The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie - Hercules Poirot receives a letter warning him there will be a murder in a certain town on a certain date, signed ABC. He's afraid the first murder won't be the last and he's right. Another letter is received and the police are stymied. Even Poirot seems at a loss. We even get a glimpse into the murderer's mind. Or do we?
3.5 stars
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Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie - Poirot is on a plane flying from France to England when a woman is found dead. The murder weapon is most unusual and it seems no one could have used it without being seen. Everyone is a suspect, including Poirot, as the murder weapon is found in his seat pocket. I miss Hastings in this one but a good love complication makes up for it.
3 star
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Walking Shadows by Faye Kellerman - Peter Decker is on a routine call about vandalized mailboxes when he discovers the body of a young man. When he discovers the young man was the son of a man accused of murdering the owners of a jewelry store 20 years ago he wonders if there is a connection. This turns into a very convoluted story involving too many people with names starting with B. There's also way too much talking about what they're eating. The ending was anti-climatic and unsatisfying.
2 stars
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Why Didn't They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie - no famous detectives in this one. Instead, Bobby Jones finds himself in a mystery when he and his golfing partner find a dying man at the bottom of a cliff. His dying words, "why didn't they ask Evans?" and a picture in his pocket won't leave Bobby's mind and soon he and his childhood friend, Lady Frances Derwent, are doing some sleuthing. They are not nearly as inconspicuous as they believe and soon find themselves in grave danger. They are somewhat irritating as Bright Young Things. I think I have not read this before.
4 stars
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Whiskey Sour by J.A. Konrath - the first in a series featuring Jack Daniels, a police lieutenant. She suffers from insomnia, her boyfriend has just left her, and the first victim of a serial killer has just been found. And unbeknownst to her, the killer now has her in his sights. Way too graphic. I won't continue this series.
1 star
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Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie - four sleuths and four possible murderers gather at Mr Shaitana's house for dinner and bridge. Before the night is over, the host is dead and no one saw who did it. Since the four sleuths are Hercules Poirot, Superintendent Battle, Colonel Race, and Ariadne Oliver, there are many theories. Each have their own way of investigating and Poirot's seems the most superfluous. Of course there's a touch of romance.
4.5 stars
Saturday, September 29, 2018
Sunday, September 23, 2018
Sept 16 - 22, 2018
Northland: A 4,000-Mile Journey Along America's Forgotten Border by Porter Fox - the author grew up near the US/Canadian border in Maine. He decides to travel along the border from Maine to Washington. He travels by canoe, freighter, plane, and car. Along the way he weaves the history of the area and current events into an interesting story. There is a slight emphasis on the plight of present-day Native Americans, which is appalling.
4 stars
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Murder in the Mews by Agatha Christie - four short Hercules Poirot mysteries. I liked Dead Man's Mirror the best.
3 stars
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Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie - Poirot receives a letter from a wealthy spinster several weeks after her death. Her death appears natural but the accident previously may not have been so accidental. It's been blamed on the dog's habit of leaving his ball on the top of the stairs but he may not be the culprit. Hastings seems to interpret dog talk very well.
4 stars
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Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie - a collection of short stories featuring Tommy and Tuppence. All the stories are connected on the premise of them running a detective agency when they're really setting a trap for a foreign agent. Along the way they take on other cases. These two are really my least favorite Christie characters. Their witty repartee irritates me no end. And their impulsiveness and naivete lead them into danger. I wonder if they were as irritating to people reading them at the time they were written.
2 stars
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Relic by Alan Dean Foster - Ruslan is the last known human survivor in the universe. Found on the planet Seraboth by the Myssari, he is now both their guest and scientific subject. They are determined to resurrect the human race. Ruslan agrees to help and in exchange they will search for Earth, the original home planet. Loved the writing, loved the story.
5 stars
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Peril at End House by Agatha Christie - Hercules Poirot is vacationing in Cornish when he and Hastings meet a young woman who has recently had a series of accidents that could have had serious consequences. When another incident occurs right in front of Poirot, he becomes convinced that someone is trying to kill her. However, there seems to be no motive. Poirot must really use his little grey cells to solve this one. This one totally surprised me even though I've read it before and seen the tv episode. Christie is so good at making you suspect everyone.
3 stars
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Leverage in Death by J.D. Robb - a well-liked executive walks into an important meeting wearing a suicide vest and kills himself and several other people. No one can understand it until they learn his family is being held captive and he was coerced. Eve Dallas considers him one of the victims. But no one can figure out the reason for the act until they decide it was for quick, financial gain. So that means there may be another attack. This one gave me an actual headache there was so much rehashing and re-speculation. The book could have been half the size. The language seems to get coarser with each book. (A very offensive remark about why babies suck there thumbs.) This time for one of the obligatory sex scenes Eve and Roarke have an argument so they can have hot makeup sex. The tides crash together or whatever and we're back to the rehashing. (These scenes are easily skipped, they usually run two pages, that's how rote they are.) This 47th Eve Dallas book just didn't do it for me this time. I'm even getting tired of the characters. I am very much in the minority on Goodreads.
1 stars
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Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie - it takes quite a while for the murder to happen and when it does you're secretly happy. Nowadays Mrs. Boynton would be labeled narcissistic/npd/sociopath, but she's just plain evil. She has her entire family under her thumb and has brought them to Israel and Petra perhaps just to show them how much. When she dies, everyone is under suspicion and it's up to Hercules Poirot to show the way.
3.5 stars
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Live Long and ... What I Learned Along the Way by William Shatner David Fisher - not so much an autobiography as it is Shatner's philosophy of life. Don't die, always say yes, and live passionately. He reveals himself to be a lonely man who has found happiness with his dogs, horses, and 4th wife. A short book and yet somewhat repetitious, I found myself skimming a little towards the end.
2 stars
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Parker Pyne Investigates by Agatha Christie - a collection of short stories featuring Parker Pyne, a man who advertises that he can provide happiness. Mr Pyne believes he know much about people due to his previous life as a statistician. He helps unhappy wives and husbands realize they are happier with each other and provides a little excitement for people living dull lives. In the later stories he also solves some mysteries.
3 stars
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Murder in Three Acts by Agatha Christie - a Hercules Poirot mystery in which Poirot is absent for about two thirds of the book. A man dies at a cocktail party and there is no reason to suspect anything but poor health and advanced age. But suppose it was murder? What was the reason? Then another man dies in much the same way who was also at the party. This is definitely murder. But for what reason? Three amateur detectives bumble about until at last Poirot steps in.
4 stars
4 stars
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Murder in the Mews by Agatha Christie - four short Hercules Poirot mysteries. I liked Dead Man's Mirror the best.
3 stars
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Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie - Poirot receives a letter from a wealthy spinster several weeks after her death. Her death appears natural but the accident previously may not have been so accidental. It's been blamed on the dog's habit of leaving his ball on the top of the stairs but he may not be the culprit. Hastings seems to interpret dog talk very well.
4 stars
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Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie - a collection of short stories featuring Tommy and Tuppence. All the stories are connected on the premise of them running a detective agency when they're really setting a trap for a foreign agent. Along the way they take on other cases. These two are really my least favorite Christie characters. Their witty repartee irritates me no end. And their impulsiveness and naivete lead them into danger. I wonder if they were as irritating to people reading them at the time they were written.
2 stars
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Relic by Alan Dean Foster - Ruslan is the last known human survivor in the universe. Found on the planet Seraboth by the Myssari, he is now both their guest and scientific subject. They are determined to resurrect the human race. Ruslan agrees to help and in exchange they will search for Earth, the original home planet. Loved the writing, loved the story.
5 stars
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Peril at End House by Agatha Christie - Hercules Poirot is vacationing in Cornish when he and Hastings meet a young woman who has recently had a series of accidents that could have had serious consequences. When another incident occurs right in front of Poirot, he becomes convinced that someone is trying to kill her. However, there seems to be no motive. Poirot must really use his little grey cells to solve this one. This one totally surprised me even though I've read it before and seen the tv episode. Christie is so good at making you suspect everyone.
