As a follow-up to The Stranger Diaries, this was disappointing. Harbinder Kaur, the detective who's a major character in that first book is more of a As a follow-up to The Stranger Diaries, this was disappointing. Harbinder Kaur, the detective who's a major character in that first book is more of a background figure in this second one. Instead, we get a quirky trio of amateur sleuths: Edwin, a dapper geriatric; Natalka, a Ukrainian healthcare worker; and Benedict, a former monk turned barista/café owner. They're investigating the death of an old lady (friend of Edwin, client of Natalka, and customer of Benedict) who several mystery authors credit with helping plot their books. It seems that she (and several of those authors) received threatening postcards. Is it all a coincidence or was she murdered?
Soon the quirky threesome is running their own investigation, parallel to Harbinder's, dashing off to a writer's conference to chase clues. It's a much cozier mystery than I expected, more reminiscent of The Thursday Murder Club, but with fewer old people and clunkier prose. Something just felt off about the writing: too much simplification and repetition. It didn't even feel like the same author in some ways. I'm still giving this one three stars because I did enjoy it overall: the quirky threesome was fun and the mystery was decent, if a little far-fetched. I probably won't be reading the rest of the series, though. ...more
Ella Elphick is dead, a beautiful and beloved high school English teacher, stabbed in her own home, with a quote from The Tempest left by her corpse. Ella Elphick is dead, a beautiful and beloved high school English teacher, stabbed in her own home, with a quote from The Tempest left by her corpse. Clare was her coworker and friend, a fellow English teacher writing a book about R.M. Holland, the writer who previously lived at Talgarth High where she teaches, a writer whose well-known short story ("The Stranger") contains that same Shakespearean quote.
Detective Sergeant Harbinder Kaur is a Talgarth High alumni assigned to investigate Ella's murder, asking lots of questions that the Talgarth faculty seem reluctant to answer. Harbinder and Clare do not hit it off, but when strange writing begins appearing in Clare's private diary, Harbinder is the person she tells. As it becomes clear that someone is stalking Clare, probably the same someone who murdered Ella, Harbinder does her best to protect Clare, her teenage daughter, Georgia, and their silly little dog, Herbert (named after the dog in "The Stranger").
In addition to a solid murder mystery told from multiple points of view (Clare, Harbinder, and Georgia), excerpts from "The Stranger" and Clare's diary are used to punctuate the text, and there's a supernatural/gothic element to the proceedings. I randomly brought this book home after coming across it during my series-labeling project at work. I mean, a British mystery with a lesbian detective from a traditional Indian family, featuring a murder at a haunted high school? Yes, please! Although my library doesn't have them, I'm ready to read the rest of the Harbinder Kaur series. ...more
Written in the early, early 1960s, Dame Christie was just getting into her "I hate mods/hippies/dirty, lazy young people" phase. Although this is billWritten in the early, early 1960s, Dame Christie was just getting into her "I hate mods/hippies/dirty, lazy young people" phase. Although this is billed as an Ariadne Oliver book, the mystery author just makes a few cameo appearances. Our narrator for most of the book is Mark Easterbrook, a historian, who finds himself pulled into a mystery involving deaths that seem natural, but are somehow tied to an old inn (the titular Pale Horse) that is now the residence of three kooky old ladies who perform séances. It's a sufficiently satisfying little mystery with an interesting cast of characters and an unexpected twist at the end. I'm not always a fan of Christie's romantic matches, but I rather like this one. (view spoiler)[ Of course Mark ends up with adventurous Ginger and not boring old Hermia. Oh, and the killer? It was the pharmacist with the thallium. (hide spoiler)]...more
WWII is on and Tommy & Tuppence find themselves too old to be of use to their country. Tuppence has almost resigned herself to knitting balaclavas forWWII is on and Tommy & Tuppence find themselves too old to be of use to their country. Tuppence has almost resigned herself to knitting balaclavas for the troops when an unexpected visitor drops in. British intelligence has decided that maybe Tommy can be of assistance after all. The dying words of a former operative were "N or M, Song Susie" -- the initials of Nazi agents they've been trying to track and a bastardization of San Souci, a boarding house on the south coast of England. They want Tommy to pick up where the dead man left off, but he mustn't tell Tuppence the details of his undercover mission.
Imagine Tommy's surprise when he arrives at the boarding house he's meant to infiltrate and finds his wife already installed there under a false identity. Tuppence's widow Blenkensop is soon in pursuit of Tommy's Mr. Meadowes, much to the entertainment of the other inhabitants of San Souci, one of which must be N or M: the bitter landlady and her lovely daughter, a German refugee, a young mother and her toddler daughter, a couple of old ladies (one terrifying, one not), a retired major, a hypochondriac and his downtrodden wife.
With witty banter, red herrings aplenty, and dangerous encounters for both Beresfords, N or M? is an entertaining little mystery, and I really didn't see the solution coming. (view spoiler)[ Who would ever suspect a mother with a young child? But the child wasn't really Mrs. Sprot's. Unfortunately, by the time T&T figure this out, Mrs. Sprot has murdered the child's actual mother who tried to steal her back. When Mrs. Sprot is exposed and arrested, T&T decide to adopt the child. Really? At their ages? (hide spoiler)]...more
Tommy & Tuppence are back: a few years older, but not much wiser; still with the snappy banter and wide-eyed, adventurous spirits. Tommy has been workTommy & Tuppence are back: a few years older, but not much wiser; still with the snappy banter and wide-eyed, adventurous spirits. Tommy has been working a boring government job and Tuppence has been doing very little, much to her dismay. Then comes a visit from an acquaintance from The Secret Adversary:
"I see that you take the Daily Leader," continued Mr. Carter, picking up that journal from the table. He turned to the advertisement column and indicating a certain advertisement with his finger pushed the paper across to Tommy. "Read that out," he said. Tommy complied. "The International Detective Agency, Theodore Blunt, Manager. Private inquiries. Large staff of confidential and highly skilled Inquiry Agents. Utmost discretion. Consultations free. 118 Haleham St. W.C." He looked inquiringly at Mr. Carter. The latter nodded. "That detective agency has been on its last legs for some time," he murmured. "Friend of mine acquired it for a mere song. We're thinking of setting it going again--say, for a six months' trial. And during that time, of course, it will have to have a Manager." "What about Mr. Theodore Blunt?" asked Tommy. "Mr. Blunt has been rather indiscreet, I'm afraid. In fact, Scotland Yard have had to interfere. Mr. Blunt is being detained at His Majesty's expense, and he won't tell us half of what we'd like to know." "I see, sir," said Tommy. "At least, I think I see." "I suggest that you have six months' leave from the office. Ill health. And of course if you like to run a detective agency under the name of Theodore Blunt, it's nothing to do with me."
What follows are the serial adventures of "Blunt's Brilliant Detectives": the fake Theodore Blunt, his "confidential secretary," and their office boy, Albert. Running a detective agency isn't as exciting as expected, so if Tuppence must create a mystery, so be it. And if they can't solve the mysteries as themselves, they'll pretend to be famous literary detectives.
Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with most of the British detectives they emulate, with the exception of Sherlock Holmes and Christie's own Hercule Poirot. Also, short stories aren't my favorite, so overall, this was just okay for me. I'm looking forward to a more in-depth adventure for T&T in N or M?....more
Murder on a reality tv show being filmed in Wales? This second book featuring DC Ffion Morgan is the book that got my attention (well before it was puMurder on a reality tv show being filmed in Wales? This second book featuring DC Ffion Morgan is the book that got my attention (well before it was published in the states), but I read The Last Party while I was waiting and I'm glad I did. Skipping that first book would be disorienting, as Ffion's history, her family, and her awkward relationship with English DS Leo Brady are all... complicated.
As the book opens, Ffion knows that a reality show is being filmed, practically in her backyard. Her friend, Ceri, a local mail carrier, is a contestant, and Caleb (a teen character from the first book) is working as an unpaid runner for the show. But then a bombshell is dropped about the actual basis of the show and one of the contestants goes missing. Instead of simply proving their survival skills, contestants must compete to keep their deepest secrets from being revealed to the world. The show-runner is completely focused on his own success and doesn't seem concerned that he's pissing off everyone around him, cast and crew alike.
Once again, I love the Welsh setting and the humor Ms. Mackintosh fuses into the story. Ffion is still a hot mess, albeit in a slightly different way. She's no longer living with her mother, but that may not last long. She's completely botched her fledgling relationship with Leo and taken on an unruly, flatulent rescue dog. Can she manage her issues and find the missing contestant before disaster strikes? (Obviously, the answer is no. Detective novels aren't written about neatly-solved missing persons cases.)
