts are beginning to emerge. Inspector Japp asks his old friend Hercule Poirot to become involved in the investigation.

The Incredible Theft: At a gathering at a country mansion, the plans for a top-secret bomber are stolen. One of the house guests suggests calling in Hercule Poirot to investigate the matter and restore the plans before they fall into the hands of a foreign power.

Dead Man's Mirror: A peer of the realm is found shot to death at his country mansion, having apparently committed suicide. Unbeknown to the hostess, secretary and guests, he had contacted Poirot and asked him to investigate in a delicate matter, but when Poirot arrives, the host is already dead. Poirot then assists Major Riddle in the investigation.

Triangle at Rhodes: While holidaying on Rhodes, Hercule Poirot tries to prevent a murder.
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LibraryThing member Auntie-Nanuuq


I found the stories to be odd and can not say I really liked any except the 3rd story.

1. Murder in the Mews: Poirot joins Inspector Japp at the scene of a murder, posed to look as a suicide. Mrs Allen shot herself during a fireworks display and was found the following morning by her roommate, Miss
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Plenderlieth, in her bedroom behind a locked door.

It seems as though Mrs Allen had a visitor of dubious reputation and was being blackmailed by the man who was seen at the scene of the crime during the fireworks display.


2. The Incredible Theft: A house party is underway with a large variety of guests including: Lord Charles (the engineer of a new bomber), his secretary, an MP (Sir George Carrington), his wife, his son, & the dubious Mrs. Macatta (a suspected spy).

After dinner Lord Charles & sir George stroll the grounds and then go into the study where the secretary has laid out the plans for the bomber, only to find the plans stolen.

Who stole the plans out from plain sight?


3. Dead Man's Mirror: Sir Gervase Chevenix-Gore having written to M. Poirot, imploring him to come help him before it is too late is found dead in his study prior to dinner. It appears to be suicide, with the bullet hitting the mirror as the main clue. Everyone heard the shot, but no one recognized it for what it was.

The family all had reasons for wanting Sir Gervase dead, he was a controlling despot more concerned with pride of family name than care of his family and his family resented his control of them.

Of all the stories this is the one I liked.... I liked the characters, the plot, the twists, & the romances.


4. Triangle at Rhodes: While on holiday during the off season M. Poirot an overtly observed love triangle turned deadly. However the victim was not who the other guests supposed it would be.

The sleight of hand, an unobserved triangle, and "wrong" victim are all sorted out by M. Poirot.

This was my least favorite of all. I didn't like the characters, the story was not involved enough and it left me wanting.....
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LibraryThing member pgchuis
This was a collection of four short stories featuring Poirot. The first two were excellent, the third so-so, and the fourth dreadful.
LibraryThing member funstm
Murder in the Mews is the sixteenth book in the Hercule Poirot series - but is pretty misleading considering it's simply a short story collection. Having purchased the Complete Short Stories, I was annoyed to find this wasn't a full Hercule Poirot book like I thought and contained four stories I
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already had. If I had of known then what I know now and all that jazz.

For a short story collection I found this to be pretty strong, with three of the four stories being rated 4 stars. Murder in the Mews, The Incredible Theft and the Dead Man's Mirror all featuring clever plots with well planned solutions to the crimes. The fourth entry, Triangle at Rhodes, is what lets the collection down. It was bizarre and I didn't really like it much at all. Still three out of four is pretty good for a short story collection and still leaves the entire book with an average rating of 3.5 stars.
Individual reviews and ratings below.

16.1 MURDER IN THE MEWS: Poirot and Japp team up once again, when their dinner out speculating on why no one commits more murders on Guy Fawkes day results in a dead body and a shot no one heard fired. I enjoyed this one. I like Japp and I love him and Poirot teaming up. Japp ribs him something fierce and it's hilarious.

“So that’s what you were getting at!” Japp sighed. “Always have to get at things in such a tortuous way.”

Christie, Agatha. Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories (Hercule Poirot Mysteries) (p. 597). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.


Poor Japp. I like Japp better than Hastings too. He's much smarter for one. Even when he's not entirely sure where Poirot is going with things, he is usually aware something is going on. 4 stars.

16.2 THE INCREDIBLE THEFT: Important plans are stolen when a prominent political figure throws a party. I liked this one. Once again I guessed parts and completely missed others but I enjoyed it all the same. 4 stars.

16.3 DEAD MAN'S MIRROR: Poirot is sent a letter by Sir Gervase Chevenix-Gore requesting his presence to investigate a matter of fraud, but when Poirot arrives, the man is found to have committed suicide. I really liked this one. Mr Satterthwaite (from the Harley Quin series) also makes a brief appearance, giving Poirot his impressions of Sir Gervase. And Major Riddle, the police detective assigned was fantastic. I mean he was no Poirot but I was amused by his conclusions;

“Well,” said Riddle, “everything seems quite clear and aboveboard. Door locked, window fastened, key of door in dead man’s pocket. Everything according to Cocker—but for one circumstance.” “And what is that, my friend?” inquired Poirot. “You!” said Riddle bluntly. “What are you doing down here?”

Christie, Agatha. Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories (Hercule Poirot Mysteries) (p. 457). William Morrow Paperbacks. Kindle Edition.


The crime was very clever and I enjoyed the motives. 4 stars.

16.4 TRIANGLE AT RHODES: On holiday at Rhodes, Poirot comes across a love triangle that ends in murder. Well I only guessed half the crime. As in that Chantry killed his wife. Not that he had an accomplice. Honestly, I didn't really get this one. It was strange. 2 stars.
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LibraryThing member Devil_llama
This book is actually a novella and three short stories, rather than a continuous book. At least one of the short stories bears a strong resemblance to a novel length mystery, so close it was likely either abridged (with changes) from the novel, or formed the base kernel for the novel. The work is
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standard Agatha Christie, with anachronistic language and familiar character types. It was a quick read, and as usual, fun without being a lot of work. The culprits were reasonably easy to spot in all the stories.
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1937-03-15

Physical description

158 p.; 18.5 cm

ISBN

8755301479 / 9788755301474

Local notes

Omslag: Jørgen Jørgensen
Omslaget viser en blå ring med et billede af en hånd der holder en revolver
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra engelsk "Murder in the Mews" af Poul Ib Liebe, Tage la Cour, Ellen Duurloo
Oversat fra engelsk "Incredible Theft" af Poul Ib Liebe, Tage la Cour, Ellen Duurloo
Oversat fra engelsk "Triangle at Rhodos" af Poul Ib Liebe, Tage la Cour, Ellen Duurloo

Forum Krimi, Christie, bind 63
Side 69: Mord kan somme tider synes berettiget, men det er ikke desto mindre mord alligevel.
Side 130: Det er yderst sjældent, at nogen foretager sig en handling, der ikke er i overensstemmelse med son charactère. Og i længden virker det noget ensformigt.
Side 131: Naturen gentager sig selv langt oftere, end vi forestiller os.

Similar in this library

Pages

158

Library's rating

Rating

½ (387 ratings; 3.6)

DDC/MDS

823.912
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