Agatha Cristie

BOOK REVIEW. DUMB WITNESS

Emily Arundell is a very rich and old woman whose fortune will be to her nephew and nieces when she dies. When they went to visit theiraunt, Emily falls down the stairs in what is apparently an accident. However before her death, Emily had been poisoned, she had written to Hercule Poirot, who was adetective, because she thought her family wanted to kill her because of her fortune. Unfortunately the letter did not arrived at time so when Poirot read that letter,Emily had been died yet. At the beginning people thought she had died of natural causes but after Poirot’s investigations they knew a member of her family had killedher. He realized the killer had been Bella, Emily’s niece, who put a nail in the stairs with a slim rope to Emily fall down. At the end of the story Poirot metEmily’s family in Emily’s house and he told Bella was the killer. Finally she admitted it and she said she wanted Emily’s fortune for her children.

The tittle DumbWitness refers to Emily’s dog, Bob, who was supported to have left a ball at the top of the stairs which caused Emily’s accident. The dog only appears in the story for thisaccident and at the end of the book Bob becomes detective’s pet.

This kind of story, a mystical story, is a typical Agatha Christie story. The idea ofuncompromising Poirot working hand-in-hand with a dog is almost preposterous, but Agatha Christie has woven the story line so well that it all seems natural.

I think it is avery good book with a gripping story. I think it is one of the best book I have ever read. It has interesting characters and a murderer I could never have guessed.