The mystery itself is pretty solid, with several over-the-top characters to keep things lively. Ffion has some character growth by the end and I'll be ready to read the next installment whenever it's released....more
"Tommy, old thing!" "Tuppence, old bean!" The two young people greeted each other affectionately, and momentarily blocked the Dover Street Tube exit in "Tommy, old thing!" "Tuppence, old bean!" The two young people greeted each other affectionately, and momentarily blocked the Dover Street Tube exit in doing so. The adjective "old" was misleading. Their united ages would certainly not have totalled forty-five.
It's 1919, the Great War is over, England's young people are trying to get back on their feet again, and the sinking of the Lusitania is just a memory to most. (Dame Christie's second novel was written around the time of its setting, but not published until 1922.) After a brief prologue set on that sinking ship, we're introduced to our youthful protagonists, childhood friends who decide to team up as The Young Adventurers, Ltd, to make some quick money doing whatever (within reason) someone will pay them to do. Bluffing their way through some odd situations, they find themselves searching for the mysterious Jane Finn, who survived the sinking of the Lusitania, possibly with some highly classified documents, then disappeared without a trace. The "good guys" and the "bad guys" are trying to track down the young American woman and the documents to save or destroy England.
Having read through the Hercule Poirot series over the last three years, this was a lovely change. Tommy and Tuppence as young and scrappy, their creator doesn't yet disdain young people (being much closer to their age herself), and there's a bit of a madcap vibe to this one that I really enjoy. AND! I actually figured out the identity of the villain (view spoiler)[ Charming barrister Sir James Peel Edgerton is actually the mysterious Mr. Brown, pulling all the strings to bring about the fall of England (hide spoiler)], although Christie did her best to throw me off the scent. I look forward to seeing how T & T age through the rest of this brief series. ...more
Rhys Lloyd washes up dead at the annual New Years Day swim on Llyn Drych (Mirror Lake), but no one is very torn up about it. Not the residents of Cwm Rhys Lloyd washes up dead at the annual New Years Day swim on Llyn Drych (Mirror Lake), but no one is very torn up about it. Not the residents of Cwm Coed (pronounced "coom coyd") where he grew up, nor the residents of "The Shore," the fancy resort he's been building on the English side of the lake. (The setting is fictional, but the idea of the border between Wales & England being drawn right through the middle of a lake is fascinating. Although, I guess that's how the Great Lakes are for the U.S. and Canada.) Lloyd was a washed-up opera/theatre singer trying to make a comeback financially with his singing career and this luxury development on land left by his father.
Because Lloyd lived in one country but his body was found in the other, a detective constable from each country is assigned to the case: Ffion Morgan, who also grew up in Cwn Coed, and Leo Brady, originally from Liverpool (and often mocked for it by his bigoted boss), now working for the Chesire police department. Rather inconveniently, the two just met the previous night in...compromising conditions. They find themselves with more suspects than they can handle, many of them uncooperative, and all of them keeping secrets. (In a 400 page mystery, there will always be many misplaced suspicions.)
Five stars for strong characters (including both the leads and the large supporting cast, all of whom had their own distinct personalities), an amazing setting, and a well-paced mystery. Three stars for too many convenient coincidences and a solution that got a little unbelievable and convoluted. Overall, an enjoyable read, but I had a few moments of exasperation. I picked this one up because I was intrigued by the recently-released sequel, A Game of Lies, but now I'm realizing that she's actually a fairly prolific author. In addition to her latest, I'll probably be giving her older works a try....more
Take Izzy Spellman from The Spellman Files or Roxane Weary from The Last Place You Look, give her a twin sister who is good at everything, including mTake Izzy Spellman from The Spellman Files or Roxane Weary from The Last Place You Look, give her a twin sister who is good at everything, including magic, and hand her a case at the magical high school where her sister teaches. If you're picturing Hogwarts, adjust that to something closer to the school in The Secret Place, but in California.
Ivy (our hot mess female private eye) is approached by the headmaster of Osthorne Academy for Young Mages. The health teacher, Sylvia Capley, was found dead in the library during the school's welcome-back dinner. The NMIS (National Mage Investigative Service) ruled her death a suicide or a self-inflicted spell gone wrong. Ms. Torres, the headmaster, disagrees. Since Ivy already knows about the existence of Osthorne, she seems like an ideal investigator. Except that seeing her estranged sister exacerbates Ivy's little drinking problem and sends her down the rabbit-hole of what her life could have been like if she had magic, too.
Through interviewing staff and students, Ivy begins to discover all the little secrets and relationships that are standard for a boarding school, and to learn who could have been powerful enough to kill Ms. Capley and motivated to do so. If staff and students assume that Ivy also has magic training, what's the harm in that? Except that Ivy finds herself drawn to one of the teachers, who may be upset when he realizes she's been deceiving him. And Ivy may not be able to defend herself if she gets too close to the truth.
Although it borrows tropes from several different genres, this mash-up is entirely unique and the characters are much more than caricatures. The mystery, the magic, the self-examination...it all worked for me. ...more
Sometimes Donna wishes she was in the Thursday Murder Club rather than in the police. The Thursday Murder Club don't have to wear uniforms, or salute Sometimes Donna wishes she was in the Thursday Murder Club rather than in the police. The Thursday Murder Club don't have to wear uniforms, or salute buffoons, or worry abut the Police and the Criminal Evidence Act, do they? They get results, and Donna reasons that if she were allowed to plant drugs, point guns, fake deaths and poison suspects, she would probably get results too.
That sums up the allure of the TMC, a group of senior citizens living in a retirement community with zero fucks left to give. (No average group of retirees, this fearsome foursome were in their former lives a secret service agent, a psychiatrist, a union agitator, and a nurse whose bubbly demeanor is deceiving.)
As this fourth installment opens, we witness the murder of a character from The Bullet That Missed(view spoiler)[ Steven's old friend, antiques dealer Kuldesh Sharma (hide spoiler)] two days after Christmas, before jumping back in time to the TMC's Christmas celebration. Eventually, they will learn about the murder and its connection to local organized crime and solve it in their own way, which may include some questionable practices. There's also a fox (see book cover) that strikes a chord with many residents of Coopers Chase, Elizabeth's husband Steven's continued descent into senility, and a side plot with Joyce and Ibrahim exposing another resident's Lithuanian online "girlfriend" as a fraud. All the different plot threads seem like a lot at times, but they all come together in the end...and there's a new character that I kind of love. I mean, he's no Bogdan, but close. ...more
The ancient Egyptian setting is fantastic, but at its core Death Comes as the End is a family drama/murder mystery that could just as easily been set The ancient Egyptian setting is fantastic, but at its core Death Comes as the End is a family drama/murder mystery that could just as easily been set in 20th century England.
Renisenb, a young widow with a 4-year-old daughter, returns to her family home, where she thinks nothing has changed. Her two older brothers' wives continue to bicker, while her younger brother is still a spoiled brat, just an older one. Her grandmother is still a delightfully cranky old dame and the honorary auntie/servant never stops complaining about how unappreciated she is. But when Renisenb's father brings home a concubine younger than her, drama gets stirred up like never before. Pretty soon the bodies are piling up, with Renisenb, Grandma, and Dad's faithful advisor trying to identify the killer before they end up dead, too. ...more
The dysfunctional Cloade family have been dependent on Rich Uncle Gordon for decades, but then he marrieWith all due respect to Dame Christie:
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The dysfunctional Cloade family have been dependent on Rich Uncle Gordon for decades, but then he marries a twenty-something Irish actress and has the lack of decency to die in the Blitz before he can write a new will, leaving his young widow in control of his fortune, although she's not allowed to touch the principal. Rosaleen seems a simple enough girl, but her brother David protects her from the wheedling of the Cloades. Let the seething commence.
Poirot is first drawn into the mess by one of the Mrs. Cloades who wants him to investigate whether Rosaleen's first husband is still alive. He declines because the family has no money with which to fund such an investigation. Then a would-be blackmailer is found murdered in the local inn and suspicion falls on David. This time, Poirot is brought in by Rowley Cloade, a nephew, who wants to find someone to identify whether the dead man is the first husband. Conveniently, Poirot knows of someone who can...having met him in the prologue. All fingers seem to point to David and the Cloades are all happy, but Poirot doesn't like "the shape" of the case. Will he solve it? (Of course he will.)
