Review: THEY DO IT WITH MIRRORS, Agatha Christie

• 
  This edition read on my Kindle (AmazonAU)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0046RE5H2
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins, Publication date ‏ : ‎ 14 October 2010
• Originally published 1952, THEY DO IT WITH MIRRORS (aka MURDER WITH MIRRORS) -Miss Marple
• Book 6 of 12 
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 227 pages
• The foreword says that the original publication was used as the basis of this e-copy. I note here that it was appallingly produced, with passages repeated, and an incredible number of typos.

Synopsis  (AmazonAU)

A shocking crime
A mansion filled with suspects

Ruth Van Rydock can’t shake the feeling that something terrible is going to happen to her sister at Stonygates house.

Her old school friend Jane Marple decides it’s time to pay a visit.

But this grand Victorian mansion isn’t just a family home – it’s also a correctional facility for wayward young men.

And when something terrible does indeed happen, Miss Marple must face her most eccentric cast of suspects yet.

Never underestimate Miss Marple

From the Back Cover

Miss Marple senses danger when she visits a friend living in a Victorian mansion which doubles as a rehabilitation centre for delinquents. Her fears are confirmed when a youth fires a revolver at the administrator, Lewis Serrocold. Neither is injured. But a mysterious visitor, Mr Gulbrandsen, is less fortunate – shot dead simultaneously in another part of the building.

Pure coincidence? Miss Marple thinks not, and vows to discover the real reason for Mr Gulbrandsen's visit.

Agatha Christie does it all with suspense in this intricately plotted mystery.

My Take

It is 14 years since I last read this title as part of Agatha Christie Reading Challenge and now I am re-reading it as part of this year's selection for my U3A Agatha Christie Reading group. After we meet to discuss the book we will watch the ITV production.

I think the group will find a number of things to discuss.
Among them:

• The setting - how does Christie establish this? What comments does she make about how the world has changed?
• What would Lewis Serracold like to establish? What do you think of his idea of "transportation"?
• What does the title of the book mean? Was it a phrase you were familiar with?
• How do the police treat Miss Marple?
• What does Miss Marple mean when she says the sitting room is like a "stage"?
• Are there too many red herrings? Too many characters?
• What "facts" are untrue?
• Why did Gulbrandsen come to Stonygates? Why was he killed and who killed him? How did he ensure his own murder?
• Was justice done? 

My rating: 4.4

My earlier review

Handy Wikipedia summary 

All my Agatha Christie reads.  

Review: LORD EDGWARE DIES, Agatha Christie

• 
  This edition read as an e-book on my Kindle
  
• originally published 1933 as LORD EDGWARE DIES in the UK, aka THIRTEEN AT DINNER for the American release
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0046A9MP4
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins, Publication date ‏ : ‎ 14 October 2010
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 290 pages
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0007422432
• Book 9 of 38: Hercule Poirot  

Synopsis (AmazonAU)

Agatha Christie’s famous murder mystery, reissued with a striking cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers.

Poirot had been present when Jane bragged of her plan to ‘get rid of’ her estranged husband. Now the monstrous man was dead. And yet the great Belgian detective couldn’t help feeling that he was being taken for a ride.

After all, how could Jane have stabbed Lord Edgware to death in his library at exactly the same time she was seen dining with friends? And what could be her motive now that the aristocrat had finally granted her a divorce?

My Take - apologies for possible spoilers

I have read this several times over the last 60 years; this re-read is for discussion with my U3A Agatha Christie Reading group.  My first review on this blog can be found here. 

This novel is narrated by Poirot's companion Captain Arthur Hastings whose approach to solving any crime provides a foil to Poirot's "brilliance". He tells us to start with that Poirot regards this case as one of his failures mainly because initially he followed a number of red herrings, because he was duped by the murderer and also because he failed to prevent the murders. 

Some readers have a very adverse reaction to the racism and anti-Semitism that Christie expresses. In 1933, when she was writing the novel, many of her readers would have concurred with these sentiments. Poirot tells Hastings for example that Carlotta Adams is obviously a Jewess, as is that is obvious from her face, and others support that later by telling Poirot that making money is at the centre of her character. 

Once the first murder is committed, that of Lord Edgware, Inspector Japp of Scotland Yard become involved. He thinks it is pretty obvious that Lady Edgware has committed the murder - after all she told Poirot she wanted to get rid of her husband - but Poirot is adamant that she is innocent. However Japp does not then arrest her, but the man who has inherited the title. Later he has to let him go.

Japp gives Poirot a lot of leeway as Poirot suggests various solutions. Poirot does most of his "investigation" from the comfort of his armchair, using his little "grey cells", while Hastings becomes frustrated as he thinks Poirot should be more active. Poirot is content to send Hastings on errands, and to let Japp do the physical stuff. Japp is getting the evidence together and Poirot will have no hesitation in using what suits him. Hastings tells Poirot he is getting lazy.

Memorable quote: Why keep a dog and bark yourself? 

In the long run it is Poirot who gets the credit for solving the case although for most of the time he was wrong. Poirot says he wants to get the answers to 5 questions and until he knows those answers he will not be satisfied.

1. Why did Lord Edgware change his mind on the subject of divorce?
2. What happened to the letter that Edgware sent telling his wife she could have her divorce?
3. What was the meaning of the expression that Hastings had seen on Lord Edgware's face?
4. Why was there a pince-nez in Carlotta Adam's bag?
5. Why did someone phone to find out if Jane Wilkinson was at the dinner party that established her alibi? 

After he establishes the answers to those questions we get the full explanation of what happened, and who did what. 

