Hickory Dickory Dock by Agatha Christie First Edition The Crime Club Collins 1955. No previous owner's marks or inscriptions, contents unblemished throughout. Some light spotting to edges. Covers are bright and completely unmarked. A fine copy in like original price clipped dust jacket that has no wear and no fading at all to spine.

In a bustling London student hostel, petty thefts escalate into murder when a poison-laced bottle claims a young resident. Hercule Poirot, summoned by his secretary Miss Lemon, probes the eclectic boarders: a fiery French scholar, a secretive medical student, and a kleptomaniac heiress. As stolen trinkets and smuggled diamonds surface, Poirot’s little grey cells unravel a sinister smuggling ring cloaked in academic chaos. Set against 1950s post-war diversity, Christie’s 1955 mystery weaves intricate clues, psychological depth, and Poirot’s meticulous brilliance, culminating in a ticking-clock revelation of betrayal and greed in a seemingly innocuous lodging house.

Hickory Dickory Dock captivates collectors as a mid-career classic in Christie’s Poirot saga, its hostel setting a fresh canvas for her puzzle-craft. Readers savor its cerebral twists and Poirot’s urbane deductions, akin to Dorothy L. Sayers’ academic enigmas or Margery Allingham’s quirky casts. Its cultural lens reflects 1950s cosmopolitan tensions and student subcultures, alluring whodunit enthusiasts. Collectors value its prominence in Christie’s oeuvre, while readers delve into the dormitory deceptions and rhythmic riddles, hailing it a timeless treasure for devotees of Golden Age mysteries and Poirot’s impeccable sleuthing.