September 2018: Agatha Christie

This month, we'll be reading Agatha Christie together again. Last time we had some interesting conversations about her and her works: https://www.librarything.com/topic/199098

When we read Christie last a couple of years ago was the first time I had read any of works. The books I've read so far are both in the Miss Marple series: The Murder at the Vicarage and The Body in the Library. I will probably continue on with this series in September.

In other adaptations of Christie's work, my local community theater did The Mousetrap a few months back and it was a good story (even if I did guess the denouement correctly fairly early on). When it was in theaters, I went to see Murder on the Orient Express, which started out strong but I was soooo tired I fell asleep through the middle part. :/ Maybe I'll eventually watch the whole thing start to finish now that it's out on DVD.

I know we're not reading her until September ... but I just read this one ...

Lord Edgware Dies – Agatha Christie
A BBC radio drama performed by a full cast of actors.
3***

Jane Wilkinson was once the toast of Broadway, but now she is better known for her advantageous marriage to Lord Edgware. But the marriage isn’t a happy one, and Lady Edgware has another man in mind. Trouble is that Lord Edgware is adamantly opposed to divorce. Jane asks Hercule Poirot to convince Edgware to grant her a divorce. She even somewhat jokingly admits to Poirot that she’d do anything to end her miserable marriage. Which really complicates matters when Edgware is found stabbed in the neck a day later. Thank heavens that Jane Wilkinson was at a dinner party and everyone there can confirm her alibi.

Poirot is, as usual, intent on ferreting out the truth. All these suspects! All these conflicting stories! Colonel Hastings is by his side, but he acts mostly as a foil, asking questions that allow Poirot to expound on his thought processes. And those “little grey cells” get a workout!

These mysteries are my go-to comfort food of reading. Christie writes wonderful characters, even if she uses stereotypes that are jarring to modern sensibilities. She’s also very good at crafting intricate plot twists.

The BBC radio drama is wonderfully acted, but I was glad I also had a text version of the book. I find it interesting that I hadn’t noticed before how much of the action in these mysteries is handled through dialogue.

>2 BookConcierge: That sounds interesting. Those full-cast productions can be really something special.

Got a bit ahead (although September *is* almost here) and read The Tuesday Club Murders aka The Thirteen Problems by Dame Christie. Here's my hasty review:

Miss Marple shows off her amazing deductive skills in thirteen vignettes that are a hybrid between a novel and interconnected stories. In a couple of different English drawing rooms, Miss Marple takes part in a sort of game where each person tells the story of a peculiar mystery. Without fail, Miss Marple always discovers the correct answer, even though most everyone seems to think the 'elderly spinster' knows so little of the world.

Despite Miss Marple's protestations that human nature is essentially the same everywhere, there is quite a bit of classism and nationalism exhibited in all the characters. Even though I know it's the point of the stories, it gets a bit tiresome of hearing Miss Marple make a remarkable pronouncement at the end of each story, despite how increasingly absurd the stories get -- and even more so the solutions. Miss Marple can untangle an entire story based on what day the washing or gardening gets done, which is making a whole lot of leaps and assumptions. It always works out because this is fiction, but its connection to reality is tenuous. Still, the problems do pull the reader in as you try to spot the logic yourself / possibly outwit Miss Marple.

It's officially September (although I'm in denial) -- what's everyone reading?

After the Funeral – Agatha Christie
Audiobook read by Hugh Fraser
3***

Originally published as Funerals Are Fatal

From the book jacket: When Cora Lansquenet is savagely murdered with a hatchet, the extraordinary remark she made the previous day at her brother Richard’s funeral suddenly takes on a chilling significance. At the reading of Richard’s will, Cora was clearly heard to say, “It’s been hushed up very nicely, hasn’t it… But he was murdered, wasn’t he?” In desperation the family solicitor turns to Hercule Poirot to unravel the mystery.

