Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie

 

Title:  Elephants Can Remember

Author:  Agatha Christie

Narrated by:  Hugh Fraser

Publisher: HarperAudio

Length: Approximately 5 hours and 36 minutes

Source: Checked out with Libby through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

Do you like to read more than one book at once?  I am usually reading a physical book, ebook, and audiobook at the same time.

I read Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie last month for #ReadChristie2024.  #ReadChristie2024 has a theme this year of through the decades.  January – March were books published by Agatha Christie in the 1920’s, April through June were books published by Agatha Christie in the 1930’s, July through September were books published by Agatha Christie in the 1940s and 1950s, and October through December were books published by Agatha Christie in the 1960s and 1970s.   Elephants Can Remember was published in 1972 and was the last novel written to feature Hercule Poirot and Ariadne Oliver.  Curtain:  Poirot’s Last Case was published after this but was written in the 1940s.  This is the December selection for #ReachChristie2024, but my hold came in October so that was when I read it!

Author Ariadne Oliver is at a literary luncheon when a strange woman, Mrs. Burton-Cox states that her son Desmond is engaged to Ariadne Oliver’s goddaughter, Celia.  She wants to know, did Celia’s mother kill her father or did her father kill her mother?  Both were shot with a revolver, found between them, with both of their fingerprints, and none other on them.  This sparks Ariadne’s curiosity, and she starts to investigate the cold case.  Will she be able to solve it using other’s memories from twelve years ago?  Will her friend, Hercule Poirot, be able to help her out?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I like how Ariadne is the primary investigator in this novel with help from her friend, Hercule Poirot.

·       The phrase “elephants can remember” comes up a lot.  People state it discussing how elephants remember everything.  This novel deals with memories and how they play into being interviewed, and oral testimony.

·       Always trust the dog, the family dog bit Celia’s mother the month before her death.  Why?  I liked that the mystery was partially solved by the actions of the dog.

·       This book features twins.  I always like when twins are in a mystery.

·       This book again brings up adoption and “real parents” and “real kids.”  This type of language made me uncomfortable.

·       This time I did mostly figure out the conclusion, but I still enjoyed the journey and explanation from Hercule Poirot.

·       Hugh Fraser is a great narrator for Agatha Christie’s novels.

Overall, Elephants Can Remember was an interesting Agatha Christie mystery dealing with memory set in the 1970s.