Agatha Christie’s Five Little Pigs presents Hercule Poirot with a particular challenge: find out the truth of a sixteen-year-old murder. Amyas Crale was poisoned and his wife convicted; shortly before she died in prison, she wrote their daughter a letter swearing that she was innocent. The daughter is now of age and wants her mother cleared. The title refers to the five surviving witnesses interviewed by Poirot.
This was a pretty good radio play. I expected to doubt that the witnesses remembered enough to be useful, but as presented, it makes sense that they remember the important things—they’re tied into the existing conceptions of the murder. The solution is not terribly difficult, but turns on a satisfying mix of psychological deduction and logical re-examination of the facts. I’d prefer a different title, but one can’t have everything.