Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

When I heard about this book, I immediately ordered it - I should have read the reviews first. This book is a mess: the plot is ridiculously complex while being plain silly; and you just don't care about most of the characters (a fatal flaw, IMHO). The author used too many adverbs and adjectives (did she get paid by the word, one wonders?) & the actions of the main characters are about as logical as what's seen in hack horror films (you know, the ones where you yell at the screen "Don't open that door!). It's obvious this author prefers psychological thrillers - she tries to infuse that aura into this book, only adding to the overall inanity. Also, this book is completely without the feel of the period in which it was placed. I've read a great deal about the UK of 20's & 30's, and nothing in this book could not have taken place in, say, 1950. The only decent thing is that, while Poirot's actions are almost totally out of character (at least the character by Dame Agatha) e.g. he rides the bus to help clear his mind, some of his dialog is accurate. But even when I tried to read it as divorced from the Poirot I loved, i still could not make sense of the story - for example, how the heck does a guy get to be a Scotland Yard detective when he has a pathological fear of being around dead bodies - to the extent he neglects his proper duties (esp. since he is of an age, that he should have served in WW1)? This thing is a total disappointment.