Tag Archives: Agatha Christie

The Affair Next Door by Anna Katharine Green

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This book was first published in 1897 so it’s an early detective novel but well worth reading if you enjoy that sort of thing, which I do. I downloaded this one from girlebooks.

Miss Butterworth is a genteel and fairly well-heeled spinster of the parish of Granmercy Park in New York and she likes to keep an eye on the movements of her neighbours. (Who does that remind me of?!) When she sees a couple entering a house across the road very late at night she wonders what’s going on. She knows that the house owner is away and the house is empty.

In the morning she forces a policeman to enter the house and they discover the body of a young woman under a large cabinet. Who is she? Is it murder or suicide?

Miss Butterworth has no great faith in the detective who is investigating the case, Mr Gryce, and she determines to carry our her own inquiries.

There are lots of twists and turns in this book to keep you interested and there’s humour too in the character of Miss Amelia Butterworth. I can’t help thinking that Agatha Christie probably read this book and came up with her English spinster, Miss Marple as a consequence. I hope to read more books by Anna Katharine Green.

The Unfinished Clue by Georgette Heyer

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This book was first published in 1933 and for some reason seems much more like an Agatha Christie book than the others which I’ve read by Heyer. So if you’re a fan of Christie you’ll probably really enjoy this one. I didn’t dislike it but I was just a wee bit disappointed that there wasn’t much of the witty repartee in it which I’ve come to expect of Heyer. Maybe her humour was more a feature of the later books, it’s a shame really because as far as I’m concerned there’s always a place for a bit of fun, even when there’s been a murrrderr!

It’s a classic country house whodunnit, a favourite setting of mine and it’s a plus that I didn’t guess who the culprit was until very late on in it. Either my brain wasn’t in gear or it was more of a puzzle than the last P.D. James book which I read.

It wouldn’t be a Heyer without romance, she seemed to be incapable of leaving it out of any of her books. It’s daft how quickly it all happens though – certainly no problems with her men being incapable of commiting!

The blurb on the back of the book says:

‘Miss Heyer’s characters are an abiding delight to me… I have seldom met people to whom I have taken so violent a fancy from the word “Go”.’ DOROTHY SAYERS

I’m pleased that good old Dorothy was generous with her praise of another crime writer, it wasn’t always the case, especially with female crime writers. I believe Margery Allingham was a bit of a bitch where Sayers was concerned which must have been a bit awkward as they both lived just one train stop from each other and were often on the London train at the same time.

I do love vintage crime but feel that there are far more crime writers I should be giving a go. Any recommendations vintage or modern?

The Lighthouse by P.D. James

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This was the last book which I read in 2011 and it was first published in 2005 and was a purchase from the library book sale, at only 50p for a hardback I just couldn’t resist it. I first read P.D.James books in the 1980s and of course lots of them have been adapted for TV but I rarely watch them because I’m not all that keen on the actor who plays Commander Adam Dalgliesh, but he was the actor that P.D. James wanted to play the part. I think she must have been doing what quite a few authors do – write themselves the perfect partner. As Dorothy L. Sayers did with Lord Peter Wimsey.

The Lighthouse is a classic detective story really, set on Combe Island which is an imaginary island off the Cornish coast. So when a murder occurs there’s a limit to the number of possible culprits. All very Agatha Christie-ish so far, but I must say that I think P.D. James’s writing is superior to Christie’s. Her descriptions are quite poetic and I have to say she is really good at ‘painting’ the scenery, which is just what I like. This is generally done through the eyes of Dalgleish as he is a poet when he is not detecting.

Combe Island has been owned by the same family for hundreds of years but in recent times it is being used as a place where the high fliers of the world can go to de-stress in an atmosphere of peace and safety. So when one of the inhabitants is found dead Dalgleish and his team consisting of Detective Inspector Kate Miskin and Sergeant Francis Benton-Smith are helicoptered in to investigate.

