One, two, buckle my shoe

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club in November 1940, and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1941 under the title of The Patriotic Murders. A paperback edition in the US by Dell books in 1953 changed the title again to An Overdose of Death. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) while the United States edition retailed at $2.00.The novel features both the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, and Chief Inspector Japp. This is Japp's final novel appearance. Soon after he visits his dentist, Poirot is investigating the death of his dentist. More people are dead, and the investigation widens, as Poirot slowly finds his way to the true stories behind the murders. At the time of publication, the novel was generally well received, as "compactly simple in narrative, with a swift course of unflagging suspense that leads to complete surprise." The author is described as the "Queen of Crime's [with] scheming ingenuity" who writes in "the most ingenious way and, as usual, produces a masterly solution." A Canadian reviewer felt that "the pace is swift and talk – curse of the English detective story – is kept to a minimum". Another review said "the plot is more ingenious than probable" while another was not pleased with her "joyless style of impartial investigation" nor this novel, "The 'full horrible details' that bring people to death are accounted of more importance than details which bring people to life." A later review by Robert Barnard in 1990 found "a fairly conventional murder mystery, beguilingly and cunningly sustained." while Christie has included characters of the politically unstable war time in which it was written, "political 'idealists', fascist movements and conservative financiers who maintain world stability."