My rating: 4.5 

I have read all the Agatha Christie novels as part of a challenge I set myself to read them in order of publication. My reviews can be found here. 

Review: THE CLOCKS, Agatha Christie

• 
  I read this as an e-book from Amazon for Kindle
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DCN8G16T
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Horizon Ridge Publishing (August 11, 2024)
• Originally published 1963
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 292 pages 
• previous review:  
• useful entry on Wikipedia

Synopsis (Amazon)

In the small town of Crow's Nest [Crowdean??], a mysterious murder takes place, and the only clue is the eerie presence of four clocks stopped at the exact time of the crime. As the investigation unfolds, a complex web of secrets and lies is revealed, leading to a shocking revelation.

Written by the legendary Agatha Christie, "The Clocks" is a classic whodunit that will keep you on the edge of your seat. With its intricate plot, memorable characters, and masterful twists, this gripping mystery novel is a must-read for fans of detective fiction.

My Take

According to my records I last read this about 11 years ago for my Agatha Christie Reading Challenge when I was attempting to read all Agatha Christie novels in the order in which they were published.

This time I am reading it with my U3A Agatha Christie reading group. It is no, 34 of the 38 Poirot novels. So the purpose of this commentary is to consider what discussion points we might focus on.

So from here on there may be spoilers.

1. There are essentially two interwoven plots:the mystery Poirot works on from his armchair while the police work on the spot, and a Cold War spy story told in the first person narrative.
2. Poirot does not appear until about half way through the novel, and is then essentially a figure in the background, trying to solve the mystery from notes and narrative given to him by Colin Lamb. Colin is mainly involved in the finding of  an espionage manipulator.
3. The initial murder is that of a respectable gentleman, with false identification, found dead on the floor of a blind woman's house by a typist who has been sent there.
4. There are 6 clocks in the room with the man, 4 of them stopped at 4.15.
   
5. There are in the long run 3 murders, so we will discuss why they occurred.
6. I think there were a number of red herrings and a number of facts that are treated seriously, but in fact were not at all essential for us to know.
7. There were a number of plot points that were rather untidy:
1. we are originally told that Sheila Webb has been brought up by her aunt, but then we find that her mother is actually Miss Pebmarsh
2. Why was the body left in Miss Pebmarsh's house. She doesn't seem to have any connection to the murderers
3. Colin Lamb's father is Superintendent Battle
4. Mrs Ramsay whose husband has deserted her seems a bit superfluous
5. other odd things they want to comment on.
   
8. It appears that the plot has been modified at many levels for the David Suchet/ITV production. We usually follow our discussion up by viewing the television program, but I don't yet have a copy.

My rating: 4.2 

All the Agatha Christie novels I have read.

Review: CURTAIN, Agatha Christie

• 
  This edition an e-book on Kindle
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000FCK68Y
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks; Reprint edition (October 3, 2006)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
• Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0425173747
• my earlier review

Synopsis (Amazon)

The legendary detective saves his best for last as he races to apprehend a five-time killer before the final curtain descends in Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case, the last book Agatha Christie published before her death.

The crime-fighting careers of Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings have come full circle—they are back once again in the rambling country house in which they solved their first murder together.

Both Hercule Poirot and Great Styles have seen better days—but, despite being crippled with arthritis, there is nothing wrong with the great detective and his “little gray cells.” However, when Poirot brands one of the seemingly harmless guests a five-time murderer, some people have their doubts. But Poirot alone knows he must prevent a sixth murder before the curtain falls.

My Take

Published in 1975, and supposedly written about 35 years earlier, which puts it at the beginning of World War II, apparently during the blitz.  

I have read this before, when I was reading the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge. Now I have re-read it for my U3A Agatha Christie Reading Group.  However we intend to keep up our reading and discussion next year.

Nearing the end of his life Hercule Poirot has discovered 5 murders where he believes innocent people have borne the responsibility but at someone else's design. He calls this person X. The place where he met Hastings so many years ago, Styles, has now become a guest house, and one of the people now staying there is X. Poirot realises that X will never be tried in a court of law and he is determined that he will deal with X himself. He wants Hastings to be his eyes and ears because he himself is crippled with arthritis, and prone to heart attacks, and in a wheel chair. 

But Poirot understands the dangers to both Hastings and himself, as well as Hastings' daughter Judith who is also living at Styles.

This novel is a very fitting tribute to Poirot, obviously written while Christie was still enamoured with him, and not yet ready to kill him off.

My rating: 4.7 

All the Christie books I have reviewed. All the short stories.

Quick Summary for 2022

I met most of my goals for 2022

Here is the summary. Find the full page here

I read 127 books, nearly all crime fiction, nearly 50% from the library, over 50% e-books on Kindle and Libby, 50% British authors,  about 1/3 new-to-me authors.

My reading challenges for 2023 will probably be very similar.

Quick summary

• 2022 Good Reads Reading Challenge. I have set my challenge at 110. Currently: 127
  
• Agatha Christie Reading Challenge Completed in 2014, titles read in 2022: 10
• USA Fiction Challenge So far 29/51, this year: 10
• 2022 Aussie Author Reading Challenge: aiming for 20: currently 29
  
• 2022 Australian Women Writers Challenge: aiming for 20. Currently 17
• British Books Challenge 2022 currently 64
• 2022 Ebook Reading Challenge currently 79
• New to me authors - a personal challenge currently 41
• Not crime fiction - a personal challenge currently 5
  
• New Zealand reading challenge -again a personal challenge. currently 2
• Translated crime fiction - a personal challenge that will overlap with many of the other reading challenges that I have undertaken. currently 8
• Snagged through the Library currently: 59
  
• 2022 Historical Reading Challenge. Currently: 14

Review: THEY CAME TO BAGHDAD, Agatha Christie

• 
  this edition published in 2017, by Harper Collins
  
• first published 1951
• ISBN 978-0-00-819635-6
• 294 pages
  

Synopsis (agathachristie.com)

Baghdad is the chosen location for a secret summit of superpowers, concerned but not convinced, about the development of an, as yet, unidentified and undescribed secret weapon.

