This is one of my favorite books from Agatha Christie's later years. Her grip of story telling, plotting and planning is still strong. There is some humor in the narrative and amusement is provided by many of the characters.

Agatha Christie tries her hand at the girls' school setting here. Older reader will suspect that she was well-acquainted with similar settings chosen by A A Milne and Dorothy Sayers, and that she had been brought up on the once popular school girl annuals. Of course there needs to be a raison d'être behind the series of murders that occurs at the school and this is well narrated also.

I have mentioned the narration several times. It is an element that helps explain this writer's phenomenal popularity. She gets the timing right. Other writers in this genre produce more elegant prose but somehow fail in this regard.

At this time in her career, Agatha Christie was experimenting with narrative methods. She attempted the "quick scene change" method here, and brings it off with skill and flair. She also, at this time in her career, frequently milked the situation where something was briefly glimpsed in a mirror, or a familiar face briefly glimpsed at a great distance. Watch out for these occurrences as you turn the pages to reach Hercule Poirot's final revelation of just who is the cat among the pigeons.

I first read this book when I was twelve, about the same age as the main characters in the story. Some of the motivations of the adults seemed murky to me, but the children, especially young Julia, were all spot on! Good work writing about children, as is typical of Agatha (CROOKED HOUSE) Christie.

This 1959 novel begins in a fictional mideastern country. The country is on the brink of revolution, the young prince is planning his escape he entrusts the family fortune in gems to his closest friend to smuggle out of the country. Arrangements are made shortly before the two young men are killed.

Meanwhile, back in England it is the beginning of the summer term at Meadowlands, an exclusive girls' school. Students and staff from all over the world are there, including a princess from the mideast whose cousin/fiance has just been killed. The famous gems have also found there way there. Various unusual occurances begin to take place at the school, strange visitors, unusual behavior among the staff and then murder and kidnapping.

One of the students uncovers part of the secret and decides that she needs outside help so she contacts Hercule Poirot. Poirot, of course, resolves the mysteries both large and small that have been plaguing the school.

There are more characters introduced in this novel than is usual in Christie's work which makes this one of the more challenging of her work to figure out. There are several subplots woven into the action that things confusing as well. This is a departure from Christie's usual 'cozy' stories of village life or house parties. It is more of a thriller than her usual work, some of her most sympathetic characters are killed and Poirot only appears at the end of the novel. Even so it is a very enjoyable mystery and one of my personal favorites.

We are also treated to an update on the Summerhills, old friends from a previous book, MRS. McGINTY'S DEAD. Mrs. Summerhill is a friend of one of the students' parents. Poirot is delighted to hear that although Mrs. Summerhill's house is still disorganized and her cooking is generally deplorable she makes wonderful omelets, a skill that she learned from him.

Without any doubt,Cat among the pigeons is one of agatha christie's best.It is an awesome book.The story is set in an English bording school,Meadowbanks.I really love this book because the story is set in a school and agatha portrays the character of the teachers very well.I was happy POirot did not appear until the second murder had took place because i found him very annoying in the other books.However he really was a genius in solving the puzzle,which is fit for experts..Overall,Cat among the pigeons was immensely enjoyable and it is a must read!!!!!!!

An English pilot for a Middle Eastern ruling prince just managed to hide a fabulous fortune in gems somewhere in his sister's room, just before the prince was overthrown in a revolution. The unsuspecting sister returned to England with her daughter, just in time for the girl to start in Meadowbanks, an élite girls school, where a female cousin (& fiance) of the deposed prince, was also arranged to attend.

Several interested parties had been on the prowl searching for the gems, the pilot's efforts had not been as clandestine as he had hoped. With new girls, new teachers, and also a new young handsome male gardener, was it a wonder that some residents of Meadowbanks felt as if there was a hidden cat among the pigeons.

Agatha Christie painted an excellent picture of an English public school going about its daily business. There were staff as well as students who were trying to get use to a new environment. There was a headmistress, who having successfully established the school according to her vision after years of struggle, was considering passing the torch to the next generation. There were old faithfuls among the staff who were less prominent but had heard and seen much of what others missed.
Meadowbanks was probably Agatha Christie's of what an ideal school should be like.

Having got the background set, Agatha Christie got down to business with the first murder, the victim being a rather unpopular new staff in the recently completed Sports Pavilion. Readers would have been given enough outright hints before this as to what would be of interest in the Sports Pavilion. The object of the mystery quickly turned from recovery of the gems to the discovery of the murderer.

Midway, a second murder almost threw the investigators off-track, and a third murder was committed before Hercule Poirot who was called in late in the game seriously got down to business.

Mystery readers could find little fault in way which the authorities set about trying to find the culprit, but it took bringing back a student's mother from Anatolia to trap the murderer.

All the while, Christie managed to maintain a light hearted atmosphere despite the deaths in the story, with occassional injection of humour and wit. She included important and interesting roles for the diverse characters from students to faculty to police to parents in how the mystery was played out. This is truly one of her most readable book.