3 stars
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Leverage in Death by J.D. Robb - a well-liked executive walks into an important meeting wearing a suicide vest and kills himself and several other people. No one can understand it until they learn his family is being held captive and he was coerced. Eve Dallas considers him one of the victims. But no one can figure out the reason for the act until they decide it was for quick, financial gain. So that means there may be another attack. This one gave me an actual headache there was so much rehashing and re-speculation. The book could have been half the size. The language seems to get coarser with each book. (A very offensive remark about why babies suck there thumbs.) This time for one of the obligatory sex scenes Eve and Roarke have an argument so they can have hot makeup sex. The tides crash together or whatever and we're back to the rehashing. (These scenes are easily skipped, they usually run two pages, that's how rote they are.) This 47th Eve Dallas book just didn't do it for me this time. I'm even getting tired of the characters. I am very much in the minority on Goodreads.
1 stars
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Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie - it takes quite a while for the murder to happen and when it does you're secretly happy. Nowadays Mrs. Boynton would be labeled narcissistic/npd/sociopath, but she's just plain evil. She has her entire family under her thumb and has brought them to Israel and Petra perhaps just to show them how much. When she dies, everyone is under suspicion and it's up to Hercules Poirot to show the way.
3.5 stars
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Live Long and ... What I Learned Along the Way by William Shatner David Fisher - not so much an autobiography as it is Shatner's philosophy of life. Don't die, always say yes, and live passionately. He reveals himself to be a lonely man who has found happiness with his dogs, horses, and 4th wife. A short book and yet somewhat repetitious, I found myself skimming a little towards the end.
2 stars
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Parker Pyne Investigates by Agatha Christie - a collection of short stories featuring Parker Pyne, a man who advertises that he can provide happiness. Mr Pyne believes he know much about people due to his previous life as a statistician. He helps unhappy wives and husbands realize they are happier with each other and provides a little excitement for people living dull lives. In the later stories he also solves some mysteries.
3 stars
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Murder in Three Acts by Agatha Christie - a Hercules Poirot mystery in which Poirot is absent for about two thirds of the book. A man dies at a cocktail party and there is no reason to suspect anything but poor health and advanced age. But suppose it was murder? What was the reason? Then another man dies in much the same way who was also at the party. This is definitely murder. But for what reason? Three amateur detectives bumble about until at last Poirot steps in.
4 stars
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Sept 9 - 15, 2018
All by Agatha Christie
Poirot Investigates - the first collection of Hercules Poirot short stories. Always his little grey cells solve the mystery and Hastings is hopelessly out of the loop. I'm always amused at Hastings, he's so clueless he even puts in writing how clueless he is.
3.5 stars
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The Secret of Chimneys - Anthony Cade does a favor for a friend (and gets paid for it) that plunges him into political intrigue and murder. The manuscript he's delivering seems to be wanted by a lot of people. And the blackmail letters he tries to return send him to Chimneys, an estate where a secret political meeting is being held. I found this humorous as well as intriguing although the end was a trifle unbelievable.
3.5 stars
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The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - a woman commits suicide and the doctor attending her can think of no reason. He soon learns from his friend Roger Ackroyd that she was being blackmailed and was calling off their engagement. He leaves Ackroyd reading a letter that may contain the name of the blackmailer. The next morning Ackroyd is found murdered in his locked study. Fortunately, the doctor's new neighbor is none other than Hercules Poirot come to the country for his retirement. The way Christie writes about gossip in a small village is amusing. And of course everyone is a suspect before the story is done.
4 stars
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The Big Four - Hastings has just arrived in England with the intention of surprising Poirot but finds Poirot about to leave for South America. He has been offered a large sum of money to investigate a case there. Their meeting is interrupted by a dying man clutching a piece of paper with the number 4 on it. Poirot has suspected that there is an evil group planning disruptions around the globe and he becomes vigorous in his pursuit. This one drags on a bit and at times seems like some of the chapters were short stories put into the book.
3 stars
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The Seven Dials Mystery - another book about a secret group. This time we're back at the country house of Chimneys, with the daughter of the house taking the lead. A young man is found murdered in his bed and he may have stumbled on the identity of of someone trying to steal some scientific papers. Young people behaving foolhardy with some romance thrown in.