Only one man has the proof that can confirm the nature of this fantastic secret weapon – a British agent named Carmichael. Unfortunately the criminal organisation responsible for the weapon’s development will stop at nothing to prevent him entering Baghdad and presenting his proof to the assembled delegates. Can Carmichael enter the city against such odds?

Into this explosive situations appears Victoria Jones, a girl with a yearning for adventure who gets more than she bargains for when a wounded Carmichael dies in her arms in her hotel room.

Now, if only she could make sense of his last words ‘…Lucifer…Basrah…Lefarge…

My Take

Dedicated to "All My Friends in Baghdad", this story is based around an impending meeting, taking place after World War II, of the superpowers America and Russia.  It gave the author an opportunity to vaunt her knowledge of archaeology and of Islamic/Arabic culture.

I first reviewed it on this blog ten years ago. I am re-reading it with my U3A Agatha Christie group, and it will be our last book for this year.

I was surprised to find that it really had so many connections to PASSENGER TO FRANKFURT which we read recently and which was published 20 years later. 

Among them are

• a nefarious organisation siphoning of funds to use for evil purposes
• the disappearance of talented young from all walks of life (also raised in DESTINATION UNKNOWN) and their dedication to "making the world a better place"
• the conflict between ideologies
• the possibility of World War III
• the cult of the young Siegfried
• the idea that World War II concluded unsatisfactorily and really left more problems than it solved.
  

Trivia Quiz to try

Things I have found out

• They Came to Baghdad was first published in the UK in eight abridged instalments in John Bull magazine from January to March 1951, and in Canada, in an abridged version in Star Weekly Complete Novel, a magazine supplement published in Toronto, in September 1951.
• the full version was then published in March 1951 by the Collins Crime Club
• Victoria, the heroine/detective, never appears in another Agatha Christie novel

My rating: 4.3

My list of Agatha Christie novels 

Agatha Christie Reading Challenge 

Review: A SPOONFUL OF MURDER, JM Hall

• 
  this edition available on Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09F5N8FR8
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Avon (March 17, 2022)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 331 pages
• Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0008530084

Synopsis (Amazon)

Introducing the three unlikeliest sleuths you'll ever meet…

Every Thursday, three retired school teachers have their ‘coffee o’clock’ sessions at the Thirsk Garden Centre café.

But one fateful week, as they are catching up with a slice of cake, they bump into their ex-colleague, Topsy.

By the next Thursday, Topsy’s dead.
 
The last thing Liz, Thelma and Pat imagined was that they would become involved in a murder.
 
But they know there’s more to Topsy’s death than meets the eye – and it’s down to them to prove it…

Sit down with a cup of tea and this perfectly witty, page-turning cosy crime novel. Fans of Agatha Christie, Death in Paradise and Midsomer Murders will be hooked from the very first page.

My Take

The "chooser" in our monthly book group has set a challenge. We are reading 3 cozies that all share the same title. So here is the first, and the other two will shortly follow.

Thelma, Pat and Liz have all retired after successful careers in primary school classrooms at the St. Barnabus' Primary school. Their coffee session on a Thursday at the Thirsk Garden Centre Cafe is an extension of the sharing that they used to do when they were working. They have all maintained "outside" interests at charity shops, Keep Fit, and book groups. At coffee o'clock on Thursdays they catch up with their various news: what their families are doing. 

On this particular Thursday who should walk in but another ex-colleague whom they haven't seen for a while: Topsy Joy. She is on the arm of her daughter Kelly-Anne whom the group all remember. But they are taken aback at the change in Topsy: "stooped, bewildered, slightly shaking...wondering where she was". Kelly-Anne spots the little group and brings her mother over to sit with them. 18 months before Topsy's husband Gordon had died unexpectedly, and it is obvious to the group that Topsy has "gone downhill" since then. 

In the following minutes it is obvious to the group that Topsy has dementia and that Kelly-Anne is "doing it tough". Topsy refers to her husband in the present tense, as if he is not dead. 

I enjoyed the way the book went on to explore what was happening in each of the lives of the main characters, and then to reveal what happens to Topsy. Each of the three sleuths feels that what has happened to Topsy is "not right", but is unsure what to do about it. They feel their way to working it out.

Very readable.

My rating: 4.4

About the author

J.M. Hall is an author, playwright and deputy head of a primary school. His plays have been produced in theatres across the UK as well as for radio, the most recent being Trust, starring Julie Hesmondhalgh on BBC Radio 4. His first novel, A Spoonful of Murder, is about retired primary school teachers who turn to sleuthing 

Review: DESTINATION UNKNOWN, Agatha Christie

• 
  this edition (large print) published 2012 by William Morrow
  
• originally published in 1955 aka SO MANY STEPS TO DEATH
  
• ISBN 978-1-61173-541-3
• 302 pages
• my original review
• Discussion questions - Trivia 
• Review at Books Please
  

Synopsis (Christie website)

A young woman with nothing to live for is persuaded to embark on a suicide mission to find a missing scientist. 

When a number of leading scientists disappear without trace, concern grows within the international intelligence community. Are they being kidnapped? Blackmailed? Brainwashed? One woman appears to have the key to the mystery. Unfortunately, Olive Betteron now lies in a hospital bed, dying from injuries sustained in a Moroccan plane crash. 

