Dead Man's Mirror by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot, Acceptable, 1978, Pbk, 191 pages, Dell)

Used in acceptable condition: cover and pages have usage wear; pages are age-toned; book appears to have gotten damp at some point. ISBN 0440116996

Dead Man's Mirror: When Sir Gervase Chevenix-Gore writes to Hercule Poirot to unceremoniously summon him down to the Chevenix-Gore ancestral pile, Poirot is initially reluctant to go. However, there is something that intrigues him and so he catches the train that Sir Gervase wanted him to. On arrival at the Chevenix-Gore's house, Poirot meets the latter's wife Vanda, an eccentric who believes she is a reincarnation of an Egyptian woman, his adopted daughter Ruth and her cousin Hugo, and Miss Lingard, a secretary helping Sir Gervase research the family history. It is clear that no-one was expecting Poirot, and for the first time in memory, Sir Gervase himself, who is always punctual, is missing. Poirot and guests go to his study and find him dead, apparently having shot himself. Poirot is not convinced, however, and soon starts to prove that Sir Gervase was murdered because of various suspicious factors surrounding the death, including the position at which the bullet is believed to have struck a mirror.

Murder in the Mews: Japp asks Poirot to join him at a house in Bardsley Garden Mews where a Mrs. Barbara Allen shot herself the previous evening – Guy Fawkes Night – the moment of death being disguised by the noise of fireworks. Once there, they find that the doctor thinks there is something strange about the death of the fine lady, a young widow. Mrs. Allen was found by a housemate, Miss Jane Plenderleith, who had been away in the country the previous night. The victim was locked in her room and was shot through the head with an automatic, the weapon being found in her hand. However, the doctor points out that the gun is in her right hand while the wound is above the left ear – an impossible position to shoot with the right hand. It looks as if this is a murder made to look like suicide – and by an unusually incompetent murderer with a very low estimation of the intelligence of police investigators. 

Triangle at Rhodes: Wishing for a quiet holiday free from crime, Poirot goes to Rhodes during the low season in October where there are but a few guests. Aside from the young Pamela Lyall and Sarah Blake there is Valentine Chantry, a consciously beautiful woman who seems to swoon under the attentions of Douglas Gold. This is done at the expense of his own wife, Marjorie, a mildly attractive seemingly mousy woman, and Valentine's husband, Tony Chantry. This is the "triangle" that everyone observes, and it gets rather absurd with the two men vying for Valentine's favor.