This is where I usually include the solution as a spoiler, but I cannot even this time. The main gist is that (view spoiler)[the whole terrible Cloade family gets a free pass from Poirot. There are no consequences for blackmail, bribery, embezzlement, manslaughter (accidental or not), attempted murder, tampering with a crime scene, or any other crimes, let alone for being all-around shitty, entitled people. (hide spoiler)]
And with all the changes Goodreads has made recently, I can't figure out how to properly access other reviews to directly link them, but if you want to read more about the fuckery of this book, read the top two reviews by Sean Kennedy and Anne (whose reviews I follow, and who titled her review "Most baffling, batshit crazy ending EVER."). Yes, that....more
For a second time, Harry is sent off to an exotic locale (Bangkok) to investigate the brutal murder of a Norwegian citizen (the ambassador) in cooperaFor a second time, Harry is sent off to an exotic locale (Bangkok) to investigate the brutal murder of a Norwegian citizen (the ambassador) in cooperation with the local police. He will again cycle through multiple theories until he gets it right, (view spoiler)[ a young woman connected to Harry will be kidnapped and then murdered, an older, troubled mentor will also be brutally murdered, and Harry will kill the murderer. (hide spoiler)] Instead of the racist mistreatment of Aboriginal Australians by European colonizers, we see the sexual exploitation of young Thais of both genders by European tourists and expats. The details have changed, but much of this strikes me in hindsight as formulaic. And yet...I enjoyed it. Harry is a deeply flawed, yet sympathetic protagonist with his own moral standards.
It looks like Nesbø changed things up for The Redbreast, which is the book that really got the literary world's attention, so I look forward to reading that one after a short break. ...more
Three years and 36 books later* Hercule Poirot and I are done. It's been a mostly enjoyable journey, but I'm as ready for the curtain as Dame C[image]
Three years and 36 books later* Hercule Poirot and I are done. It's been a mostly enjoyable journey, but I'm as ready for the curtain as Dame Christie was. (Apparently she actually wrote this ending to the series during WWII -- in case she didn't survive -- and locked it in a vault.) I like that she brought the series around full circle, ending with Arthur Hastings narrating at Styles, back where it all began. I didn't love some of the choices she made with Poirot's final mystery, but c'est la vie.
Ariadne Oliver & Hercule Poirot take on a cold case!
Fifteen years earlier, Mrs. Oliver's school friend and her husband were found dead of gunshot wouAriadne Oliver & Hercule Poirot take on a cold case!
Fifteen years earlier, Mrs. Oliver's school friend and her husband were found dead of gunshot wounds on a cliff near their home. At the time, it was declared a double suicide. The couple's daughter, Celia Ravenscroft, who is also Mrs. Oliver's goddaughter, is now contemplating marriage, and the prospective groom's odious mother wants to know: did Celia's mother kill her father or did Celia's father kill her mother. (Celia is also curious, and it's for her that the unstoppable team of Oliver & Poirot set out to find answers.)
The title comes from Mrs. Oliver's theory that some people, like elephants, remember everything. She sets out to find these "elephants," people who knew the Ravenscrofts at the time: neighbors, employees, the woman who made Lady Ravenscroft's wigs. Between her interview skills and Monsieur Poirot's grey matter, they will crack the cold case and give Celia the answers she needs.
Solution: (view spoiler)[ Lady Ravenscroft was an identical twin. Her sister (Dolly/Dorothea) had met General Ravenscroft first and they fell in love, but she was a little psycho, so he threw her over for Molly/Margaret who became Lady Ravenscroft. Years later, after having married, apparently drowning one of her own children while blaming it on her other child, possibly killing another random child (because she always hated children), and being in & out of mental hospitals, Dolly ended up living with the Ravenscrofts in their isolated retirement home. One day, she pushed Molly off a cliff in a fit of jealousy. General R. found his wife before she died, but too late to save her. Molly made her husband promise to cover up the crime and not let Dolly be punished for it. So they passed off Molly as Dolly, then Dolly posed as Molly (wearing her wigs) for several weeks until the General could no longer take it. He took a revolver on their walk, shot Dolly and then himself. End of. Along the way, Poirot also discovers that Celia's prospective groom, adopted by the aforementioned odious woman, is actually set to inherit a large sum from his biological mother. So all's well for them...just not for the odious woman who was outwitted by a funny little Belgian. (hide spoiler)] Overall, a little more dramatic than I like my solutions. This is a decent mystery (and you can tell that Dame Christie was trying to wind down the series with all her little mentions of previous cases), but not one of the best. ...more
His visitor was a girl of perhaps twenty-odd. Long straggly hair of indeterminate color strayed over her shoulders. Her eyes, which were large, bore aHis visitor was a girl of perhaps twenty-odd. Long straggly hair of indeterminate color strayed over her shoulders. Her eyes, which were large, bore a vacant expression and were of a greenish blue. She wore what were presumably the chosen clothes of her generation--black high leather boots, white open-work woolen stockings of doubtful cleanliness, a skimpy skirt, and a long and sloppy pullover of heavy wool. Anyone of Poirot's age and generation would have had only one desire--to drop the girl into a bath as soon as possible. He had often felt this same reaction walking along the streets. There were hundreds of girls looking exactly the same. They all looked dirty. And yet--a contradiction in terms--this one had the look of having been recently drowned and pulled out of a river. Such girls, he reflected, were not perhaps really dirty. They merely took enormous care and pains to look so.
