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Hickory Dickory Dock

Hickory Dickory Dock

ClassicsCrime
Pages
128
Published
2012
Language
English

Synopsis

When his famously precise secretary, Miss Lemon, makes three uncharacteristic errors in a single letter, Hercule Poirot knows something is wrong. The cause is her sister, Mrs Hubbard, who manages a hostel for students at 26 Hickory Road and has been troubled by a baffling outbreak of petty theft. The stolen and damaged items make no sense as a pattern: a stethoscope, an old pair of flannel trousers, a box of chocolates, a slashed rucksack, a light bulb, and a diamond ring later discovered in a bowl of soup. Intrigued by the sheer eccentricity of the list, Poirot agrees to visit the hostel and address the residents, a mix of young men and women from across the world pursuing studies in London. Beneath the surface camaraderie, he senses tension, concealment, and motives that have little to do with simple kleptomania. When one of the students is found dead, the trivial mystery turns deadly, and Poirot must untangle a web of secrets among people who all have reasons to hide the truth. Working alongside Inspector Sharpe, he applies his methodical reasoning to a closed community where everyone is a suspect and the smallest detail may carry the heaviest meaning.

Prose complexity
4/10

Vibe

IntellectualTenseComplex
Secret IdentityBetrayalMystery Box

Genres

Classics Crime Mystery

About the author

A
Agatha Christie

Dame Agatha Christie (1890-1976) is the best-selling novelist of all time and the writer the world calls the "Queen of Crime." Born Agatha Miller in Torquay, Devon, she came to fiction on a dare: her sister Madge bet she could not write a convincing detective story, and the result, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, introduced the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Her dispensing work in a hospital pharmacy during the First World War, repeated again during the Second, gave her the expert knowledge...

Characters

Hercule PoirotSupporting

Drawn in by his concern for his secretary, he is fascinated by the irrationality of the thefts and trusts his sense that order has been disturbed

Miss Felicity LemonSupporting

Her rare lapse into error signals her worry over her sister and is what pulls Poirot into the case; an unusually prominent appearance for her in a novel

Mrs HubbardSupporting

Miss Lemon's level-headed sister, whose anxiety over the strange thefts brings the problem to Poirot's attention

Mrs NicoletisSupporting

Volatile and secretive proprietor whose nerves and evasions suggest she knows more than she admits

Celia AustinSupporting

A shy young woman whose confession over the thefts only deepens the puzzle rather than resolving it

All characters in Hickory Dickory Dock

Frequently asked questions

  • Where does the title "Hickory Dickory Dock" come from?

    It is taken from the well-known nursery rhyme, a device Christie used for several titles. Here the link is one of her most tenuous, amounting mainly to the hostel's location on Hickory Road, and Poirot recites the rhyme on the book's final page.

  • Does this book have a different title in the United States?

    Yes. It was published in the UK as "Hickory Dickory Dock" in 1955 and has appeared in the US under the title "Hickory Dickory Death."

  • How is Poirot drawn into the case?

    His secretary, Miss Lemon, makes three uncharacteristic mistakes in a letter because she is worried about her sister, Mrs Hubbard, who manages a student hostel troubled by thefts. Poirot's curiosity over both the errors and the strange list of stolen items leads him to investigate.

  • Is this an unusual appearance for Miss Lemon?

    Yes. Poirot's secretary Miss Felicity Lemon had mainly featured in the short stories, so her substantial role in a full Poirot novel is notable and relatively rare.

  • What is the setting of the novel?

    It takes place largely in and around a hostel for students at 26 Hickory Road in London, home to a mix of young residents from several countries, giving the book a confined community of suspects.

  • Is there a smuggling element to the plot?

    Yes. The investigation uncovers a smuggling operation in which specially constructed rucksacks with concealed compartments were used to move illicit goods, a thread Poirot identifies by examining the unusual base of one of the bags.

  • Has the novel been adapted for television?

    Yes. It was adapted in 1995 for the ITV series "Agatha Christie's Poirot," starring David Suchet as Poirot, with the story relocated to the series' earlier period and Inspector Japp substituted for the novel's Inspector Sharpe.

  • Where does this book fall in the Hercule Poirot series?

    It is one of Christie's later Poirot novels, first published in 1955, and can be read as a standalone since the cases are largely self-contained.

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