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 Amazon Prime. It really doesn't seem worth it to me at this point. At 99 cents, I can't complain about pricing! I seldom pay more than $3-4 for anything on my plain-old Kindle. (It really is quite old!)

I am up for the 13 chocolates. It is only 99 cents on Kindle today! And happy the author will be with us--that is always a nice attraction.

As far as a Marsh for the side read, I suggest Death in Ecstasy, a fairly early Marsh, and one I was planning to read for April anyway. I will volunteer to host that, if others will join in. It sounded like there was a few interested in Marsh, but with not specific one in mind.

I also like Allison's idea of fewer suggestions and first place and second place for main and side reads.

I wish we could have a way to move forward with our reading without so much contention. It is difficult as there are only a fairly small group of regular readers, and many of us don't have to time or interest to read many books that we really aren't interested in.

I find it difficult myself, when we ask for suggestions for a month's read, that there are often 10 or 15 books suggested from our small group, so someone is bound to be unhappy if their favorite is not chosen. And the decision making is quite complicated with all those choices. (Not to mention the difficulty in reading and re-reading individual posts, to see who wanted what.)

I've been racking my brain trying to find an easier process, but it is difficult. Perhaps if individually we posted fewer options, perhaps just one or two, and then a brief explanation of why we think this/these would be a good choice. Then we can have two votes: one for the main read and one for the side read. That way, we would have the top two vote-getters on tap for the month.

Let me know what you think and whether you have any other ideas to remove the contention in our book choices.

It has always been my wish to write a mystery. And now I have the time...

She must have been very, very bitter not to have done what you suggest, Tina. I was thinking, at the end during the struggle, of Christie's Murder is Easy, when the young and strong heroine is in a physical battle with a supposedly frail old lady, and somehow the old lady begins to win. That is hard for me to believe.

There seemed to be a lot of setup ups for recurring characters!
I was also thinking there might be some sort of plot twist with the murderer planning to attack the vicar's FIRST wife, and not knowing that there was a second wife, an attack on Ellie. Oh well, an idea for another book!

There was a teaser of the second book at the end of my kindle version. Perhaps a read for this coming Christmas!

By the way, I didn't solve it. Frankly, I thought the murderer far too frail to do the things she did. I believe some people count on the "crazy people sometimes have great strength" business. Especially a wrestling match with a young and fit Ellie.

I also found very little heat between the two. I expect that to change and perhaps this book will explain why.

I am reading this one fairly quickly and there is another book calling me!
I'm on a brief trip tomorrow and will take this along with me and hopefully finish before Sunday.

I am out of this section and into the next, and it still doesn't seem as though Graham has any passion in him.

I noticed that too, Tina, that there doesn't seem to be a lot of "heat" in the Ellie-Graham relationship. Perhaps more will come later.

It seems of have a feel for being set much earlier than it is, which is present day. I guess there really are English villages where there is a vicar, busybody church ladies, old fashioned gossip and quaint fundraisers.

I'm only going in for the main read, this month.

Glad to move on to this section. I agree with the first. Charlotte is clearly hiding something and is therefore probably in someone's cross hairs. Don't these people ever read (or watch) mysteries? They almost always get killed!

You are right, the Isabelle:Ellie relationship is neither good nor bad. I wonder why, and whether is goes one way or the other, in the future.

And I was surprised to hear of Ellie's first husband. There wasn't any earlier indication of it.

Am I right that this is the first in a series?

Yes, Ellie will be having a hard time with the church ladies. I hope the husband is worth it. No one in the parish seems to be setting her eyes on him though, at least not at this point.

I have no theory yet either. I don't know enough about the author to see how tricky she is! Certainly some of the members of the coffee group/fundraiser are nasty enough, but it seems unlikely they would be murderers. And Michael-John seems to be set up to be Ellie's ally in the village and a recurring character. I'll have to see!

Wow, I'm so sorry. Please take care of yourself, and come back when you can.

I was raised Catholic and Nicole is correct on the All Saints and All Souls days. I'm not sure how widely they are observed in the US, in other denominations. Clearly C of E, as I assume we are discussing here.

And don't forget the other dog, belonging to the dapper guy John-Michael is it? (I'm reading on a Kindle and it is tough to flip back and confirm such things.) To bring a dog to church and have him so well-behaved is amazing! By the way, I'm assuming this guy is gay and lost his partner recently and now has the dog. And it was pointed out that both he and the dog were wearing AIDS ribbons.

Ellie is indeed charming, and with a tough job living up to her predecessor, an apparent paragon for the village!

I'm a few chapters in and already the plot begins. Our heroine is the American wife of a recently widowed English pastor. The atmosphere is nice (the rural English village) and there is a dog as well--never a bad thing, IMHO.

I have English Heaven and have started it. Ready when you are!

Sounds like a plan!