Boek
Moord in het studentenhuis
| Auteur | Agatha Christie |
| Eerste Uitgave | 1955 |
| Uitgave | 1974 |
| Uitgeverij | A.W. Sijthoff |
| Vorm | roman |
| Taal | Nederlands |
| Bladzijden | 185 bladzijden |
| Gelezen | 2003-02-06 |
| Score | 6/10 |
Inhoud
In het studentenhuis van mevrouw Hubbard, de zuster van Poirots secretaresse, wordt gestolen. Er verdwijnen ringen, een armband en oorbellen, maar ook gloeilampen, een rugzak, een stethoscoop. Poirot weet de diefstal van de sieraden heel snel op te lossen. Maar wie nam al die andere dingen weg? Als Poirot probeert ook dat te ontdekken wordt de dief wanhopig. Hij probeert zijn sporen uit te wissen door een moord, en nog één... en dan grijpt Poirot in.
Bespreking
Too many red herrings spoil the plot
Hercule Poirot is startled when Miss Lemon, his "perfect machine" of a secretary, makes three mistakes in typing a simple letter. Clearly, something is amiss. Miss Lemon, on questioning, reveals that she is worried about her sister, Mrs. Hubbard. After spending her married life in Singapore, Mrs. Hubbard has returned to England a widow, where she is living as matron of a youth hostel in Hickory Road, an establishment that caters to an international group of students. It seems that things, "odd things," have been disappearing from the hostel, "And all in rather an unnatural way." Miss Lemon suspects it's something more than petty thievery or kleptomania, and Poirot agrees to meet Felicity Lemon's distressed sibling.
Although the story starts strongly with a colourful description of the students in the hostel, it deteriorates rather quickly into a complex micmac of red herrings. It seems as though Christie herself is not sure of the outcome when plotting her story. Of course, it is always fun to meet our dearest detective Hercule Poirot, but the amount of mischief going on in the hostel imposes some strain on the reader's patience as well on Poirot's ingenuity. Clearly one of the weakest novels to feature Poirot.