The Murder on the Links (1923)
Blurb:
My review:
An early, but not outstanding, Poirot tale. The plot is dated melodrama, composed of mysterious millionaires, midnight visitors, South American conspirators, and romantic and "sensational" complications—pure A.E.W. Mason bumf, with a lavish helping of Conan Doyle's "The Abbey Grange" thrown in for good measure. Several gaping holes are left in the plot, the most noticeable being why Conneau should have thought a repeat performance would fool his former accomplice for a minute. Only the contest between Poirot and the French Sherlock Holmes, Giraud, and Poirot's clever deductions as to the Conneau case, are particularly exciting. It is also doubtful whether the reader could reach a solution on the clues given, as Poirot's solution is almost pure guesswork. Poirot's Watson, the singularly obtuse Captain Hastings, acts out of character throughout—the romantic sub-plot is as maudlin and awkward as the rest of the story.