Guest Post: Book Review: One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (1940) by Agatha Christie #1940Club

Day two of the #1940Club hosted by Karen at Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings and Simon at Stuck in a Book. Since the past two clubs, my mother’s also been joining in with her reviews. Since she doesn’t have a blog of her own (she does use Goodreads), I’ve been sharing her reviews via my page. Today’s post is the first of her picks and by a writer who’s a favourite with us both, Agatha Christie, One, Two Buckle My Shoe.

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Even the great Hercule Poirot is apprehensive when a dental appointment awaits. Arriving at Mr. Morley’s clinic, he is shown in by a very young liftboy cum usher with a detective novel in his hand. (For Christie aficionados, this is the first entry of Albert, who plays a major role throughout the Tommy and Tuppence series). He eyes suspiciously the other waiting patients—a dangerous looking, restless young man and a mustachioed, army type, who pointedly ignores the nattily dressed detective. But all is forgotten, when the liftboy calls out for Mr. ‘Peerer’, and he must go and meet his nemesis in the dental chair.

UK First Ed via Wikipedia

 Mr. Morley is a bit disturbed as his assistant Gladys has been unexpectedly called away. But no major dental problems crop up, and a short while later, a cocky Poirot walks merrily down the stairs, and collects his hat and coat from the waiting room, while noticing a quiet looking, new patient whom he recognizes as the great financier Alistair Blunt, on whose strong shoulders rests the prosperity of the English economy. 

Emerging from the clinic and ‘dentist-phobia’, the day seems suddenly brighter, and everyone much more normal. A cab draws up just outside and a well-shaped foot clad in classy stockings, and a brand new, rather tacky patent leather buckled shoe, swings out, the buckle catches in the door, tears off and falls to the ground. The ever gallant Poirot rushes to the rescue, picks up the buckle and hands it back to the owner, a bit disappointed to find himself looking at a middle aged, poorly dressed woman, whose appearance certainly doesn’t match the flashy glamour of the shoe.

Poirot and Dr Morley from the 1992 Adaptation (Image source: Peschel Press)

It’s early afternoon when Inspector Japp calls up Poirot with the news of Mr. Morley’s suicide. He was found shot in his own clinic, the gun in his hand. Poirot and Japp begin their investigation by interrogating Mr. Morley’s sister, who shared his apartment above the clinic, and the servants. Everything appears normal. The victim was not depressed, no financial problems, either. A list of the day’s patients is drawn up for further investigation, Morley’s partner Mr. Reilly is questioned. On the list are the ex-actress Miss Maybelle Sainsbury Seale from India, the famous Mr. Blunt and a shady Greek Mr. Amberiotis. Before the investigators reach Amberiotis, he is found dead of an overdose of dental anesthetic, in his hotel room. The case appears closed. Mr. Morley, overworked in the absence of his assistant, injected the wrong dose, and shot himself when he realized his mistake.

Poirot and Japp from the 1992 Adaptation Via The Movie Database

But a few pieces of the puzzle do not quite fit in with this analysis. Gladys returns saying that the telegram calling her away was false, the angry young man is identified as Raikes, a left-wing activist and boyfriend of Alistair Blunt’s niece, one of the maids had seen Frank Carter (Glady’s young man, who Morley disliked) on the stairs that morning. The consensus is that the intended target was Alistair Blunt, and Morley’s death could be suicide or accident. Then the body of Miss Sainsbury Seale is found in a chest in the apartment of her friend Mrs. Albert Chapman. No signs of a hasty departure are visible, but no one can find the tenant. Poirot noses out the fact that Mrs. Chapman’s husband purported to be a travelling salesman, is in reality, an undercover agent.

Where complicated plots are concerned, this is one of the top contenders. Christie fans will enjoy it to the full. Set in the backdrop of World War II, the fear of Fascist and Leftist leanings, a tottering economy needing strong and able guidance to survive, and as always, the tussle between the individual good and the larger good.

First published in 1940 as One, Two, Buckle My Shoe in England by Collins Crime Club, an American version entitled The Patriotic Murders appeared in 1941. Like many of Christie’s novels based on nursery rhymes, this book has 10 chapters each corresponding to one line of the rhyme. It starts with ‘One, two, buckle my shoe’ emphasizing the importance of this clue, and ends with ‘Nineteen twenty, my plate is empty’, reflecting Poirot’s reluctant acceptance of his findings.