Reading progress update: I've read 276 out of 308 pages.

The Mystery of the Blue Train: A Hercule Poirot Mystery - Agatha Christie

‘You have heard me speak of my friend Hastings?—he who said that I was a human oyster. Eh bien, Mademoiselle, I have met my match in you. You, far more than I, play a lone hand.’

A human oyster? Hahahaha. This is one of the reasons I like Hasting's so much. He may be at the end of Poirot's jokes on many occasions, but he isn't even in this book and still manages to offer up such a magnificent description of the great detective.

 

Also, Miss Viner. I'm quite sad that her circumstances would prevent her making a reappearance in the later Marple books. She would have been a magnificent counter-point to Marple in the village setting ... perhaps somewhat in the line of a Lucia to Miss Mapp. 

 

Also, I am rather enjoying the other snippets we get of life in St Mary Mead: If Miss Viner describes the curate as "high" and the vicar's wife as a cat, it somewhat sets the scene for Murder at the Vicarage which is to follow two years later ... tho the vicar's wife's character is changed. In terms of figuring our the Christie universe, it is tempting to re-read Murder at the Vicarage to see if there are any clues as to how long the vicar and his wife have been in situ, but this again is one of the attractions of the Christie canon...re-reading unveils the little details that may connect the story to the other books.