Meanwhile, in a Casablanca hotel room, Hilary Craven prepares to take her own life. But her suicide attempt is about to be interrupted by a man who will offer her an altogether more thrilling way to die. 

~~~~~~~~

A woman thinks she has nothing to live for – bereaved, divorced – she is saved from suicide by an opportunity to die in an altogether more thrilling way. Nuclear scientists, international intrigue and a touch of romance, Agatha Christie takes her readers on a wild excursion far from the country houses and cosy murders of England.

Christie based this book partly on the activities of two famous physicists of the early 1950s: Bruno Ponecorvo, who defected to Russia, and Emil Fuchs, who spied for the Russians. It is another of Christie’s light-hearted thriller novels featuring a daring and fearless heroine. 

My Take

Once again a re-read of a novel I previously read for the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge. My original review

This novel echoes themes present much earlier in Christie's novels such as Tommy and Tuppence and THE BIG FOUR and even earlier stories. (THE BIG FOUR's central theme was that of a master criminal or a gang of organised criminals responsible for a variety of international catastrophes mistakenly attributed to other causes.) This was a theme that was transposed into the period after World War Two, the period of the Iron Curtain, when Communist Russia seemed to pose a threat to the Western democracies. It was a theme that occupied other authors like Ian Fleming and George Orwell and was supported by the defection from the early 1950s onwards of British diplomats and agents. Only a short step from them to scientists and others.

DESTINATION UNKNOWN explores the possible defection of Western European scientists, with a prominent business man sponsoring their defection.

This idea of a mastermind who threatened the existence of democratic countries is one that never left Agatha Christie's writing, and reoccurs often enough for it to be something Christie really believed in.

To modern readers this theme probably seems a little far fetched but to readers 70 years ago, the threat seemed very real. Communism seemed a real threat to the capitalist world - the "red under the bed". Has that changed?

Things to talk about:

• A missing scientist - brain drain.
  
• A breakthrough invention in nuclear energy - a benefit or a threat?
  
• A mad philanthropist - what motivates philanthropy?
  
• possible threat of a global virus
• the battle of ideologies between East and West
• new "world order" after World War II, dissatisfaction by idealists with the results of the war. 
• the meaning of life - the "heroine comes back from the brink of suicide
• the idea of the world becoming "smaller" because of technology like faster planes.
• the concept of cooperation by the Western Powers - not just Britain being affected.
• life is more than work. The idea that work in captivity is still like being in jail even if all you need is provided. 

Anything else my group should discuss?

My rating: 4.3

Agatha Christie Books

Review: AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, Agatha Christie

• 
  this large-print edition published by Harper Collins 2011
  
• Originally published in 1939
• ISBN 978-0-06-208152-0
• 307 pages

Synopsis (Harper Collins)

A couple of publisher's blurbs for you to consider

Ten people, each with something to hide and something to fear, are invited to an isolated mansion on Indian Island by a host who, surprisingly, fails to appear. On the island they are cut off from everything but each other and the inescapable shadows of their own past lives. One by one, the guests share the darkest secrets of their wicked pasts. And one by one, they die…

Which among them is the killer and will any of them survive?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ten strangers, apparently with little in common, are lured to an island mansion off the coast of Devon by the mysterious U.N.Owen. Over dinner, a record begins to play, and the voice of an unseen host accuses each person of hiding a guilty secret. That evening, former reckless driver Tony Marston is found murdered by a deadly dose of cyanide.

The tension escalates as the survivors realise the killer is not only among them but is preparing to strike again… and again…

My Take

I've lost count of the number of times I have read this novel by the Queen of Crime. The fact that I can re-read it again and again should explain to you why I have given it the highest rating. 

This time I am re-reading it with purpose, for a discussion with my local U3A Agatha Christie reading group. Last year we tackled some Poirots and some Marples. This year we are tackling some "stand-alones" and this is the first.

Last week I posed the question of whether THE INVISIBLE HOST was the novel that inspired this one. There is an author's note at the beginning of the novel, an extract from her autobiography, that makes it clear that this book involved "a tremendous amount of planning" and that she found it quite difficult to write. So no, I don't think it is plagiarism in action. I think Christie recognised a challenge - to write a novel where people die without it becoming ridiculous or the murderer being obvious.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, and as I read, I kept an eye on the "Ten little soldier boys" rhyme conveniently displayed at the beginning of the novel, so I could track how the rhyme worked in the novel.

Our group is also going to watch one of the film versions of the novel which should be interesting. (The video has Oliver Reed, Elke Sommer, Richard Attenborough, Herbert Lom, Gert Frobe, Charles Aznavour and the voice of Orson Welles and is 94 mins.)

And of course I originally read it when it didn't have a politically correct name. Amongst talking about the many names the novel has gone by, I want also to talk about the central idea that people can commit quite dreadful crimes, even murder without punished for them. That is what binds all the people on Soldier Island together.

See my original review on this blog over 10 years ago.

My rating: 5.0

see my list of Agatha Christie novels

 

Summary for 2021

Here is a summary of what I achieved through my reading challenges in 2021.

