Hercule Poirot is summoned by Sir Gervase Chevenix-Gore to join him at the family home. Poirot doesn’t really want to go, but there’s something interesting about the summons, so he heads out to the country. When he gets there, no one is expecting him, and now no one can find Sir Gervase. The house is searched, and Sir Gervase is found dead in his study, apparently having committed suicide. Poirot, of course, has his doubts. There are a few improbable things about the scene, including […]
A Folly Indeed
I think Agatha Christie had some slight yearning to write a buddy comedy, because she has this kind of team thing going with Hercule Poirot and Ariadne Oliver. Mrs. Oliver is a writer of mystery stories, and she and Poirot seem awfully chummy. Anyway, Ms. Oliver is at Nasse House, a beautiful estate on a river. She has been invited to write a “Murder Hunt” for the village fete that’s being held at the estate. She has a funny feeling about everything, and invites Poirot […]
And back to Agatha Christie
Back to the old standby, Agatha Christie. When in doubt, I read Christie or Austen. Depends on my mood, really. So, in Chipping Cleghorn, there are only a few options for receiving the news of the day. One option is the Chipping Cleghorn Gazette – and in one morning’s Gazette, there is a notice: “A murder is announced and will take place at Friday, October 29th, at Little Paddocks, at 6:30 p.m.” Ms. Blacklock, who lives at Little Paddocks, is a bit surprised by this, […]
Poirot doesn’t impress in his first story
Fortieth book reviewed as part of the 130 Challenge. I like mysteries and thrillers, but this one didn’t impress me much. It might be because Agatha was such a pioneer in this genre that a lot of other writers must have borrowed from her and so, this particular story (the first perhaps, in her famous Hercule Poirot series) appears to be far too familiar.The plot was quite simple. I was even able to guess the most likely culprits. However, as soon as Hercule starts to […]
Actually not that much of a mystery….
Now, as my blog title tells you, I really do read a lot. But it’s an odd gap in my book life that I haven’t read very many Agatha Christie novels. Those I have read, I read when I was in my teens and don’t really remember them anyway. So I decided to address this and read all the Poirot and Marple books, as well as her most famous stand alone novels like And Then There Were None. So what better place to start than at the […]
Women Can Be Scary Part I: Agatha Christie
At some point in my young reading life, I think when I was in junior high, I read quite a few Agatha Christie mysteries. I still fondly remember the plots of Murder on the Orient Express and The Mirror Crack’d, but I’m pretty sure I never read And Then There Were None, considered Christie’s masterpiece. Unlike most of Christie’s novels, this mystery does not feature a detective like Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple sleuthing a path to the final revelation of the murderer’s identity. Instead, […]