3 stars
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The Mysterious Mr Quin - a collections of short stories featuring Harley Quin and his friend Mr Satterthwaite. Quin shows up at odd times, usually a few years after a mysterious death. He seems to have the ability to make people rethink what they thought at the time of the death and realize what really happened. Mr Satterthwaite begins to look forward to his appearances because they mean something interesting is about to happen. Mr Quin also seems to appear and disappear without anyone seeing him. These are almost as much fantasies as mysteries and I'm a little freaked about Mr Quin, especially the last story.
3 stars
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The Sittaford Mystery - a group of people in a snowbound house play a game of table turning ( rather like using a ouija board) and the answers indicate an acquaintance has died. His best friend feels uneasy and takes off in the snowstorm to walk the six miles into town. There he finds the man murdered. Suspicion immediately falls on the man's nephew. The heroine in this book is the nephew's fiancee, she is determined to find the truth. Suspicion falls on everyone in turn and the answer was a surprise to me.
3.5 stars
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The Thirteen Problems - six people at a dinner party, including Miss Marple, take turns telling mysteries they personally know about and were unsolved at the time. They are always astonished when Miss Marple gives the right answer every time, usually because of a seemingly mundane but similar incident in her village. I like these more cerebral mysteries, they're rather restful after all the toing and froing of most detective stories.
3.5 stars
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The Hound of Death - twelve short stories, most of them dealing with paranormal mysteries. The best of the bunch is Witness for the Prosecution, which became a movie. Some of them I just didn't get.
2 stars
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Lord Edgeware Dies - Lord Edgeware is killed soon after his estranged wife announces she will kill him for not granting her a divorce. She is seen at his house just hours before his body is discovered. There's just one problem, she was at a dinner party with twelve other people and could not have committed the crime. Hercule Poirot must exercise his little grey cells a great deal to solve this one. I thought this one quite clever.
4 stars
Poirot Investigates - the first collection of Hercules Poirot short stories. Always his little grey cells solve the mystery and Hastings is hopelessly out of the loop. I'm always amused at Hastings, he's so clueless he even puts in writing how clueless he is.
3.5 stars
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The Secret of Chimneys - Anthony Cade does a favor for a friend (and gets paid for it) that plunges him into political intrigue and murder. The manuscript he's delivering seems to be wanted by a lot of people. And the blackmail letters he tries to return send him to Chimneys, an estate where a secret political meeting is being held. I found this humorous as well as intriguing although the end was a trifle unbelievable.
3.5 stars
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The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - a woman commits suicide and the doctor attending her can think of no reason. He soon learns from his friend Roger Ackroyd that she was being blackmailed and was calling off their engagement. He leaves Ackroyd reading a letter that may contain the name of the blackmailer. The next morning Ackroyd is found murdered in his locked study. Fortunately, the doctor's new neighbor is none other than Hercules Poirot come to the country for his retirement. The way Christie writes about gossip in a small village is amusing. And of course everyone is a suspect before the story is done.
4 stars
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The Big Four - Hastings has just arrived in England with the intention of surprising Poirot but finds Poirot about to leave for South America. He has been offered a large sum of money to investigate a case there. Their meeting is interrupted by a dying man clutching a piece of paper with the number 4 on it. Poirot has suspected that there is an evil group planning disruptions around the globe and he becomes vigorous in his pursuit. This one drags on a bit and at times seems like some of the chapters were short stories put into the book.
3 stars
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The Seven Dials Mystery - another book about a secret group. This time we're back at the country house of Chimneys, with the daughter of the house taking the lead. A young man is found murdered in his bed and he may have stumbled on the identity of of someone trying to steal some scientific papers. Young people behaving foolhardy with some romance thrown in.
3 stars
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The Mysterious Mr Quin - a collections of short stories featuring Harley Quin and his friend Mr Satterthwaite. Quin shows up at odd times, usually a few years after a mysterious death. He seems to have the ability to make people rethink what they thought at the time of the death and realize what really happened. Mr Satterthwaite begins to look forward to his appearances because they mean something interesting is about to happen. Mr Quin also seems to appear and disappear without anyone seeing him. These are almost as much fantasies as mysteries and I'm a little freaked about Mr Quin, especially the last story.