Covid-19 and the consequent lock downs here in South Australia made it a funny year, reading wise. I should point out that I really don't use the challenges to push myself so much as monitor what I am reading.

First of all I didn't read as many books as I had expected to. In the nick of time, yesterday I completed my 100th book for the year. I had originally set my sights on 120, and then in November, and as late as early December, I revised my aim down to 95, but read more than I had thought I would, and got to 100. To be honest that is my lowest total for some years. However, I have been keeping these totals since 1975, and since then I have read 4408 books, mostly but not exclusively crime fiction.

Of that 100 books, 56 were by British authors, 28 by Australian authors, 6 by American authors, so you can see where my reading preferences lie.

Over half the books I read were e-books, and one third of them were "new to me" authors. In some cases I went on to read #2 and #3 in a series.

I re-read 11 Agatha Christie titles, mainly Miss Marple and Poirot books. In 2022 I am going to re-read some stand-alone titles.  

Non-crime fiction, and translated titles didn't get much of a look in this year.

My local library remains my greatest source of books, either in paperback form or as e-books (Libby).

Recommendations for what to read come mainly from the reading groups that I belong to, so in a sense they are already pre-selected. I only occasionally browse book shelves either in a book shop or at the library.

I will probably use a similar system for "accounting for" what I read in the coming year, but may simplify it a bit. Below is the summary of my reading. You will find the books listed at https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/p/2021-reading-challenges.html

• 2021 Good Reads Reading Challenge. I have set my challenge at 95. Currently: 100
  
• Good Reads A-Z of titles: Currently: 18
• Agatha Christie Reading Challenge Completed in 2014, titles read in 2021: 11
• USA Fiction Challenge So far 29/51, this year: 6
• 2021 Aussie Author Reading Challenge: aiming for 20: currently 28
• 2021 Australian Women Writers Challenge: aiming for 20. Currently 15
• British Books Challenge 2021 currently 56
• 2021 Ebook Reading Challenge currently 55
• New to me authors - a personal challenge currently 33
• Not crime fiction - a personal challenge currently 2
  
• Nordic reading challenge - a personal challenge, currently 1
• New Zealand reading challenge -again a personal challenge. currently 3
• Translated crime fiction - a personal challenge that will overlap with many of the other reading challenges that I have undertaken. currently 4
• Snagged through the Library currently: 56
• Audio books: currently: 2
• 2021 Historical Reading Challenge. Currently: 12

Review: THE BIG FOUR, Agatha Christie

• 
  this edition published on Kindle
  
• ASIN : B0046H95TA
• Publisher : HarperCollins (October 14, 2010)
• Publication date : October 14, 2010
• Originally published 1927
• Language : English
• File size : 633 KB
• Print length : 242 pages

Synopsis (Amazon)

A ruthless international cartel seeks world domination…

Framed in the doorway of Poirot’s bedroom stood an uninvited guest, coated from head to foot in dust. The man’s gaunt face stared for a moment, then he swayed and fell.

Who was he? Was he suffering from shock or just exhaustion? Above all, what was the significance of the figure 4, scribbled over and over again on a sheet of paper? Poirot finds himself plunged into a world of international intrigue, risking his life to uncover the truth about ‘Number Four’.

My take

I had forgotten the unusual structure of this novel. 

Hastings returns from Argentina without warning Poirot that he is coming. He arrives to find Poirot about to leave to sail to South America. He had decided to surprise Hastings with his arrival.

Plans are thrown into disarray by the uninvited guest who comes into Poirot's bedroom, collapses, and then dies. Poirot realises that he is being warned not to embark for South America.

This 18 chapter novel focusses on 4 people who threaten world security with catastrophe and destruction. At first the identity of just two people are known, then the third is revealed, but Number 4 is like a chameleon, able to take on many disguises and then leave no lasting impression of his face. All 4 are self-centred, and have world domination as their individual goal.

The novel was written originally as 11 or 12  short stories with the central theme of Poirot's search for these arch villains. The stories are presented sequentially and take place over a period of 10 or so months. The stories were published separately in Sketch magazine from 1924 under the sub-heading of The Man who was No. 4, then amalgamated into one narrative. The stories test Hercule Poirot's abilities as a detective. In fact he wishes to establish himself as the pre-eminent brain in the world.

The idea of evil powers trying to control world politics and economies is not confined to Agatha Christie, nor to this one "novel". We see it for example in the James Bond stories, in Christie's Tommy and Tuppence stories, in Superman, Batman and so on. It seems particularly to crop up in the 1920s and 1930s when the Western Powers felt threatened by the rise of China, of Russia, and when the old order had been brought down during World War One.

Once you realise the structure of the novel you begin to see other things. Some of the stories in  THE BIG FOUR appear at first to have nothing to do with the central theme, but Poirot plucks 4s out of nothing.

My rating: 4.2

See Agatha Christie books I have read as part of the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge.

Review: THE MURDER ON THE LINKS, Agatha Christie

• 
  First published 1923
  
• ASIN : B085VHVV9C
• Publisher : GENERAL PRESS; 1st edition (March 12, 2020)
• Language : English 
• File size : 809 KB 
• #2 Hercule Poirot series
• At AgathaChristie.com

Synopsis (AgathaChristie.com)

An urgent cry for help brings Poirot to France. But he arrives too late to save his client, whose brutally stabbed body now lies face downwards in a shallow grave on a golf course.

But why is the dead man wearing his son’s overcoat? And who was the impassioned love-letter in the pocket for? Before Poirot can answer these questions, the case is turned upside down by the discovery of a second, identically murdered corpse.

