Honestly, I didn't hate this one or really like it. It was a bit too farfetched for me when we get to the ending/solution. 

 

We have a terrible man, Simeon Lee, who demands his family come home for the holidays. He seems to be playing a game of cat and mouse with them and using his money as an incentive to put up with his despicable self. When he is found murdered, all clues point to someone in the family who has done it. Poirot who happens to be staying with a friend, comes along and then is asked by the family to figure out who killed Lee.

The potential culprits are Lee's granddaughter who has just arrived in England, his sons Alfred, George, David, and Harry, and his daughter-in laws, Lydia, Magdalene, and Hilda. There are also servants and one of Simeon's partner's son about the estate too.

 

I think maybe because I had watched the BBC television episode of this one it just colored things for me. I just found the book boring and most of the characters pretty thinly written. I think that David was beyond annoying and that Alfred was delusional. The only time it got a bit interesting was when the family finds out the contents of Simeon's will and you get to see some of the members of the family clearly for the first time. I really did like the character of Lydia (Alfred's wife) but other than that bah.

 

There were a lot of red herrings about in the book, and I have to say that the resolution was a bit much for me (how Poirot realized who was the killer). 

Nada como un asesinato para alimentar el espíritu navideño! La historia trata de un viejo multimillonario ya inválido y enfermo que vive en una mega mansión con uno de sus hijos, la señora de este último, y los criados. Para Navidad, decide invitar a todos sus hijos y sus mujeres (que llevan años peleados, por diversas razones) a pasar las fiestas en familia, pero no por la bondad de su corazón o porque los eche de menos, sino que la verdadera razón de la invitación es para hacerlos rabiar, hacer que todos peleen con todos, y así tener un poco de diversión. Y para complicar un poco más la situación, invita también a la nieta de una de sus hijas fallecidas, amenazando con cambiar el testamento y joderselos a todos, beneficiando a la nueva nieta.Hasta aquí todo es entretención para el viejo malvado, hasta que un día en la noche se escucha una pelea, un grito... Y aparece el viejo degollado en su habitación. Todos tenían motivos para matarlo, pero la pieza estaba cerrada con llave y por las ventanas nadie podía salir o entrar. Entonces, ¿Quién lo mató? ¿Y cómo? Agatha Christie encanta con este libro rápido de leer, liviano pero intrigante, que nos hace preguntarnos quien es el culpable hasta casi la última página. Léalo esta Navidad!

There were well-duh moments in the revelations, but still, I'm such an idiot not to have guessed the real murderer. As usual, Agatha Christie is as entertaining as ever.