This is a book that one of my characters referenced in a novel I’m writing. Though I chose it based on the title and the description, I figured I should actually read the book to truly know if it’s a good fit.

Read: May 7 – May 8, 2025

Genre: Murder Mystery, Detective
Audience: Adult
Book contains: abuse, child abuse, manipulation, murder, death, poison

Purchase a copy from Indigo.ca

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An Escape from Tyranny

One night in Jerusalem, renowned Belgian detective Hercule Poirot overhears two members of the Boynton family discussing the murder of their stepmother in order to escape her tyrannical ways. When, during a visit to Petra, a murder actually takes place, Poirot must get to the bottom of it—and all the Boyntons are his suspects.

This is not the type of book I’ve ever read before (aside from the Sherlock Holmes stories), but I definitely liked it. The set up of the characters and clues was done really well, and though I didn’t guess the perpetrator ahead of time, I thoroughly enjoyed the way the detective uncovered all his clues—though he was a bit too theatrical for my taste as he went back and forth with each suspect and whether they were innocent or not.

As a detective story, the novel of course begins with Hercule Poirot as he overhears Raymond saying, “You do see, don’t you, that she’s got to be killed?” After that, the narrative is passed from character to character, mostly following Sarah King as she interacts with Raymond and the other Boyntons, then being passed back to Poirot after the death takes place. The chapters are short but full of clues, not wasting any words.

Since I decided to read this on a whim, I don’t even have a physical copy of this book, and I decided just to listen to the audiobook on YouTube, as read by Alexander Brodsky. The chapters are so short that I almost thought pieces were missing but, listening to the narrator, that didn’t seem to be the case.

There were so many characters for this short novel that I almost couldn’t keep track of them. The Boyntons are a close family, with Raymond and Carol being especially close, their younger sister Ginevra being a cause for concern as she’s far more under their stepmother’s thumb (being her biological child), and their older brother Lennox and his wife Nadine being slightly separated. To round off their group is Jefferson Cope, who is in love with Nadine. Sarah King is a young doctor who finds mutual interest in Raymond Boynton. She and Théodore Gérard, another doctor, play vital roles in the mystery. Finally, there are Lady Westholme and Miss Amabel Pierce, who have also come to Petra. Almost all the characters have a distinct motive and opportunity for killing the woman, and I like how while most of the motives are connected, they’re almost all different too, so it isn’t repetitive.

There are many messy relationships between this cast, first and foremost being the tyrannical control Lady Boynton has over all of her children, who, despite being adults, cannot manage their lives nor have any money to their own names to escape her clutches. Nadine is contemplating leaving her husband Lennox because of his lack of action against his stepmother; meanwhile, Raymond is finding love in Sarah King. Both of these relationships spur the Boyntons into motion.

I have no knowledge of Christie’s other works, but I can say for this one that she definitely doesn’t write in a flowery way. She gives just enough description to set the scene, and she puts extra emphasis on people and actions rather than waxing poetic about scenery or setting. Most of the physical description of places was fact-based as well, such as measuring the distance from one location to another in yards, explaining the journey to get to a location, the heat, etc. The mystery was well-laid out as well, and I have to praise her foresight: the reveal of the killer made sense. It was expected but without whiplash, which is what you want in a mystery.

The chapters were short and snappy with very little wasted words. The first half did an excellent job of setting up the clues and context after the overheard conversation about potential murder, thus leading the reader along at a pleasant pace. The interviews and revelations in the second half were fast paced as well, as Hercule first asked seemingly unrelated questions and then jumped from suspect to suspect quickly. This simultaneously didn’t give the reader a chance to breathe while also letting them potentially work out the killer on their own.

It wasn’t the best book I’ve read, but since it was clever and a good standalone mystery while also being part of a wider series, I’d recommend mystery/crime/detective novel lovers to give it a go.

Related Reviews:

Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie
A Study in Scarlet & The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
His Last Bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle