The Murder on the Links

• Read: 2 May 2026 - 7 May 2026

• Author: Agatha Christie

• Year: 1923

• Pages: 289

• Remarks: Hercule Poirot Series Book 2

• Synopsis:

  • Famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and his friend Captain Hastings travelled to a French coastal town after they received a desperate plea for protection from a wealthy businessman named Paul Renauld. Upon their arrival, the duo discovered that their prospective client had been brutally stabbed to death and left in a freshly dug grave on an adjacent golf course. Tasked with unravelling the baffling mystery, Poirot navigated a complex web of blackmail, hidden identities, and secret romantic entanglements to uncover the truth behind the crime.

[7 May 2026] ‘The Murder on the Links’ (1923), by Agatha Christie.

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Reading Background:

• Finished this book within a couple of days because I was sick over the past 2 days and was resting at home, with this book as company.

• Had initially planned to read the newly published 'How to Cheat Your Own Death' from the Castle Knoll Files Series after finishing 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles', but I was so drawn to the Hercule Poirot Series after its debut book that I continued promptly with this book!

What I enjoyed about the book:

• The twists and turns till the end.

  • Halfway through the book I got pissed because I thought the revelation was done, and it was one that I had completely expected. Little did I expect that there were more to come! Guess I still didn't know Christie well lol. I felt somewhat pleased that the final revelation was unexpected for me, but I admit it wasn't a truly satisfying one.

• The Poirot vs Giraud rivalry.

  • I liked that it wasn't solely Poirot solving the case. Even though at the end of the day it was expected that Poirot would "win" and be the one who successfully solved the case, I liked that this book included another detective named Giraud who relied on a different methodology and challenging Poirot to see who could solve the case. However, it would have been even better if Giraud was a worthier rival.

What I found less enjoyable about the book:

• The ending didn't feel very satisfactory.

  • The final revelation felt somewhat artificial and unnatural in that they were "engineered" solely for the sake of the story ending that way, or in other words, Christie was letting the plot dictate the characters' reality, rather than letting the realism of the characters and their lives inform the plot.

• The overly exasperating Hastings.

  • Hastings just annoyed me very much. I understand character flaws and stuff, but too many times I just rolled my eyes at him and felt like giving him a good one. I was happy to find out that he would appear less in future books. What a nincompoop honestly. 

My overall thoughts:

• I enjoyed this book and all its twists and turns, and throughout the ride I was eager to read on to find out how things would unfold, and I really liked how the Christie's stories don't end until the book really comes to an end! However, I do feel her first book was better than this second one. I wonder whether it was due to the novelty wearing off, or that Hastings was getting too much on my nerves, or that the plot felt a bit too engineered and fantastical, or all the above. In any case, it's still a good book to recommend, and I am keen and ready to read the next book in the Hercule Poirot Series!

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• Chapter 1: A Fellow Traveller

  • Captain Hastings was returning to London from Paris when he shared a train compartment with a vivacious young woman. She introduced herself as an acrobat named Cinderella who performed with her sister. Hastings mentioned his friend Hercule Poirot, the famous detective. They parted at Calais without her revealing her real name.

• Chapter 2: An Appeal For Help

  • The following morning, Poirot received a letter from Paul T. Renauld in Merlinville-sur-Mer, France, pleading for help due to an imminent threat to his life and mentioning a secret connected to Santiago. Poirot and Hastings departed for France immediately. Upon arriving at the Villa Genevieve, they were stopped by the police and informed that Monsieur Renauld had been murdered that morning.

• Chapter 3: At The Villa Genevieve

  • Poirot and Hastings met the local police officials, including Commissary Bex and examining magistrate Hautet. They learned that Mrs Renauld was found bound and gagged in her room, while her husband was discovered stabbed in the back in a freshly dug grave on the adjacent golf course. The servants testified, with old Francoise insisting that a Madame Daubreuil visited Renauld the previous evening, though the younger maid Denise claimed it was an unknown English lady. Poirot was intrigued that Renauld's chauffeur had been unexpectedly sent away on holiday.

• Chapter 4: The Letter Signed Bella

  • The police discovered a passionate and threatening letter signed Bella in the dead man's overcoat. They also learned that Renauld had recently altered his will to leave everything to his wife instead of his son, Jack. Poirot noticed the hearthrug in the study was crooked and found a torn cheque made out to a Duveen. They then examined the body and the murder weapon, a peculiar paper knife made from an aeroplane wire.

