Taken at the Flood: A Hercule Poirot Novel by Agatha Christie

Reviewed by Jeanne 

In recently post-World War II England, the Cloade family has lived in relative comfort, helped along financially by childless widower Gordon Cloade. Gordon was the clever one with money, while his relatives were—well, NOT. They’ve come to rely on Gordon’s helping out with Rowley’s farming ambitions, with Jeremy’s legal problems, Mrs. Marchmont’s hopeless household accounts, and Lionel’s hope of retiring from medicine and devoting himself to the study of poisons. 

When Gordon suddenly remarries, they all are sure that Gordon will continue to support them in the manner to which they’ve become accustomed.  He probably would have, but unfortunately for the Cloades, Gordon and his wife are in London when their house is hit by a bomb during the Blitz.  The house is destroyed, but there are two survivors: Rosaleen aka Mrs. Gordon Cloade and her brother David.  Even more unfortunately, while Gordon had made a will providing for all the Cloades, he had not updated it after his marriage.  Under British law, all his wealth goes to his widow.

Rosaleen and David come to Gordon’s house in Warmsley Vale, where Rosaleen seems like a frightened child. And why not, when she is surrounded by so many people who would like to see her dead?

Into this morass of suspects and motive, only one person can bring order to a murder case: the one and only Hercule Poirot.

Re-reading Agatha Christie as an adult has been a rewarding experience.  I am impressed not only by her plotting skills, but by her characterization and her perceptiveness.  Everyone has been affected by the war:  some because they’ve served in foreign lands and been on the front lines, some who had to stay behind but ae still changed.  There are motives aplenty, Christie’s trademark twists and turns, and a somewhat dark ending, depending on your point of view.

I enjoyed it thoroughly and am definitely going to read more classic Christie.

Note:  One thing that frustrates me as a Christie reader is the title changes.  I own a copy of this book under the title There Is a Tide. . ., taken from the same Shakespeare quotation from Julius Caesar:

"There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures."