"The Murder on the Links" by Agatha Christie is the second Hercule Poirot novel. What I think makes Christie so interesting is that she uses fiction conventions I think would have been popular at the time and uses the reader's assumptions to fiddle with the narrative. In fact, that might be the central feature of mystery novel - playing with the conventional to mess with our perceptions. It works well in "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" and in the short story collection "Poirot Investigates." But here, some of the more melodramatic touches (mysterious train journeys, mixed-up siblings, long-lost loves, Hastings' romantic leanings) become too much. That being said, there are many points in which the narrative did surprise me and I enjoyed myself reading it. I think that "Styles" was better. And I think that in this particular novel, Hastings as the narrator got a bit in the way. But Poirot is brilliant as ever.