• Chapter 5: Mrs. Renauld's Story

  • The magistrate interviewed Mrs Renauld, who stated that 2 masked, bearded men had broken in, bound her, and forced her husband to show them the location of his secret, speaking of Santiago. She identified the murder weapon as a gift from her son, Jack, who was supposedly on his way to Buenos Aires. When taken to identify her husband's body, she fainted with genuine grief. Poirot noticed her smashed wristwatch was 2 hours fast.

• Chapter 6: The Scene Of The Crime

  • Poirot and Hastings visited the freshly dug grave and encountered Giraud, a detective from the Paris Surete, who dismissed Poirot's methods. Poirot took an interest in a piece of lead piping and the footprints in the flower beds near the house, noting the complete absence of footprints in one bed despite the gardener having planted it the previous day.

• Chapter 7: The Mysterious Madame Daubreuil

  • Poirot demonstrated that the footprints in the right-hand flower bed belonged to the gardener. The police interviewed Madame Daubreuil at the Villa Marguerite. She denied any knowledge of the murder, though the police suspected she was blackmailing Renauld due to large recent bank deposits. Leaving the house, Poirot and Hastings met her daughter, Marthe, who seemed overly anxious about who was suspected. Poirot recalled seeing Madame Daubreuil's face in a past murder case.

• Chapter 8: An Unexpected Meeting

  • Hastings went for a walk and ran into Cinderella on the golf course. She expressed curiosity about the murder and convinced Hastings to show her the scene. Hastings illicitly obtained the key to the shed where the body was kept. She nearly fainted at the sight of the murder weapon, and after Hastings fetched her water, he walked her back to town.

• Chapter 9: M. Giraud Finds Some Clues

  • Giraud revealed a South American cigarette end and an unlit match, which he believed proved the masked men theory. Poirot suggested the clues were planted and pointed out that the crime resembled a past case. He also emphasised the importance of the advanced wristwatch and the smoothed-over flower bed.

• Chapter 10: Gabriel Stonor

  • Gabriel Stonor, Renauld's English secretary, arrived and dismissed the idea that Renauld was having an affair with Madame Daubreuil, suggesting she was blackmailing him instead. He was surprised to hear of Renauld's new will. When questioned about an affair, Mrs Renauld tearfully admitted it might have been true, shocking Stonor.

• Chapter 11: Jack Renauld

  • Jack Renauld arrived unexpectedly, having not sailed for South America after reading about the murder. Giraud aggressively questioned him about a violent quarrel he had with his father. Poirot revealed the argument was over Jack's wish to marry Marthe Daubreuil, which his father opposed. Jack admitted this. The police then discovered that the murder weapon had been stolen from the shed.

• Chapter 12: Poirot Elucidates Certain Points

  • Hastings confessed his indiscretion with Cinderella and the key, explaining how the dagger went missing. Poirot explained that the crime occurred earlier than supposed, as the smashed watch was deliberately moved forward to provide an alibi for someone catching the last train. Poirot asserted that the story of the masked men was a fabrication to shield the true murderer, though he did not believe Mrs Renauld committed the crime herself.

• Chapter 13: The Girl With The Anxious Eyes

  • Poirot departed for Paris to follow a lead. Hastings sought out Cinderella but discovered she had given him a false address. Returning to the villa, he overheard Jack and Marthe talking, with Marthe expressing fear for Jack's safety, and caught Giraud eavesdropping on them. The next morning, the servants discovered a 2nd dead body in the shed.

• Chapter 14: The Second Body

  • Hastings found the body of an unknown, shabbily dressed man stabbed through the heart with the stolen dagger. Giraud pointed out that the man had been dragged there and that a woman's hair was wound around the dagger's hilt. Mrs Renauld, Jack, and Madame Daubreuil were brought in, but none identified the man. Dr Durand then declared that the man had been dead for at least 48 hours.

• Chapter 15: A Photograph

  • Hastings met Poirot at the station and learned that Jack Renauld had arrived in Merlinville on the night of the murder. When told about the second body, Poirot claimed it confirmed his theories, stating the man had died of an epileptic fit and was stabbed after death. Poirot then showed Hastings a photograph he had found in Paris.

