Dumb Witness (1937) - featuring Hercule Poirot - written by Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie is most famous for the 2 detectives that she created, the egg shaped egoistical Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, and the elderly spinster Miss Marple, with Hercule Poirot being the more famous of the 2. One famous way of writing the books was with the constant companion of Poirot, Captain Hastings being the narrator. However, with the book 'Dumb Witness', this concept of Hastings being the narrator was coming to a close, with this being the second last book of Poirot with Hastings as the narrator (the last one being the 1975 book 'Curtain: Poirot's Last Case'. Like many of her other books, The Dumb Witness was also the name of the book release in Britain, with the US release having a different name 'Poirot Loses a Client'.
The Dumb Witness had a not so enthusiastic reception by critics when it was released, with many of the reviewers proclaiming the story as not having the complexity and twists, and not being gripping enough; however, the book did contain many of the usual plots that are present in books by Christie, with a rural setting, a small English village, an old lady, relatives who have a motive for the murder, follow on deaths, use of poison, and also some elements of the occult.



The novel centers around the character of an old wealthy lady, Emily Arundell, who lives in an old English village, and who has written to Poirot for investigation of a suspected murder attempt on her. However, by the time Poirot receives this letter, it is too late. Emily dies, with her doctor declaring that she died of a long standing liver problem that she was suffering from (the doctor was also old, and had a problem that he had mostly lost his sense of smell, something that is very relevant for the story).
Poirot gets involved with the story, since he considers the dead lady still his client, and pretends to be interested in the property to investigate the death in more detail. Like many other stories, there is money, motive; and there is some amount of the occult, a small cute dog, a brooch, and many other points that make this an interesting story.