I would never have thought Poirot would be the type of person to go out and participate in these birthday games,

Yes, I tend to agree. Was he strapped for cash?

I wouldn't have been surprised if there had been an actual murder at Hermione's party.

Heh, no.

I agree on Thora's journey, if you can call it that. I resented being made to feel sorry for her a little.

I still thought it was Cust until Lily told Poirot that he couldn't have killed at Doncaster because of the timing.

It was extrinsic reasons that changed my mind; it was far too soon for the net to close around Cust for it to be him, but this was the point where his apparent guilt dissolved.

And now, I think I need to go read the actual story and see how it differs. :-)

Ha! I still have my copy of 'And Then There Were None' (racist title) waiting since that adaptation.