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Agatha Christie – Poirot Investigates | Review

Title: Poirot Investigates

Author: Agatha Christie

Type: Fiction

Page Count: 218

Rating: 4.25/5

I’ve always found that Agatha Christie is at her best when she’s writing short stories, and it was no different here. This little collection is a breeze to get through (it took me about half an hour or so), and it pulls together a fun little collection of cases.

It might not be Poirot at his most serious, and indeed I noticed here that he was speaking a lot of French, even more so than normal. That made him feel almost like a caricature of himself, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Plus we have the fact that the different cases on offer here means that we see a wide variety of different sides of him. That makes it more interesting, to me at least, than a regular Poirot novel, which is probably a good thing because I’ve always been more of a fan of Miss Marple.

Overall though, I’d definitely recommend this, and to be honest it’s not a bad place to start if you’ve never read Poirot before. It’s a good little cross section and a fun little collection, and just what the doctor ordered when I read it. Get yourself a copy if you can, somehow!

Learn more about Poirot Investigates.

Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata – Death Note Black Edition: Volume V | Review

Title: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

Author: Death Note: Black Edition Volume VI

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 426

Rating 4/5

I’m almost at the end now, and I’m pleased to report that it’s picked back up a little bit and I enjoyed this one more than the last. It’s still not quite as good as it was when it first started out, but it’s still good enough and it’s definitely worth reading, especially if you’ve made it this far.

I think part of the reason that I enjoyed this was that you could tell that we were getting near the end game and so the stakes felt a little higher. The authors have also shown by this point that they don’t mind killing major characters when it serves the story, which leaves you as the reader feeling like pretty much anything could happen.

Other than that, I’m not too sure what else I can say that I haven’t said in previous reviews. As always, the artwork is gorgeous, so big props to Takeshi Obata for that. Tsugumi Ohba does a great job with the story, too. He’s clearly a master storyteller, and it’s impressive how much he manages to convey through just dialogue and the image briefs that he gives to his illustrator.

If you’re thinking about reading Death Note, I’d definitely recommend picking up the Black Edition books. They’re not super expensive (I think I paid around £30 for all six of them), and they’re beautiful little artefacts in their own right. They’ll look great on your shelves, but they also look great in your hands and the quality of the print is good enough to highlight all of the details from the original comics.

The only thing that I will say is that when I first started reading the series, I didn’t know who I wanted to win because I liked both sides. Now, though, I don’t know who I want to win because I don’t really care for either side, which is probably a bad sign. I’m just not as invested in the series as I was when I first started out, and I can’t tell whether that’s because of the story or just that I’m flagging.