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"You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?"
- Unknown Whisperer (until the end of the book...), Appointment with Death, p. 1
The Sum of It:
We turn, dear readers, once again to the Middle East for our second book of this week: Appointment with Death. Set first in Jerusalem, this story focuses on the most depressing family of all time: The Boyntons. The Boyntons are a rag-tag group of emotionally abused, American step and half brothers and sisters who are (basically, literally) under the thumb of their disgusting (the exact words used to describe her are "the grotesque, Buddha-like figure" with fat hands, among other things) and super, duper psycho mother. #Yikes. These grown adults are constantly at their mother's beck and call, are not allowed to leave their home (uh...except on this random vacay), are not allowed to get jobs, and can only talk to people their mother says they can. Her list of Okay People most definitely does not include young hot shot doctor, Sarah King, who has developed a bit of a crush on Raymond Boynton. We see most of the first half of the book through the eyes of Dr. King, or Dr. Gerard, a French doctor who is also having a Middle East tour. These two are fascinated by the prisoner-like Boynton children and their crazy mom and the psychology behind the hold she has on them.
After several chapters of Truly Awful Things Happening to all the Boynton Kids, the group moves their vacation to a more remote location in Petra, along with another American woman (who has married a fancy Lord Downton-Abbey style), Lady Westholme, and old-maidy-type named Miss Pierce. The group is gelling as well as can be expected when, of course, one afternoon the horrid Mrs. Boynton is found #DEAD alone in her lawn chair! As you can imagine, none of her kids are terribly torn up and everyone seems cool with saying "oh yeah she def just died of regular heart stuff"...except for Hercule Poirot. With basically everyone having a motive for knocking old sourface Boynton off, Poirot needs to know if they are dealing with just #DEATH or #MURDER. Commissioned by a Colonel Carbury to solve the crime in just 24 hours, Poirot sits down for some long chats with each person involved and, of course, in true Poirot fashion, finds the truth with time to spare.
The YOA Treatment:
I must admit (without giving any spoilers), that the end of the book was slightly disappointing. And by the end I mean the solution. But while the ending might not be 100% satisfying, the ride truly is. Appointment with Death features a lot of the Poirot order and method we have come to know and love. For example, at one point he writes out a list of nine items that are just simply interesting about the case, and then goes back through to see if he can reconcile all of them together or if there are any that conflict (you guessed it, there are!) But Poirot also spends a great deal of time thinking through the psychology of this #MURDER. He considers each suspect and decides to prove each of them innocent if he can, and if he cannot...well they most certainly must be the guilty party. Appointment with Death shows the maturity #DameAgatha was reaching as a writer, not necessarily (in this case) with stunning plot development, but in a very logical and convincing understanding of psychology.
Another interesting tidbit - Appointment with Death mentions not one, but two of Poirot's previous cases! The work he did on the A.B.C. Murders and, most notably, his success with that little affair on the Orient Express. Now, I shall not reveal the context in which this case was brought up, for it shall spoil the end of that book which is considered one of Agatha's finest! But for those of you who are familiar with the ending of Orient Express, you will no doubt be able to sniff out the connection made between the two cases...
-A.
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