My Take

Yes, I have read this before, but have read it again, leading a group to read the first 5 Poirots and the first 5 Marples. So I am reading it with an eye to what I can point out to them.

The story is narrated by Captain Hastings and is set maybe 3 or 4 years after the first novel which introduced the Poirot/Hastings "team". Although this is only the second time we have seen Poirot in action, Hastings implies they have worked other cases together since THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES. In a reference to Inspector Japp from Scotland Yard in the opening pages, Hastings says that he had "more than once introduced us to an interesting case."

At the beginning we get an update on what Hastings and Poirot have been doing, and in France Poirot meets up with the Commissary of Police with whom he worked on a case in 1909. 

As investigating the murder begins, the "team" is joined by Inspector Giraud from the Surete, who is much younger, and obviously regards Poirot as a "has-been". One of the themes of the novel is the comparison of the methods Poirot and Giraud use - the difference between "little grey cells and logic" and what Poirot disparagingly calls Giraud's methods. Giraud is very sarcastic to Poirot. Eventually they have a bet on who will solve the case first.

Poirot elucidates his principles of investigation but Hastings is embarrassed by his friend's lack of action, and even betrays Poirot, as well as showing quite clearly how easily duped he himself can be.

The plot is quite complex and the reader needs to keep on their toes to make sure they understand each nuance.

We are introduced also to Poirot's "romantic streak", as he match-makes for Hastings and chooses a wife for him.

There are several denouements, a couple caused by the fact that poor old Hastings has not been able to make sense of what has happened.

I am also listening to the audio version read by Hugh Fraser but will review that separately.

My rating: 4.4

See also

• My earlier review
  
• Wikipedia
• Agatha Christie Reading Challenge 
• Agatha Christie Novels
• Fun Trivia Quiz 
• The movie 1996 - David Suchet is Poirot, Hugh Fraser is Hastings
  Note how the story is changed
  "While Poirot and Hastings are holidaying in France, a businessman tells Poirot that his life is in danger. The next day he is found stabbed to death on a nearby golf course."
• YouTube copy
  

Review: THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES, Agatha Christie

• 
  Format: Kindle (Amazon)
  
• ASIN : B07MX6QZSD
• First published 1920
• #1 Hercule Poirot
• Print length : 313 pages 

Synopsis (Agatha Christie.com)

Agatha Christie’s first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was the result of a dare from her sister Madge who challenged her to write a story. The story begins when Hastings is sent back to England from the First World War due to injury and is invited to spend his sick leave at the beautiful Styles Court by his old friend John Cavendish. Here, Hastings meets John’s step-mother, Mrs Inglethorp, and her new husband, Alfred. Despite the tranquil surroundings Hastings begins to realise that all is not right. When Mrs Inglethorp is found poisoned, suspicion falls on the family, and another old friend, Hercule Poirot, is invited to investigate.

My Take

I have read this novel many times, but starting in February I am leading a small group into reading the first 5 Poirot novels and the first 5 Marples during the coming months..

So I have read this novel with a focus on what I want the group to get out of their reading.

So here are some of the points I want them to see:

• the novel introduces us to Hercule Poirot and we get our first descriptions of him
• How old is Poirot? Clues? Does Christie age him realistically?
  
• 
  It also introduces Arthur Hastings and his role as the narrator of the Poirot stories, and the foil to Poirot's brilliance and
  intuition 
• Why did Agatha Christie write this novel, and what role did her own knowledge of poisons play in the plot?
• I want them to look at Agatha Christie as a commentator on her times, how she gives a background and setting to the action of the novel.
• some of the features of this novel: the locked room mystery
• The final denouement sets up a pattern that is repeated in subsequent Poirot novels
• the fact that this novel introduces some characters that recur in later novels
  

My rating: 4.5

Some useful links

• Free copy available as e-book from Gutenberg Project
• The Agatha Christie Reading Challenge
  

• https://www.agathachristie.com/news/2020/the-making-of-the-mysterious-affair-at-styles

  https://www.agathachristie.com/characters/hercule-poirot

  https://www.agathachristie.com/characters/hercule-poirot/the-creation-of-hercule-poirot

  https://www.agathachristie.com/news/2020/styles-at-100-a-jigsaw

  https://www.agathachristie.com/stories/the-mysterious-affair-at-styles

   

My previous review on this site

My reviews of Agatha Christie novels

My Best Reads in 2020

Well, I made it to 118 books for the year.

The target was 120, so I'm quite happy, particularly as I rated so many books quite highly.

The best for the year were

• 5.0, SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME, Craig Sisterson
• 5.0, PEACE, Garry Disher
• 5.0, CONSOLATION, Garry Disher
  
• 5.0, THE MIRROR AND THE LIGHT, Hilary Mantel - audio book 
• 5.0, THE OTHER PASSENGER, Louise Candlish 
• 5.0, THE REMORSEFUL DAY, Colin Dexter  - audio book
  
• 4.9, A BETTER MAN, Louise Penny  

Over half my books, both hard copies and e-books, came through my local library.
Just under 50% of my reads were e-books either on Libby or my Kindle.
A third of my reading came from Australian authors, 49/118 from British authors, and roughly a third are "new-to-me" authors, many of which I have followed up with a second title.
There are some areas where I haven't done so well: translated books, New Zealand authors.

I participated in a number of challenges, notably

• 2020 Good Reads Reading Challenge. I have set my challenge at 120. Currently: 118
• Good Reads A-Z of titles: Currently: 21
• Agatha Christie Reading Challenge Completed in 2014, titles read in 2020: 3
• USA Fiction Challenge So far 29/51, this year: 15
