It feels like forever since I’ve attempted to match my little grey cells with those of the brilliant Queen of Mystery! I was in the mood for a bit of a treat this Friday — I’d taken the day off work to make it an extra long Canada Day long weekend — and what better treat than a brand new Christie adventure?! I bought the Hercule Poirot classic Peril at End House a few months ago and haven’t had a chance to read it yet, so, armed with my trusty purple pen and dubious art skills, I made myself a cup of coffee and set to work.

In this mystery, Hercule Poirot and his trusty sidekick Captain Hastings are on holiday when they meet a vivacious young woman, Nick Buckley, who owns the nearby End House. Nick has had a streak of bad luck, with three near-fatal ‘accidents’ over the past few days, and while chatting with Poirot and Hastings, what she thought was a pesky wasp turns out to be a bullet shot through her hat. Poirot decides to help her out, and catch the would-be murderer before Nick gets killed.

I just paused my reading at the end of Chapter 18. Poirot has figured it all out, and is about to put on a play a la Hamlet, and for once I’m feeling really confident that I’ve actually figured this one out. More exciting: if I’m right, I will have figured it out even before the world’s greatest detective himself, as I’d had this major gut feel theory fairly early on, and while Poirot was pursuing several leads, all the little twists seemed to fit into the theory I’d formed.

Of course, that likely means my theory is completely off-base, and I’d missed some valuable clue somewhere amongst the pages. Still, this is turning out to be such a fun mystery! There’s a full cast of colourful characters, an atmospheric location in End House, and lots of fun twists along the way. So, as per usual, I’ll post my guess below the spoiler tag, and will only note up here whether or not I’ve succeeded.

Did I Succeed? (No Spoilers)

YES I DID!!!! I figured out the murderer even before the great Hercule Poirot did! I got their motive, their method, and even one of the (several) valuable clues!

WOOHOO!!! I finally solve an Agatha Christie mystery!

Now, which Christie should I read next?

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

My Theory

I think Nick herself is behind all the attempts on her own life, and that her cousin Maggie (who died while wearing Nick’s shawl in the only successful murder so far) was the actual target all along.

Nick tells Poirot that she was secretly engaged to the super wealthy Michael Seton, who had gone missing in a plane accident and then turned out dead. Michael’s uncle (and source of his wealth) disapproved of their relationship because Nick isn’t wealthy, but when the uncle died, Michael inherited his fortune. Michael made his will out to his fiancee under her real name, Magdala.

Magdala is Nick’s real name, but Nick herself says it’s a common name in her family. I think Michael’s Magdala is actually Maggie, and Nick killed her so that she could claim Michael’s fortune and no one would contradict her story that she was the Magdala Buckley engaged to Michael.

I think Nick arranged the attempts on her own life in order to fool Poirot and others, and give her a way to bring Maggie to her home (under the guise of keeping watch over her, as Poirot himself suggests), and then kill her while making everyone think Nick was the intended victim.

I feel like Nick’s best friend Freddie is involved somehow, possibly being blackmailed by Nick over her drug habit. And I have a weird feeling Nick is actually interested in Freddie’s boyfriend Jim Lazarus, and possibly he’s involved as well. But these are minor details; my gut is that Nick is the murderer, and I’m locking in that answer.

The Actual Reveal

And it was indeed Nick behind all the murder attempts on her own life! And it was indeed her who killed her cousin Maggie, and it was indeed Maggie who was the actual Magdala Buckley engaged to Michael Seton!

I was wrong about Freddie being involved, but I was right that she was hiding something. Her ex-husband was blackmailing her; he was the one who’d gotten her into drugs in the first place, but she’s pretty clean by now.

And Nick wasn’t in love with Jim Lazarus or anything. They were previously flirty with each other, but then Jim’s affections transferred to Freddie, and Nick was jealous, not because she was in love with Jim herself but because she liked people to like her.

The reason I thought Nick had an accomplice, and that it might be Freddie, is that I couldn’t figure out how she could’ve poisoned herself with the chocolates that Freddie sent. Where would she have gotten the cocaine? But that was explained as both Nick and Freddie having watches that contained a hiding place to store cocaine.

I also thought Nick needed an accomplice to shoot herself in the hat while she was with Poirot, but I suppose she could’ve made the shot before meeting up with Poirot and Hastings, and only pretended to see a wasp when she was with them. Shortly before Poirot and Hastings met her, Hastings heard a ‘pebble’ hit a roof, so I thought that was when the shot happened, and I was initially confused how she could’ve gotten shot later on without Poirot or Hastings hearing it.