The Chocolate Box by Agatha Christie

My Synopsis:

The Chocolate Box is a delightfully short story featuring the narration of Detective Hercule Poirot recounting a time in his career when he failed to solve a case on his own to his good friend Captain Arthur Hastings. The story begins very cozily with the two friends sitting in front of a fireplace sipping hot chocolate and a hot toddy. Hastings reflects on the eminent success Poirot has had which the latter humbly disregards with a tale of a time he believes he had lost. An interesting story of the chocolate box, involving a secularist French Deputy, an Englishman, a Catholic monsieur, and a young, naive religious woman.

My Take:

I believe this story provides a wonderful insight into the friendship between Detective Hercule Poirot and Captain Arthur Hastings, who are re-occurring characters of Agatha Christie. Being my first time reading a Poirot tale, I was charmed by his wit and French phraseology, which I had to Google translate avidly. My husband had recently signed up to learn French and I felt compelled a few times to test his knowledge of the language. The setting occurred at a magnificent residence on Avenue Louise, a beautiful district in Brussels that I was visiting vicariously through Poirot through reading. This story encapsulated everything I want in a mystery: prestige, greed, lust, scandal, and chocolate.

I was very surprised to find out Madame DeAlourd was responsible for her son’s poisoning. I believed Madame Virginie was connected in some way, especially after she appeared so adamant that Poirot not pay a visit to M. De Alard’s chateau. I figured she and De Alard were lovers and had plotted together to take the Deputy down and inherit his wealth, while also eliminating his threat on the church.

I would highly recommend reading this short story as part Midwinter Murder, which has a collection of short stories beginning with Three Blind Mice. You can also check out The Chocolate box episode from the British Poirot series. There are some minor changes from the book, such as the chocolate box being pink and green in the episode instead of pink and blue and Hastings never makes an appearance, but the ending ends up still being the same. This was the first time I watched a Poirot episode, and I have seen many since.

11/10/2022