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Well, Hercule Poirot has once again proven his little grey cells to be vastly superior to mine, as my guesses concerning the identity of the murderer were so very, very wrong. In my defense, Christie packed a lot of red herrings into this one.

Anyway, this is another enjoyable installment of the Hercule Poirot series. If you've read any previous Poirot novels, you already have a pretty good idea of how it'll play out, except for this murder takes place in an airplane somewhere over the English Channel (and perhaps involves a most unusual weapon?). No Hastings this time, but Inspector Japp is involved and makes his usual attempt at actually solving a case on his own. Poirot is as egotistical as ever, and his moustache magnificent as always. There is the occasional problematic comment � two characters bond over disliking “fat women and � negroes,� and there's some disparaging talk about “ugly� women, but that's an Agatha Christie novel for you, I suppose?

I originally slated this novel for the “a book where the main character is an immigrant or refugee� slot in my 2025 Popsugar Reading Challenge, but I was delighted to find out that someone changes careers near the end. Now it can go in the “a book where an adult character changes careers� slot, and I can put another Poirot novel in the “immigrant or refugee� category. At this rate (I have nine other Poirot novels lined up to be read for the Popsugar challenge, as well), I just might finish this series this year. Yay!

3.95 stars, rounded up.