• 2020 Aussie Author Reading Challenge: aiming for 20: currently 39
• 2020 Australian Women Writers Challenge: aiming for 20. Currently 29
• Read Around the World 2020: currently: 118
• British Books Challenge 2020 currently 49
• 2020 Ebook Reading Challenge currently 57
• New to me authors - a personal challenge currently  40
• Not crime fiction - a personal challenge currently 8
  
• Nordic reading challenge - a personal challenge, currently 6
• New Zealand reading challenge -again a personal challenge. currently 2
• Translated crime fiction - a personal challenge that will overlap with many of the other reading challenges that I have undertaken. currently 9
• Snagged through the Library currently: 68
• Audio books: currently: 10
• 2020 Historical Reading Challenge. Currently: 13

Blogger put up a new platform this year which I avoided swapping to for as long as I could, but eventually had to. It has made some of my record keeping more difficult and probably next year I will cut down on the number of pages that i maintain.

This blog turns 13 on January 2. According to Blogger there have been 2,642,874 page views, there are 3,945 posts, with nearly 10,000 comments. The blog gives me great pleasure.

Happy New Year! 

100 Books read so far in 2020

Each year I set myself a reading target and among them I set a number of books to strive for.

This year my target is 120, and yesterday I got to 100, which always feels special.

This is what the summary so far looks like (you will note that in some cases I am exceeding my targets):

Last updated 25 October 2020

• 2020 Good Reads Reading Challenge. I have set my challenge at 120. Currently: 100
• Good Reads A-Z of titles: Currently: 22
• Agatha Christie Reading Challenge Completed in 2014, titles read in 2020: 3
• USA Fiction Challenge So far 29/51, this year: 9
• 2020 Aussie Author Reading Challenge: aiming for 20: currently 35
• 2020 Australian Women Writers Challenge: aiming for 20. Currently 25
• Read Around the World 2020: currently: 100
• British Books Challenge 2020 currently 42
• 2020 Ebook Reading Challenge currently 45
• New to me authors - a personal challenge currently  35
• Not crime fiction - a personal challenge currently 6
• Nordic reading challenge - a personal challenge, currently 5
• New Zealand reading challenge -again a personal challenge. currently 2
• Translated crime fiction - a personal challenge that will overlap with many of the other reading challenges that I have undertaken. currently 7
• Snagged through the Library currently: 56
• Audio books: currently: 8
• 2020 Historical Reading Challenge. Currently: 9

You can find my summary page in full at https://paradise-mysteries.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_55.html

6 months of reading

I have read 72 novels in the first 6 months of 2020
50% of the books have come through the library system,
one third are new-to-me authors,
40 % are British,
35 % are Australian authors,
40% are e-books


See reading challenges summary.
If you want to check the books see my reviews so far 

• 2020 Good Reads Reading Challenge. I have set my challenge at 120. Currently:72
• Good Reads A-Z of titles: Currently: 19
• Agatha Christie Reading Challenge Completed in 2014, titles read in 2020: 1
• USA Fiction Challenge So far 29/51, this year: 7
• 2020 Aussie Author Reading Challenge: aiming for 20: currently 27
• 2020 Australian Women Writers Challenge: aiming for 20. Currently 19
• Read Around the World 2020: currently: 72
• British Books Challenge 2020 currently 30
• 2020 Ebook Reading Challenge currently 31 - these are read on Kindle and Libby
• New to me authors - a personal challenge currently  24
• Not crime fiction - a personal challenge currently 4
• Nordic reading challenge - a personal challenge, currently 4
• New Zealand reading challenge -again a personal challenge. currently 2
• Translated crime fiction - a personal challenge that will overlap with many of the other reading challenges that I have undertaken. currently 4
• Snagged at the Library currently: 38
• Audio books: currently: 5
• 2020 Historical Reading Challenge. Currently: 6

Challenges for 2020

In the long run, I have mostly gone with the challenges that I've focussed on in the last year.
Many of them are personal challenges where I am not joining in an "official" one.
My Challenge page can be found here
The various challenges help me give some focus to my reading., as well as assisting in giving me a sense of achievement.

• 2020 Good Reads Reading Challenge. I have set my challenge at 120. Currently: 3
• Good Reads A-Z of titles: Currently: 3
• Agatha Christie Reading Challenge Completed in 2014, titles read in 2020:0
• USA Fiction Challenge So far 29/51, this year: 2
• 2020 Aussie Author Reading Challenge: aiming for 20: currently 0
• 2020 Australian Women Writers Challenge: aiming for 20. Currently 0
• Read Around the World 2020: currently 3 
• British Books Challenge 2020 currently 0
• 2020 Ebook Reading Challenge currently 0
• New to me authors - a personal challenge currently  2
• Not crime fiction - a personal challenge currently 0
• Nordic reading challenge - a personal challenge, currently 1
• New Zealand reading challenge -again a personal challenge. currently 0
• Translated crime fiction - a personal challenge that will overlap with many of the other reading challenges that I have undertaken. currently 1
• Snagged at the Library currently: 3
• Audio books: currently: 0
• 2020 Historical Reading Challenge. Currently: 0

2019 Reading Challenges Goals - ACHIEVED

I was very excited yesterday when I completed reading my final book for 2019 and got to the goal of 120 books which I set myself last year.
The total compares pretty well with what I have managed in previous years
2018 - 123
2017 - 116
2016 - 118
So I expect to read about 10 books a month, but that includes audio books.

I haven't set my goals for 2020 yet, but here is what my reading for 2019 showed: ( you can find the full lists here)

• 2019 Good Reads Reading Challenge. I completed my goal of 120 books for the year by the narrowest of margins. They weren't all crime fiction, there were some audio books too, but I'm happy that do manage quite a range.
  
• Good Reads A-Z of titles: This was a challenge by Good Reads Australia to read 26 books, each title beginning with a different letter of the alphabet. I managed only 20 of the 26, with the letters E, J, V, X, Y, Z  not achieved
  
