Appointment With Death

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Summary

Genre: Murder Mystery, Detective

Format: Novel

Location: Middle East

Murder Method: Poison

Recurring Characters: Poirot

Synopsis

Among the towering red cliffs and ancient ruins of Petra sits the corpse of Mrs. Boynton. A tiny puncture mark, the only sign of the fatal injection that killed her. Hercule Poirot recalls a remark he overheard back in Jerusalem: "You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?" Mrs. Boynton was, indeed, the most detestable woman he had ever met. With only 24 hours to solve the case, can Poirot find the killer amongst so many suspects?

Published in 1938, Appointment with Death was adapted by Christie for the stage, though she omitted to use Poirot in the adaptation. The play opened at the Piccadilly Theatre in London in 1945 to rave reviews. It was later adapted by Hollywood and EMI Pictures released it in 1988 with the great Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot. Christie’s own travels helped inform the novel as did an archaeological dig she was involved in at Petra. In 2008 David Suchet appeared as Poirot in the ITV production.

What fans say

: Puffinjill
"I love this book!! I love the atmosphere, the setting (I so want to go to Petra!) and (most of) the characters. It's Poirot at his most precise, working from personal statements not his own personal experience. The way he sifts through all the differing information to find the truth is fabulous. It's very similar to Five Little Pigs in that respect, and I love that too."
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: Puffinjill
"Petra was the extra character in the novel. Placing all these people in such an alien landscape adds to the tension and provides a wonderful contrast between the beauty of the surroundings and the hate festering away."
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