So I’m going to confess up front that I did a very bad thing. When I got about halfway through this, I decided it would be a great idea to spoil myself completely on the ending. I don’t know why I do this. It’s like once a mystery’s got me, I can’t even wait five minutes to find out how it turns out. Wikipedia and the Internet are terrible enablers in this habit of mine. And yes, I’ve done it before, though never to a […]
Mon cher Poirot
After my recent Alex Cross-athon, I felt I needed a palate cleanser. And what better, than to re-read some old favorites, by the grande dame of mystery herself, Agatha Christie? I first discovered Christie when I was about 10 or 11, prowling through my mother’s bookcases for something to read. I guess I had exhausted whatever I had taken home from the Bookmobile – probably Louisa May Alcott’s Eight Cousins or a collection of folktales. The first Christie I read was The Moving Finger. I still have my mom’s paperback, with its lurid […]
Hang onto your mustache cups! Hercule Poirot is in the house!
I like a good, entertaining mystery once in a while. I bought Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express and have read a few scattered short stories. I also watched part of the Poirot series, which included an episode about Murder on the Orient Express, so I knew the story. But there’s just something about reading a mystery novel and watching the clues unfold before your eyes. Read the full review on my blog, and tell me what other Christie books I should read! I […]
The Coffee is Unusually Bitter.
Agatha Christie’s Black Coffee is frothy, mildly offensive (much like hyoscine), and formulaic. The miserly, inventive patriarch of the Amory family has called in Detective Poirot because he suspects someone in his family is attempting to steal a formula that is incredibly important. Poirot shows up, but not before the thief murders Sir Amory as well. There are xenophobic undertones, spy hijinks, bemused spinster aunts, and absolutely nothing of any note. Put together, the book’s parts are entirely underwhelming. Read the rest here!