• Agatha Christie Reading Challenge Completed in 2014, titles read in 2019: 2
  Since completing the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge in 2014, I have read very few of the titles again.
  
• USA Fiction Challenge So far 21/51, this year: 15The intent of this challenge is to read one title in each state. While I read 15 books set in a USA state, very few of them were from a "new state". Just 12.5% of the books that I read in 2019 were USA
  
• 2019 Aussie Author Reading Challenge: I aimed to read at least 20 novels by Australian authors, and read 28.  This means that nearly 25% of what I read was by an Australian author.
  
• 2019 Australian Women Writers Challenge: with 14 of those Australian books only by an Aussie female author, I was disappointed not to reach my target of 20. aiming for 20.
  
  
• British Books Challenge 2019. I read 69 books that I categorised as British. This is over 50% of my total reading and reflects one of my strong preferences.
  
  
• 2018 Ebook Reading Challenge I was surprised by the fact that I read only 21 books on my Kindle. I'm sure I bought more than that as I have a great many un-read . Even so 1 in every 6 books that I read was an e-book.
  
• New to me authors - a personal challenge where I read 44 titles, roughly 1 in every 3
  I publish the lists of these authors every 3 months.
  
• Not crime fiction - a personal challenge to try to read more widely. App0roximately one title a month meant that I read 11
  
• Nordic reading challenge - a personal challenge where I thought I would read more translated books of Nordic origin. I listed only 2 for the year. Once again a challenge where I have a number of unread titles,
  
• New Zealand reading challenge -again a personal challenge where I try to read a specific group of books. I read only 2, so this is a challenge I will try to improve on in 2020
  
• Translated crime fiction - a personal challenge that will overlap with many of the other reading challenges that I have undertaken. The fact that I have read so few Nordic titles is reflected in the fact that I have read only 3 titles in this category.
  
• Snagged at the Library 79. Nearly 2 in 3 of my books have come through my local library, which provides a wonderful service, giving access to any book held in a  public library in South Australia.
  The system uses an online catalogue where you can search for and reserve books.
  
• Audio books: 15 This works out to about one audio book a month, listened to on a regular  weekly journey. For the last 6 months we have been working out way through Colin Dexter's Morse novels and we still have a few to go.
  
• 2019 Historical Reading Challenge.  19. I don't plan to read historical novels but I am partial to historical crime fiction.

In coming days I will reveal my "best of" lists.

Review: POIROT'S EARLY CASES, Agatha Christie

• this edition published by Harper Collin's Publishers 2011
• ISBN 978-1-4448-0278-8
• 406 pages
• source: my local library

Synopsis

Hercule Poirot delighted in telling people that he was probably the best detective in the world. So turning back the clock to trace eighteen of the cases which helped establish his professional reputation was always going to be a fascinating experience. With his career still in its formative years, the panache with which Hercule Poirot could solve even the most puzzling mystery is obvious. Chronicled by his friend Captain Hastings, these eighteen early cases - from theft and robbery to kidnapping and murder - were all guaranteed to test Poirot’s soon-to-be-famous ‘little grey cells’ to their absolute limit.

My Take

This title brings together 18 cases, and consisted of short stories I had mainly read in other collections. However I do not appear to have read Problem at Sea under that title.
It was originally called Poirot and the Crime in the Cabin and was not published till 1936.

The other 17 stories very largely first appeared in magazines in 1923, 1924, 1925, and 1928, 1929, and 1932. Here is a set of links in Wikipedia.
You can also find them on my list of 155 short stories

• 1 Plot summaries
  • 1.1 The Affair at the Victory Ball
  • 1.2 The Adventure of the Clapham Cook
  • 1.3 The Cornish Mystery
  • 1.4 The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly
  • 1.5 The Double Clue
  • 1.6 The King of Clubs
  • 1.7 The Lemesurier Inheritance
  • 1.8 The Lost Mine
  • 1.9 The Plymouth Express
  • 1.10 The Chocolate Box
  • 1.11 The Submarine Plans
  • 1.12 The Third Floor Flat
  • 1.13 Double Sin
  • 1.14 The Market Basing Mystery
  • 1.15 Wasps' Nest
  • 1.16 The Veiled Lady
  • 1.17 Problem at Sea
  • 1.18 How Does Your Garden Grow?

The narrator in all of the stories is Captain Hastings and between them they create a history of his connection with Poirot both before World War One and after the war.

My rating: 4.4

Check out the following

• my list of 155 short stories
• Agatha Christie novels - my list 
• Agatha Christie Reading Challenge

I've reached 100! - books that is

It always gives me a little boost when I finish my 100th book for the year!

My target this year is 120 and I think I will make that easily, but not perhaps some of my individual reading challenges.

Check out my reading this year here.

2019 Good Reads Reading Challenge.
   I have set my challenge at 120. Currently: 100

Good Reads A-Z of titles: Currently: 20

Agatha Christie Reading Challenge
    Completed in 2014, titles read in 2019: 1

USA Fiction Challenge
    So far 21/51, this year: 13

2019 Aussie Author Reading Challenge: aiming for 20: currently 23

2019 Australian Women Writers Challenge: aiming for 20. Currently 10

British Books Challenge 2019 currently  57

2018 Ebook Reading Challenge currently 17

New to me authors - a personal challenge currently  38

Not crime fiction - a personal challenge currently 10

Nordic reading challenge - a personal challenge, currently 1

New Zealand reading challenge -again a personal challenge. currently 2

Translated crime fiction - a personal challenge that will overlap with many of the other reading challenges that I have undertaken. currently 21

Snagged at the Library currently: 67

Audio books: currently: 12

2019 Historical Reading Challenge. Currently: 17