My reactions
Oh, I love Hercule Poirot and his little grey cells. Always entertaining and always keeping me guessing. Here we have quite a number of characters, all of whom seem to have some motive for killing Cora Lansquenet and/or Richard Abernathie. I’m glad I had a text copy along, because it has a family tree printed in it, which is a great help in keeping these various Abernathie relations straight. What a family! Hardly a likeable person in the bunch. I’d have been happy to have any one of them be the murderer. But that’s the joy of a Christie mystery.

The killer and Dame Christie cleverly give us many red herrings, false clues, misleading statements, and seemingly meaningless occurrences to confuse, baffle and thwart any attempts at solving the mystery. But, of course, Hercule Poirot will unveil the person responsible. I was almost as surprised as the culprit when the reveal came.

Hugh Fraser does a commendable job of voicing the audio. There are so many characters that it is hard to keep them straight at time, especially when there is a meeting of two or more women, but Fraser manages quite well. And I do love his interpretation of Hercule Poirot!

>6 BookConcierge: That sounds like a really interesting read! I take it you had previously read other books in the Hercule Poirot series ?

>7 sweetiegherkin:
I've read many of the Poirot series. They really do NOT need to be read in order.

>8 BookConcierge: I'm getting that sense with the Miss Marple titles I've been reading, but I can be a stickler about things like that.

Hallowe’en Party – Agatha Christie
Audiobook read by John Moffatt.
3***

Mrs Rowena Drake is hosting a Hallowe’en Party for the teens in her area. Mrs Ariadne Oliver, who is visiting a friend, has been roped into helping with the party preparations. During preparations she meets a young fan, Joyce Reynolds, who states she loves Mrs Oliver’s mystery books. That evening during the party itself, Joyce is found drowned in a bucket intended for apple bobbing. Who could possibly have murdered a child?! Ariadne asks her good friend Hercule Poirot for assistance.

I love Hercule Poirot, although he can sometimes be insufferably smug and “superior.” I love the way he puzzles out a problem, sees the clues in seemingly inconsequential events and facts, and puts the whole together to reveal the culprit. This time he has the immediate murder of Joyce to solve, but he quickly learns that she had claimed to have witnessed a murder once. What possible murder could she have witnessed? Or what this just an idle boast intended to get attention from a mystery writer she admired? There are no unsolved open cases, but a couple of deaths that MIGHT be suspicious. Could one of those have been murder? Could Joyce have actually seen something?

Christie gives us plenty of options, including more than one red herring. I didn’t figure this one out until Poirot revealed the culprit.

John Moffatt does a fine job narrating the audiobook. I like his interpretation of Poirot, but he has a deep voice that just isn’t right for most of the women, and certainly not for the teenagers involved.

>10 BookConcierge: Hm, sounds interesting overall. Too bad about the audiobook narrator -- some folks just don't work quite right for certain books.

Ordeal By Innocence – Agatha Christie
Book on CD read by Robin Bailey
3***

From the book jacket: According to the courts, Jacko Argyle bludgeoned his mother to death with a poker. The sentence was life imprisonment. But when Dr Arthur Calgary arrives with the proof that confirms Jacko’s innocence, it is too late – Jacko died behind bars following a bout of pneumonia. Worse still, the doctor’s revelations reopen old wounds in the family, increasing the likelihood that the real murderer will strike again.

My reactions:
I really enjoy Agatha Christie’s mysteries; there’s a good reason she’s often called “the Queen of Crime.” But this one didn’t really capture my attention. Of course, I was listening to the audio and the many characters were sometimes hard to differentiate. It also seemed somewhat melodramatic and “overacted” … but perhaps that is the fault of the narrator and not Christie’s writing.

The mystery itself is satisfyingly complex, with many suspects, just as many (or more) motives, and a determined amateur sleuth in Dr Calgary. Other reviewers give it high marks, so it may just not have been the right book at the right time for me.

Robin Bailey sets a good pace on the audiobook and his diction is clear.