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Peril at End House

Peril at End House

A Hercule Poirot Mystery
ClassicsCrime
Pages
256
Published
1971
Language
English

Synopsis

On holiday with Captain Hastings on the Cornish coast, Hercule Poirot insists he has retired from detection and has set aside an urgent appeal from the Home Secretary. His resolve falters when he meets Magdala "Nick" Buckley, the spirited young owner of a crumbling clifftop house near the seaside town of St Loo. Over a few short days she has survived three brushes with death: failed car brakes on a steep hillside, a boulder that crashed past her on a coastal path, and a heavy picture that fell on the bed where she should have been sleeping. She treats them as bad luck. When Poirot finds a bullet hole through the brim of her hat, he is certain someone is trying to kill her. Convinced a murder is imminent rather than already committed, he sets out to guard her and to map the circle of people around her: an old school friend, a navy commander, an art dealer, a watchful solicitor cousin, and a relative who comes to stay. Hastings narrates as Poirot weighs motives of money, love, and debt, testing each version of events against the small, stubborn facts. The seemingly senseless attempts resist every neat explanation, and the closer Poirot looks, the more the danger refuses to stay where it seems to belong.

Prose complexity
4/10

Vibe

IntellectualTenseAtmosphericComplex
BetrayalSecret IdentityMystery BoxRivalsMorally Grey

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

Methodical and vain, he wrestles with having missed the true shape of the case

Captain Arthur HastingsSupporting

Earnest and easily charmed, his readings of people often steer him wrong

Magdala "Nick" BuckleySupporting

Breezy and modern, she shrugs off danger that alarms everyone around her

Frederica "Freddie" RiceSupporting

Cool and guarded, she carries private troubles she keeps from view

Commander George ChallengerSupporting

Plain-spoken and steady, his feelings are no secret

All characters in Peril at End House

Frequently asked questions

  • Does Peril at End House feature Hercule Poirot?

    Yes, Hercule Poirot is the central detective in Peril at End House, investigating a series of suspicious 'accidents' surrounding a young woman named Nick Buckley.

  • Is Peril at End House a standalone mystery?

    While it is part of the Hercule Poirot series, Peril at End House can be read as a standalone novel. The mystery is self-contained, and no prior knowledge of Poirot's other cases is required to understand the plot.

  • What is Peril at End House about?

    While holidaying in Cornwall, Poirot meets Nick Buckley, a young woman who has survived several apparent accidents in quick succession. When he finds a bullet hole in her hat, he becomes convinced someone means to kill her and sets out to prevent a murder before it happens.

  • Is there a film or TV adaptation of Peril at End House?

    Peril at End House has been adapted for television as part of the Agatha Christie's Poirot series, starring David Suchet as Hercule Poirot.

  • Where is the story set?

    It takes place in and around the fictional seaside town of St Loo on the south coast of Cornwall. The setting was inspired by Christie's home town of Torquay in Devon, and Poirot's Hotel Majestic is modeled on Torquay's Imperial Hotel.

  • Where does it fall in the Hercule Poirot series?

    It is an entry in Christie's long-running Hercule Poirot series, listed as the eighth book in the common Poirot reading order. It was first published in 1932.

  • Do I need to read other Poirot books first?

    No. Like most Christie novels it stands on its own, with a self-contained case. Returning readers will recognize Poirot and his narrator Hastings, but no prior reading is required.

  • Who narrates the novel?

    Captain Hastings narrates, in the Watson-like role he plays across several early Poirot books. He has just returned from Argentina and joins Poirot on holiday at the start of the story.

  • Why is Poirot reluctant to take the case at first?

    He claims to have retired and has turned down an urgent appeal from the Home Secretary that reached him by post. Meeting Nick and seeing the danger she is in pulls him back into detection despite himself.

  • What makes this case unusual for Poirot?

    Rather than investigating a murder that has already occurred, Poirot is trying to stop one he believes is coming. The premise turns on protecting an apparent target, and the threats refuse to fit a simple explanation.

  • Has it been adapted for screen?

    Yes. It was adapted for the long-running series Agatha Christie's Poirot starring David Suchet as Poirot and Hugh Fraser as Hastings, first broadcast in 1990. It has also been staged as a play.

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