"Where there is murder, anything can happen."

In the author's forward to Crooked House, Christie states that "of one's output, five books are work to one that is real pleasure." Agatha Christie's Third Girl, I'm sure to her, felt like work. I know reading it did.

There were a lot of things going for this book. Not often - if ever - in a Poirot novel do we also get cameos from Ariadne Oliver, Miss Lemon, and Georges all in the same story. This one would have been hard to miss. Especially considering Poirot and Oliver have such wonderful professional chemistry that is cause for some really memorable comedic moments.

Unfortunately for me personally, the book felt unplanned. Almost not outlined at all. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Christie wrote the first half of the novel with no ending planned out and just let the characters 'act for themselves'. There are some genres where this works. Murder mystery is not one of them.

There were some great moments in this book. It just hurts me to think that Christie, at this point in her career, may have been getting sick and tired of Poirot. These later works feel so much more lifeless than the earlier ones.

Early in the story, novelist Ariadne Oliver starts ranting about having to write further novels about a detective character of hers that her readers' love, but she absolutely detests. I wonder if Christie was using Oliver as an authorial mouth piece in this case.

For her own sake, I hope I'm wrong.