The Third Girl by Agatha Christie

Title:  The Third Girl

Author:  Agatha Christie

Narrated by:  Hugh Fraser

Publisher: HarperAudio

Length: Approximately 6 hours and 59 minutes

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

Which genre help you get out of reading slump?  Mysteries often get me out of a reading slump.

I read The Third Girl 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.   The Third Girl was published in 1966 and features Hercule Poirot. 

A mysterious woman shows up and tells Poirot that she thinks she murdered someone and then promptly disappears.  Poirot must figure out who the girl is and why she thinks she killed someone.

My thoughts on this novel:

·       Hugh Fraser is such a great audiobook narrator.  He makes all the voices unique and in tune with their character.

·       Hercule Poirot is sad about being called old in this one.  As he has been retired since the books written in the 1920s and this one was published in 1966, I think he is doing well for his age.

·       Ariadne Oliver is a character in this one and is a great partner to Poirot.

·       Agatha Christie really seems to not like the youth of the day.  There is much talk about “dirty” and unkept youth, long hair, beards, drugs, and sex.

·       I learned what “third girl” actually means.  A first girl rents a flat and invites a friend (second girl), and then they place an ad for a third girl to share the rent.

·       Once a wig became involved in the story, I was suspicious, but I still didn’t solve this one on my own.

·       I thought it was interesting that it was the first novel in years where Hercule Poirot was present from the beginning to the end.

Overall, Third Girl was another good Agatha Christie mystery.  I think reading through the different decades was very interesting.