Book of the Month April 2014: After the Funeral

©HarperCollins

The Agatha Christie Book Club's Book of The Month for April was After the Funeral, a bestseller. The novel was first published in 1953 and featured the unique character of Hercule Poirot. Here are my thoughts on the novel.

Plot 

After the funeral of Richard Abernethie, his family all gather for the reading of the will, including his younger sister Cora Lansequent.  Cora has quite a reputation in the family as a shrewd woman who often blurts out what everyone else is thinking. After the funeral, she says quite naturally "It’s been hushed up very nicely, hasn’t it? But he was murdered, wasn’t he?”. Then, the next day, Cora herself is found beaten to death in her cottage in a little village. Mr Entwhistle, the family solicitor, thinks something is wrong, so he calls in his old friend Hercule Poirot to investigate.

After the Funeral is a very traditional murder mystery: there's a rich upper class family all gathered in a country house and one of them is the killer. There's also a will, a butler and of course, the great detective himself. The solution to the murder is ingenious, and proves the great talent of Agatha Christie. Take nothing for granted, everything is not as it first appears.

©ITV - David Suchet in the TV adaption

Characters 

• Hercule Poirot 
• Gilbert Entwhistle 
• Inspector Morton 
• Richard Abernethie 
• Cora Lansequent 
• Miss Gilchrist 
• Timothy Abernethie 
• Maude Abernethie 
• Helen Abernethie 
• George Crossfield 
• Gregory Banks 
• Susan Banks 
• Michael Shane 
• Rosamund Shane
• Mr Goby 
• Lanscomb