Published in 1966, Third Girl drips with disapproval of mod young people. I actually found all the disdain amusing. It's a good thing Christie/Poirot didn't live to see the grunge era.
So this girl, this dirty little hippie girl, shows up at Poirot's home, saying that she thinks she may have committed a murder, but seeing Poirot, she decides he's too old to understand and runs off. Poirot gets help from his old friend Ariadne Oliver, who realizes she's the one who told the girl (Norma) about him during a weekend in the country. Together they eventually track down the girl and get to the bottom of the whole affair, which includes dysfunctional family, an artist boyfriend who's too attractive for his own good, disguises, drugs, and lots more fun. Worth reading if you're a Christie/Poirot completist, but not one of her best.
Solution: (view spoiler)[ Norma didn't kill anyone. Instead a man posing as her father (who abandoned the family when she was 5) and his partner have been drugging Norma to set her up take the blame for murder. The eventual victim is Norma's pretty artist boyfriend. He painted a portrait of the fake father to replace the actual (dead) father's portrait, then had to be killed because he knew the truth. The real father's former girlfriend also had to be offed because she could recognize the fake father as an imposter. Who committed the murders? The woman posing as both Norma's new step-mother and Norma's roommate (just a wig and a few other changes necessary). (hide spoiler)]...more
The Clocks might win the award for the Poirot mystery with the least Poirot. Instead we get certain chapters from the POV of "Colin Lamb," a British sThe Clocks might win the award for the Poirot mystery with the least Poirot. Instead we get certain chapters from the POV of "Colin Lamb," a British secret agent who is apparently the son of Superintendent Battle (from Cards on the Table). He's trying to track down an enemy agent following a written clue when a young woman runs screaming from a house. She's a typist who showed up for a work assignment, only to find a body. Neither she nor the blind woman who owns the home know the dead man AND that blind woman claims to not have called for a typist.
Colin happens to know the Detective Inspector assigned to the case AND (in the manner of Poirot's original sidekick Arthur Hastings) finds himself falling for a girl at the middle of the mystery. Without interviewing anyone involved in the case or visiting the crime scene, Poirot manages to solve the mystery based entirely on what Colin tells him. He claims that such a complicated set-up must be all a show to cover up a very simple crime. And, of course, he's correct.
Solution: (view spoiler)[ A neighbor's wife inherited a large sum of money from an estranged relative in Canada. The problem is...the neighbor's first wife was the Canadian, and she's been dead for some time. Everything went smoothly, until someone who did know wife #1 plans to visit. Rather than lose the inheritance, they drug the man, take him into the house across the backyard, and kill him there. Wife #2's sister is the owner of the typing service. She sends one of her employees out to discover the body (and also kills another employee who knows that no one called to request Sheila AND an actress who they hire to identify the body as her estranged husband). Oh...and coincidentally, the blind woman is not only the enemy agent that Colin has been looking for (he read the house number as 61, but was looking at it upside down and it was 19 all along), but she's also the mother of the typist (Sheila) who found the body and who Colin ends up marrying after the case is solved. (Sheila's mother dumped her off as an infant to be raised by her widowed aunt and disappeared.) (hide spoiler)]...more
I like it when Agatha shakes things up a bit. Originally published in 1959, Dame Christie creates a fictional middle eastern country in which to set aI like it when Agatha shakes things up a bit. Originally published in 1959, Dame Christie creates a fictional middle eastern country in which to set a fictional revolution and a fictional girls' school in which to have events begun in said revolution end in murrrrrder. (More than one, actually.)