• Chapter 16: The Beroldy Case

  • The photograph was of a Madame Beroldy, who was actually Madame Daubreuil. Hastings recalled the famous Beroldy case from 20 years prior, where Madame Beroldy claimed masked Russians killed her husband. Her lover, Georges Conneau, later confessed to the crime, stating he did it at her instigation. She was acquitted, and Conneau escaped.

• Chapter 17: We Make Further Investigations

  • Hastings assumed Madame Daubreuil murdered Renauld, but Poirot pointed out she lacked a motive and that it was Mrs Renauld who told the masked men story. Poirot questioned Jack about his presence in Merlinville on the night of the crime, then sent him on a false errand to search his room.

• Chapter 18: Giraud Acts

  • Poirot spoke with Marthe Daubreuil, who revealed she had seen Mr Renauld arguing with a tramp on the morning of the murder. Poirot searched Jack's room and found a photograph of Cinderella signed by Bella. Giraud then arrived and arrested Jack Renauld for the murder of his father.

• Chapter 19: I Use My Grey Cells

  • Giraud laid out his case against Jack, citing his presence in Merlinville and his motive. Poirot pointed out flaws in Giraud's theory, asking why Jack would bury the body if he needed his father's death confirmed to inherit. When Jack was brought before his mother, she renounced him and fainted, suffering a concussion.

• Chapter 20: An Amazing Statement

  • Hastings suggested Georges Conneau had returned as the tramp, killed Renauld, and died of a fit. Poirot corrected him, explaining that the threatening letter was meant for Jack from Bella Duveen, not for the father. He deduced that Mr Renauld had planned to fake his own death to escape blackmail.

• Chapter 21: Hercule Poirot On The Case

  • Poirot laid out the truth: Mr Renauld was actually Georges Conneau. Fleeing justice, he had built a new life but was recognised and blackmailed by Madame Daubreuil. He planned to use the body of the tramp, who had died of a fit, staging a fake murder using the story from his past. He went out to dig the grave, but an unknown person stabbed him in the back.

• Chapter 22: I Find Love

  • Hastings and Poirot travelled to England and tracked down Bella Duveen's theatrical act in Coventry. Hastings slipped away, found her, and declared his love, realising she had killed Renauld, mistaking him for Jack in the dark. When Poirot interrupted, Hastings physically restrained him so the girl could escape.

• Chapter 23: Difficulties Ahead

  • Poirot revealed that the sisters had fled and stated his intention to return to France. Hastings insisted on accompanying him to protect the girl. Poirot warned Hastings that his actions were endangering Jack Renauld, who was facing the guillotine. Hastings was torn between saving the girl he loved and allowing an innocent man to die.

• Chapter 24: Save Him

  • Returning to France, Jack maintained his silence before the magistrate. Poirot provoked Giraud into a wager over who would find the killer first. They visited Marthe Daubreuil, who pleaded with Poirot to save Jack. Poirot revealed to her that he knew her mother's true identity and the history of the Beroldy case.

• Chapter 25: An Unexpected Denouement

  • During his examination, Jack Renauld confessed that the murder weapon was his, protecting the fact that he had duplicate daggers made. The magistrate prepared to commit him for trial. Suddenly, a woman in black entered the room, lifted her veil, and confessed to the murder. Hastings realised it was the twin sister, the real Bella Duveen.

• Chapter 26: I Receive A Letter

  • Hastings received a letter from Dulcie Duveen, the girl he knew as Cinderella. She explained that she had suspected her sister Bella of the murder and stole the dagger to protect her. She allowed Hastings to believe she was the guilty twin so he would help her escape. Bella, however, refused to let Jack die for her crime. Poirot revealed he had known all along which twin Hastings loved.

• Chapter 27: Jack Renauld's Story

  • Jack Renauld was released and explained he had found the body that night and seen Bella running away, leading him to believe she was the murderer. Poirot revealed he had found a 3rd duplicate dagger with Dulcie, proving that the weapon used to kill Renauld was the one given to Marthe Daubreuil.

• Chapter 28: Journey's End

  • Poirot explained that Marthe Daubreuil was the real murderer. She had overheard Renauld's plan and stabbed him so Jack would inherit the fortune. That night, she attempted to murder Mrs Renauld, but Dulcie Duveen intervened via an acrobatic feat, and Marthe died during the struggle. Jack and his mother planned to move to South America, Jack reconciled with Bella, and Hastings proposed to Dulcie.