I enjoyed this book even if it wasn’t twisty-turny enough for my liking and although I wasn’t even trying to think about it it suddenly flashed into my head who the culprit was really early on in the book. I can’t make up my mind how I feel about that, it’s a bit of a toss up really. On one hand it’s annoying that I suspected the correct person all the way through but then in some way I feel quite chuffed that I got it right. Anyway, it’s definitely worth reading if you like detective stories.

Christmas Haul

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We’re nearly at the end of the year and I still haven’t mentioned any of the books I got at Christmas. So here goes:

A God and his Gifts by Ivy Compton-Burnett
The Old Bank House by Angela Thirkell
The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne

All oldies but hopefully goldies.
We don’t really bother much with big Christmas presents for each other but if we buy anything after the October holidays we tend to say to each other ‘just wrap it up for Christmas’ and that way we get what we want and have no nasty surprises. Yes I know it’s not romantic but it is practical. I hate people (Jack) spending money on things that I really don’t want.

I also got some DVDs – Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple in the shape of Margaret Rutherford – and what a shape she was! She’s the Miss Marple of my childhood and they’re real comfort viewing and always have quite a bit of comedy thrown in as well as crime.

Murder Ahoy
Murder Most Foul
Murder at the Gallop and
Murder She Said

I’ve watched two of them already as the TV hasn’t really been worth watching. On that note I must say that I was disappointed with the new version of The Borrowers, not nearly as good as the previous ones. I must admit that I was playing Scrabble whilst watching it so it didn’t have all of my attention but it just didn’t seem to have much ingenuity involved in it.

I also got a set of Cary Grant DVDs

Charade with the beautiful Audrey Hepburn (1963)
Bringing Up Baby with Katharine Hepburn (1938)
That Touch of Mink with Doris Day (1962)
I’m No Angel with Mae West (1933)

So if I get stuck in the house surrounded by snow and ice, like last year, I’ll have something to keep me entertained!

Black Coffee by Agatha Christie and Charles Osborne

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I bought this book at a library booksale as I’ve read another Osborne adaptation of an Agatha Christie play and it was an enjoyable and quick read, as was this one. Black Coffee was first performed in 1930 and was the first play which Agatha Christie wrote.

It’s a Hercule Poirot mystery and Charles Osborne has set the action in 1934. Poirot is semi-retired, only taking on work which really interests him. Captain Hastings is married and has bought a ranch in Argentina but is in London to do some business. Poirot is getting bored with the same old routine every day so when he gets a phonecall from Sir Claud Amory, a government scientist in need of help, he jumps at the chance of a change of scenery and and working with Hastings again.

It’s another country house mystery! Sir Claud is a bit of an old skinflint and although he has plenty of money he keeps a tight grasp of it which doesn’t make him popular with his son and other members of the family.

Sir Amory has been working on atomic research with the result that he has discovered a new explosive – a weapon of mass destruction. The formula is worth a lot of money and Sir Claud believes that someone is trying to steal it. Naturally there is a murder!

This is one of the many plots in which Agatha Christie employed her knowledge of poisons which she gained whilst working in the dispensary of a hospital during World War I. It’s a good, light, read. I think that Charles Osborne manages to capture the feel of Christie’s writing. If you’re into Christie or vintage crime you’ll probably want to give it a go.

Agatha Christie’s The Unexpected Guest by Charles Osborne

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This was one of the books which I bagged at the most recent library book sale and it wasn’t until I got home that I realised that it is an adaptation of a Christie play. So I was a bit wary and didn’t really know what to expect, but it turned out to be a really entertaining if super-fast read.

It’s set near the south Wales coast and begins with a motorist getting stuck in a ditch in a thick fog, he sets off to find help and reaches a large 18th century house. There is no answer to his knocks on the french windows but when he tries the handle he ends up falling into the dark room where there is a dead body sitting in a wheelchair! The motorist quickly realises that he isn’t the only living person in that room and from that point the book takes lots of different twists and turns.

