Hickory Dickory Dock is one of Agatha Christie’s famous novels, that involves her Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot at his finest. Agatha Christie – Hickory Dickory Dock was first published in 1955, and garnered good reviews for its intriguing plot and characters, who reveal barely anything until the very end. The story involves Poirot coming out of retirement to solve the mysterious disappearance of some ragtag items, from his secretary Miss Lemon’s sister’s hostel at Hickory Road, as retirement is boring him. The story takes a sinister turn when one student is found dead.
Poirot then gets down to business with the local cops to investigate matters, and he eventually finds the culprit, Celia Austin, who has been up to mischief to get one of the guy’s in the hostel to notice her. But things take a ghastly turn when Celia is found dead. Then the owner of the hostel Mrs Nicoletis is found dead and soon after, another student Patricia Lane is found bludgeoned to death. Poirot’s investigation leads to him to check the background of the inhabitants of the hostel, and other details of the hostel. He makes the surprising discovery that the hostel is the hub of a drug and gems smuggling cartel. He also discovers that someone in the hostel is holding multiple passports. Poirot’s wits are tested to the limits, and he eventually zeroes in on the culprit.