The fictional country is called Ramat, where British-educated Prince Ali Yusuf has failed to establish a democratic government. Before he and his BFF/pilot, Bob (no, seriously, his name is Bob) flee the country, they make arrangements to smuggle the prince's jewels (not a euphemism, actual gemstones) with Bob's sister and niece (completely unbeknownst to them).
Several months later, the wreck of Prince Ali & Bob's plane is found, and Bob's niece is starting the school year at Meadowbank, a prestigious and progressive girls' school, where the prince's cousin is also a new student. Une petite coïncidence, oui ? Then the prickly new games mistress (the British equivalent of a girls' PE teacher) is murdered and other strange events soon follow. Other than the old groundskeeper and his handsome new assistant, the school is entirely populated by females. So who is the titular cat hiding amongst all these pigeons?
Incidentally, Monsieur Poirot doesn't show up until page 160 of 224, when he is summoned by one of the school girls who has already figured out enough to fear for her own safety. He sweeps in with his moustaches to give the local police a clue and save the school.
Solution: (view spoiler)[ It was the headmistress's new secretary, who is actually a spy-for-hire. She was posing as a dancer in Ramat, where she witnessed Bob stashing the jewels in the handle of his niece's tennis racquet. She took the job to get at the tennis racquet, but the niece swapped racquets with her new BFF (who figured it out and took them to Poirot for safekeeping). The games mistress was killed in an attempt to steal the racquet. Another teacher was killed out of jealousy because she was the headmistress's intended successor (completely unrelated to the case). A third was killed because she was attempting to blackmail the killer. In the meantime, the real Princess Shaista had been kidnapped before she left her former school in Switzerland and an spy was put in her place to try to intercept the jewels. The "secretary" was busted, the jealous school co-founder who killed the teacher ended up taking a bullet to save a student's mother and the headmistress, and the jewels were delivered to the prince's secret British wife and child. All in all, a nice little wrap up. (hide spoiler)]...more
It's starting to feel like Dame Christie is just cranking these out to get her publisher off her back.
Ariadne Oliver, the apple-munching mystery authIt's starting to feel like Dame Christie is just cranking these out to get her publisher off her back.
Ariadne Oliver, the apple-munching mystery author, is back, this time enlisting Monsieur Poirot to observe a "murder hunt" she's planning for a wealthy couple, because she feels like something is off. When the young woman playing the murder victim is actually murdered and the vacuous wealthy wife disappears, Poirot must help the police solve the mystery.
Solution: (view spoiler)[ The wealthy man "Sir George Stubbs" is actually the army deserter son of the original owners. His mother convinced her wealthy, feeble-minded charge to marry him, so he could pose as a self-made man. The actual Lady Hattie Stubbs was killed years ago and "George's" Spanish wife/girlfriend has been posing as her ever since. But when Hattie's cousin shows up, the fake Hattie has to disappear...and poor teenage Marlene is killed because she knows too much. Right... (hide spoiler)] But never fear! Poirot will sort out any mystery, no matter how convoluted or far-fetched, using his just his little grey cells. ...more
When Hercule Poirot's perfect assistant Miss Lemon is distracted by her sister's troubles managing a youth hostel, the Belgian detective steps in to aWhen Hercule Poirot's perfect assistant Miss Lemon is distracted by her sister's troubles managing a youth hostel, the Belgian detective steps in to assist. The "hostel" (mostly housing for international students) has been plagued by a series of thefts: some valuable items and others of no consequence. When Poirot suggests bringing in the police, one resident confesses to kleptomania and then winds up dead.
While far from the worst of the series, it's not one of the best, either. The plot is convoluted with too many shallow characters and too many coincidences. Poirot makes wilder than usual postulations that are, of course, correct.
Solution: (view spoiler)[ Two of the lodgers are involved in a drug smuggling ring: importing cheap backpacks with drugs hidden in them. All of the additional thefts were designed to distract attention from the destruction of a backpack that might have had traces of drugs. Three murders are committed to eliminate people who know too much: two lodgers and the landlady. The mastermind (Valerie) ends up being the crazy foreign landlady's daughter and is pissed when her accomplice (Nigel) murders her mom. (hide spoiler)]...more
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