It’s my favourite sort of crime book as it gets straight to the point with a bang, no footering about. It’s absolutely years since I read anything by Agatha Christie so I’m not really able to judge whether Charles Osborne’s writing style is very similar to hers but anyway it certainly works as a crime, mystery book.

The Unexpected Guest was first performed in London’s West End in August 1958 and it ran for 18 months, which was something of a relief to Christie as her previous play Verdict had closed after just one month, in fact it was booed off the stage! That must have been quite a shock for poor Agatha because in the April of that year The Mousetrap had reached its 2,239th performance at The Ambassadors Theatre which broke the record for the longest London run of a play.

Charles Osborne has adapted more Christie plays and I’ll be on the look out for them.

Library Book Sale Haul

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Books from library sale

We had already promised to drive my brother to the airport on Saturday before we realised that it was also the library book sale day, so we had to dash around the books in about 10 minutes flat. I didn’t even get a glimpse of the non-fiction, the crowd was still too dense by the time we had to leave. But it was worthwhile I think.

Consider the Lily by Elizabeth Buchan
The Sugar Camp Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini
The Unexpected Guest by Agatha Christie
On Green Dolphin Street by Sebastian Faulks
Diary of an Ordinary Woman by Margaret Forster
The Pure in Heart by Susan Hill
A Step in the Dark by Judith Lennox

Gosh, now that I look at the list I think I must have just got about half-way around the alphabet!

I admit that I chose The Sugar Camp Quilt because of the cover and the word ‘quilt’.

The Unexpected Guest is actually an adaptation of a Christie play and it was adapted by Charles Osborne.

I bought a Judith Lennox book at the last library sale but haven’t read it yet, I have high hopes of getting around to it soon. I’ve just realised that I don’t have the new one in the photo, it has skipped off somewhere!

Has anyone read any of these ones?

Miss Marple by Disney?

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I’ve just heard on the radio that Disney have bought the rights to Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple. I suppose that if I were on Twitter this is the sort of thing that people tweet about, but I’m not on Twitter so I’m moaning about it here.

What on earth were the people at Disney thinking about when they decided to cast a 38 year old woman in the part of Miss Marple? Have any of them ever seen a Miss Marple film or TV production?

The whole reason for Agatha Christie writing a character like Marple is that she is an elderly lady, a spinster of the parish of St Mary Mead and people are supposed to think that she’s in her dotage and so they don’t take her seriously.

Marple is meant to surprise everyone and triumph over them all with her superior wits and a long experience gained from observing the inhabitants of her very small village.

They are going to lose the whole essence of the Miss Marple books if they do it any other way. Poor Agatha Christie will be birling in her grave, but I suppose her family felt that they could be doing with the money.

Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks by John Curran

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Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks

This is a library book as I’m still managing to avoid actually buying more books until I make a serious dent in my TBR pile. In fact I had no intention of even looking at library books but when I returned some the other week I couldn’t resist having a look at the ‘new books’ shelves.

However, I think that if you are really into Agatha Christie then this might be a book that you would really want to own rather than just borrow.

John Curran is an archivist and he had the job of deciphering Christie’s private notebooks. Apparently her handwriting was terrible, and there were 73 of them to go through, so it was no mean feat.

It’s just interesting to see her jottings and ideas for various books, alternative endings and such.

The book includes two previously unpublished Poirot stories.

Library Loot

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I got a phone call from my local library yesterday morning to let me know that the book which I had requested was waiting for me to collect it. As I didn’t have much planned for the day I thought I might as well go and pick it up. So I now have Thomas Carlyle’s Sartor Resartus to plough through.

Saturday afternoon turned out to be a good time to visit the library as there were quite a lot of good books on the shelves, my last visit had been a fruitless one.

So this is my haul:

Sartor Resartus by Thomas Carlyle
Oracle Night by Paul Auster
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
The Jewel of Seven Stars by Bram Stoker
Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks by John Curran. Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making

Well, I’m hopeful that it’s a good haul anyway. The only downside of this is that I won’t be making any more dents in my TBR pile at home. I had been doing so well too.