Mark Pghfan’s Comments (group member since Mar 06, 2014)

Mark Pghfan’s comments from the The Parlor PI's group.

I don't have any streaming service, but I have pretty much all of the DVSs of Christie stuff.

Since I'm hosting right now, I'll let someone else start us out.

Oddly enough, it was in the Rutherford version. I can't remember for sure about the McEwan version, though.

We could rotate hosting and have the host pick the book/movie/TV.

I don't have a past list, only my memory!

Let's start the final discussion here, including spoilers.

Were any of you familiar with a tontine before reading this book for the first time? I wasn't, though the first time was a looonnngg time ago!

In this final section, Harold and Alfred have been murdered and only Cedric and Emma remain in the family to inheirit when Luther dies. No doubt we were focussed on them.

I have read reviews of this book where the solution was identified by Miss M "largely by guesswork" rather than facts. Do you think that is the case? Or do you think the evidence pointed directly to one person?

I'm happy with an Agatha year as well! Lots to discuss there.

Yes, Tina, that was well done. It is a tricky business, filming-wise, to give the effect of parallel trains passing one another!

The story progresses--Lucy found the body and there is the question of identification. It seems that it is either Martine, the apparent wife of the deceased Edmund, or Anna Stravinska, a not-so-great dancer in a second-rate ballet company.

One think I've found in the re-reading of the book is the number of changes between it and the adaptations. Most of them pretty minor. Unlike some adaptations, people weren't turned into something completely different. Which changes bothered you most?

I agree. Hardly worthy of a real Lucy!

I think Jill Meager was closer to the Lucy of the book. Ms. Holden was a bit too smarty pants than I thing she should be.

I have the "official" blue ray of the Hickson version, so I expect I have the unedited version. Terrible how A&E and even PBS have cut some of the mysteries to fit their time schedules.

I re-watched the Rutherford version last night and enjoyed it as usual. Compared to the three later movies, the changes were relatively minor. The woman who played Emma just died about a year ago, at 97!

The boy who played Alexander retired when he was very young, but I think he might have had a good career for a longer time.

Although the Rutherford movie is not particularly like the actual book, I do love it and re-watch it frequently.

I like the Hickson version better, though I like the casting in the McEwan version better. I'm not sure about how they resolved the "who gets Lucy business" in the McEwan version.

Absolutely, include the TV and movie versions. There are three!

Though I think we are all familiar with this book and the ending, I thought I'd stick with the plan of one third of the discussion at a time.

I am "reading" this book (re-reading, actually) via CD, with narration by Joan Hickson, which is wonderful.

Miss Marple's friend Elspeth McGillicuddy sees a murder committed while on a train trip to see Miss M. They report the murder various places, but no one seems to believe them. With the help of some of Miss M's posse, she postulates that the body must have been tossed from the train near Rutherford Hall. She engages Lucy Eylesbarrow to get a post there and find the body. Which she does!

We find that the house has been home to a large family, with a cantankerous patriarch.

Now I don't know whether I read this book initially before Hercule Poirot's Christmas, but the similarity of the families seems very striking. Crusty patriarch, only one daughter but a number of sons. Alfred and Harry Lee seem very similar, as do Harold and George Lee, and Cedric and David Lee (both artsy). And only one grandchild. Anyone else think of this?

Happy New Year to us all! The next discussion will be up in a few minutes.

I'll start on Friday, the 2nd. Give you a chance to rest up after New Year's Day!

Do we have a leader for this discussion? I will, if no one else wants to.

You're probably right.

There is only one copy of Manhattans and Murder in our library system and it is currently unavailable. Rats.