3 stars
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The Sittaford Mystery - a group of people in a snowbound house play a game of table turning ( rather like using a ouija board) and the answers indicate an acquaintance has died. His best friend feels uneasy and takes off in the snowstorm to walk the six miles into town. There he finds the man murdered. Suspicion immediately falls on the man's nephew. The heroine in this book is the nephew's fiancee, she is determined to find the truth. Suspicion falls on everyone in turn and the answer was a surprise to me.
3.5 stars
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The Thirteen Problems - six people at a dinner party, including Miss Marple, take turns telling mysteries they personally know about and were unsolved at the time. They are always astonished when Miss Marple gives the right answer every time, usually because of a seemingly mundane but similar incident in her village. I like these more cerebral mysteries, they're rather restful after all the toing and froing of most detective stories.
3.5 stars
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Hound of Death - twelve short stories, most of them dealing with paranormal mysteries. The best of the bunch is Witness for the Prosecution, which became a movie. Some of them I just didn't get.
2 stars
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Lord Edgeware Dies - Lord Edgeware is killed soon after his estranged wife announces she will kill him for not granting her a divorce. She is seen at his house just hours before his body is discovered. There's just one problem, she was at a dinner party with twelve other people and could not have committed the crime. Hercule Poirot must exercise his little grey cells a great deal to solve this one. I thought this one quite clever.
4 stars
Sunday, September 9, 2018
Sept 2 - 8, 2018
Have Dog, Will Travel: A Poet's Journey with an Exceptional Labrador by Stephen Kuusisto - the author tells the story of his first guide dog and how that dog opened up a whole new world to him. Raised to act like he didn't have a disability, he was finding it increasingly difficult to navigate. Getting a guide dog later in life gave him a confidence he had never had. An interesting look at the process of training the dog's owner as well as the dog. He also has some thoughts on the proliferation of "service" dogs now.
4 stars
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High Treason by John Gilstrap - the first lady has been kidnapped and the powers that be don't want the nation to know for fear of panic. So Johnathan Graves and his team have been called in to do what they do best, find her and neutralize the kidnappers. But of course things are not as simple as it seems and the kidnapping plot may have been instigated at the highest level. And it might be a cover up for a terrorist plot. Lots of gun talk, I skipped whole pages of descriptions, the author does love his guns. No more character development and in fact, one major character isn't even in this book. I'm going to skip the rest of the series and read the last book, the one that interested me in the series in the first place.
3 stars
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The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie - a woman is found poisoned in her locked bedroom and everyone immediately suspects her new husband. Fortunately, Hercules Poirot is in town and is introduced to the case by his old acquaintance Hastings, a guest at Styles. The story is told by Hastings and even in his telling he seems oblivious to his ineptitude. Lots of red herrings and eventually everyone is under suspicion at one time or another. One advantage of getting older is the ability to reread books without remembering the outcome. I have decided to try to reread Christie's books in order and this is the first, published in 1920.
4 stars
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The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie - two childhood friends meet by chance and since neither have any job prospects decide to live a life of adventure by offering to do unusual jobs for people. They soon find themselves embroiled in a scheme to bring down the government of England. There's a missing document, a missing girl, an American millionaire, and several shadowy characters all involved. Published in 1922, this is the first Tommy and Tuppence novel by Christie, and I do find their bright young things personas a little grating. It's very much in keeping with the times, though, and is muted by the effort of trying to figure out who the elusive Mr Brown is.
4 stars
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Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie - Hercules Poirot receives a letter from a man in France begging him to see him as he is in great distress and fear for his life. When Poirot arrives, the man is already dead and authorities are on the scene. They are awaiting the arrival of one of France's greatest detectives. It's amusing to see this man and Poirot spar knowing that Poirot sees the true pictures. The usual red herrings and tangled love stories.
4 stars
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The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie - after her father dies, Anne Beddelfield goes to London in search of independence and adventure. When a man falls to his death on the train line she's more interested in the doctor who seems to be searching him rather than helping. A slip of paper leads her to take a ship to South Africa and she is suddenly in a mystery with death and missing diamonds. Just a thought on reading the first four books: people either fall in love with astonishing swiftness or come to an agonizing and thick-headed conclusion that they are in love. I don't remember ever reading this book. I may have missed it in the days before Google and the internet.
