Not as intriguing as many of Christie’s books: I’d never heard of the title before I stumbled upon it going cheap in a second hand bookshop and it’s not nearly as good as some of her other work. That doesn’t mean that it’s a bad book though just that it seems decidedly run of the mill when compared to some of her more original mystery plots. The reader is led astray as usual and suspects nearly everyone but the eventual unmasked murderer of killing the Scottish charlady of the title. When the murderer is unmaked it didn’t feel quite as fair as it could have been. I think there were a few too many red herrings for comfort.

One of the best parts of this book is the inclusion of a character called Ariadne Oliver who is a best selling mystery author. When Oliver laments that she made her main character a vegetarian Finn despite knowing nothing of Finland it is obvious that this character is voicing some of Christie’s own problems with being lumbered with a popular Belgian detective for life.