Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie

"I'm glad I got round to reading this - Cat Among the Pigeons is a genuine Christie classic, one of the finest examples of her work that I've come across so far. Here, her writing is so engrossing that when Hercule Poirot appears around two thirds in to the story, you'd forgotten that you were expecting him - it's a nice surprise, but you almost feel as though his presence is unnecessary. The novel is set at the prestigious Meadowbank girls school, though its roots are in Ramat and in the death of a Prince as he tried to escape from his country. Now, I went to a working class secondary school which mixed sexes and didn't cost a fortune per term - the setting of the story is as far away from that as my flat is from a palace. Still, Christie's depiction of the school is so vivid and complete that I felt like a teenage girl who was really there ...." "イギリスでもトップランクの名門女子高で殺人事件！にアラブ王家の宝石の謎が絡むという豪華二本立て！！と話の展開は面白くないはずがありません。クリスティーさん後期の（1959）のせいか、凝ったトリックとか、あっと驚くドン電返し、ポワローが八面六臂の大活躍とかではありませんが、話の ...開として、名門高の教師や学生たちの日々の様子とかがユーモア豊かに描かれていて楽しく（あれ、ポワロー中々出てこないなあ...）読み進んでるうちに、新任の体育教師が射殺体で発見される.... そして第二、第三の事件が学園を襲う... 教師たちの英語、学生たちのくだけた英語と読んでいて興味深い。結末はほのぼのとして気持ち良いなあ.... クリスティー作品としては標準レベルに達しているでしょう .... ハーパー版のカバー絵はかなりネタばらし！？読んでからのお楽しみ...."

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