4.5 stars
4 stars
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High Treason by John Gilstrap - the first lady has been kidnapped and the powers that be don't want the nation to know for fear of panic. So Johnathan Graves and his team have been called in to do what they do best, find her and neutralize the kidnappers. But of course things are not as simple as it seems and the kidnapping plot may have been instigated at the highest level. And it might be a cover up for a terrorist plot. Lots of gun talk, I skipped whole pages of descriptions, the author does love his guns. No more character development and in fact, one major character isn't even in this book. I'm going to skip the rest of the series and read the last book, the one that interested me in the series in the first place.
3 stars
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The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie - a woman is found poisoned in her locked bedroom and everyone immediately suspects her new husband. Fortunately, Hercules Poirot is in town and is introduced to the case by his old acquaintance Hastings, a guest at Styles. The story is told by Hastings and even in his telling he seems oblivious to his ineptitude. Lots of red herrings and eventually everyone is under suspicion at one time or another. One advantage of getting older is the ability to reread books without remembering the outcome. I have decided to try to reread Christie's books in order and this is the first, published in 1920.
4 stars
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The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie - two childhood friends meet by chance and since neither have any job prospects decide to live a life of adventure by offering to do unusual jobs for people. They soon find themselves embroiled in a scheme to bring down the government of England. There's a missing document, a missing girl, an American millionaire, and several shadowy characters all involved. Published in 1922, this is the first Tommy and Tuppence novel by Christie, and I do find their bright young things personas a little grating. It's very much in keeping with the times, though, and is muted by the effort of trying to figure out who the elusive Mr Brown is.
4 stars
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Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie - Hercules Poirot receives a letter from a man in France begging him to see him as he is in great distress and fear for his life. When Poirot arrives, the man is already dead and authorities are on the scene. They are awaiting the arrival of one of France's greatest detectives. It's amusing to see this man and Poirot spar knowing that Poirot sees the true pictures. The usual red herrings and tangled love stories.
4 stars
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The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie - after her father dies, Anne Beddelfield goes to London in search of independence and adventure. When a man falls to his death on the train line she's more interested in the doctor who seems to be searching him rather than helping. A slip of paper leads her to take a ship to South Africa and she is suddenly in a mystery with death and missing diamonds. Just a thought on reading the first four books: people either fall in love with astonishing swiftness or come to an agonizing and thick-headed conclusion that they are in love. I don't remember ever reading this book. I may have missed it in the days before Google and the internet.
4.5 stars
Sunday, September 2, 2018
Aug 26 - Sep 1, 2018
The Girl in the Woods by Gregg Olsen - a human foot is found in the woods during a school field trip and coroner Birdy Waterman and detective Kendall Stark can only wait until the rest of the body is found. Meanwhile, a man is poisoned and it looks like his wife may have done this before. Set in Port Orchard, Wa and the surrounding area, this is the only redeemable feature of the book. The author, a white male, makes his main character a female Makah Indian. Which is remarked on over and over. He also seems to have a hangup about lesbians, I had to check the copyright to see if this was written 20 years ago. Too graphic and a yucky sex scene that the characters didn't want in their heads and neither did I. This is what I get when I download a book from the library when I really want to read something. The first in a series I won't be continuing.
1 star
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Rescued by David Rosenfelt - a truck is found at a rest stop full of rescue dogs and a dead driver. Andy Carpenter, part time lawyer and founder of a dog rescue operation, is called to help deal with the dogs. He gets an odd phone call from his wife and when he arrives home she greets him with the news that her ex-boyfriend is there, he's confessed to the murder, but claims it was self-defense. Andy reluctantly takes the case, which turns out to have many layers. The 17th in the series.
3 stars
1 star
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Rescued by David Rosenfelt - a truck is found at a rest stop full of rescue dogs and a dead driver. Andy Carpenter, part time lawyer and founder of a dog rescue operation, is called to help deal with the dogs. He gets an odd phone call from his wife and when he arrives home she greets him with the news that her ex-boyfriend is there, he's confessed to the murder, but claims it was self-defense. Andy reluctantly takes the case, which turns out to have many layers. The 17th in the series.
3 stars
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