The Patriotic Murders

 The Patriotic Murders (One, Two, Buckle My Shoe; 1940) by Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot, like many people, dreads going to the dentist--even when the dentist is a good as Mr. Morley. Most people don't dread the dentist so much that they decide to shoot him to put themselves out of their misery. But the fact remains that Mr. Morley has been shot and will never scare a timid patient with his drill again. Inspector Japp believes it to be suicide, though a motive is sadly lacking. Morley seemed to have no particular worries. His money situation was fine and he had no romantic entanglements. Poirot is more inclined to believe in murder. But, again, a sufficient motive is nowhere to be found. 

When one of Morley's patients, a Greek by the name of Amberiotis, dies of an overdose of dental medication, Japp is absolutely certain that Morley killed himself in a fit of remorse after realizing he had given Amberiotis the wrong dose. Then another patient goes missing and her body is later found stuffed in a chest. Poirot must work his way through hints of political intrigue; hush-hush advice from a former Home Office johnny (who knows foreign spies when he sees them); blackmail; conferences with high-flying financiers; and corpses with battered faces who may or may not be who we think they are. Throw in a couple of hot-headed young men with dreams of over-throwing the status quo and who knows who murdered whom and for what purpose.

While I always enjoy Dame Agatha and Hercule Poirot, I have to say that this one feels very much like Poirot pulls the solution out of a hat. I recognized the basics of what was going on with one of the deaths, but I did not see the leap from one small sentence to the line of reasoning that Poirot produces for his solution. All of the evidence is tracked down off-scene and the reader isn't given the chance to see it before Poirot confronts the killer at the end. 

It's an exciting little mystery and a fair amount of fun--but not one of her best in my opinion. With the hints of espionage and financial intrigue in addition to blackmail and personal animosities, it seemed like Christie was trying to do a bit too much in one story. ★★★

First line: Mr. Morley was not in the best of tempers at breakfast.

Last line: "Nineteen, twenty, my plate's empty--" And went home.

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Deaths =  3 (one shot; two poisoned)