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

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

Sorry, but I think I will pass on the May read--I'm all "booked" up, so to speak at this time. I'll likely be back for June, though!

Yes, a good and enjoyable choice. I may (when I have reading time) go back and check out the earlier book.

I knew Milo was going to fix everything, but frankly, it looked shaky there for awhile. And I was surprised to realize what Foster was like. Amory seems to be surrounded by too many very handsome men!

I have to admit that this culprit was not at all on my radar. Nice ending, though, and it all made sense and was fairly plotted!

Well, one can never have too much chocolate.

I did finish last night. Can't wait for the final discussion thread.

I am nearly done. I wanted to finish the book last night, but it kept falling from my hands as I fought off sleep. Just getting ready for the big ball with the famous diamond bait...

Five hats?

I loved the scene with Mrs. Roland! Quite a character like we often find in British mysteries, where someone provides a lot of clues (or perhaps just information?) for the detective, and doesn't require a lot of investigation in the process.

Perhaps it was discussed in the previous book, but who has the money in the Milo-Amory marriage? Or are they both wealthy?

As perhaps the only man in the discussion group, I guess I would have difficulty in defending our gender. Perhaps if I was as handsome and wealthy as Milo and Lord Dunmore, I might be a little different as well! (Or even just the wealthy part!) I'm out to Chapter 11 now and I have to say that Milo, at least, always manages to stay one step ahead of getting caught in something.

I found it interesting how Ms. Weaver managed to limit the potential culprits down to the same group Mrs. Barrington suspected, rather than the whole house full of Lord D's guests. Though, being an Agatha Christie fan, I'm always looking for the innocent "catch"!

Getting a little further in the book now, not quite a third of the way through. Honestly, what a glamorous life Amory leads! You'd think she had a full time job keeping track of Milo.

I wish I had read the previous book; I think that would have helped understand the back story between Amory and Milo.

Started last night. I read the first part of most new books slowly, as I try to grasp who all the characters are.

Mine, too!

I didn't guess the perp, at least not in my first reading. It was kind of a twist, wasn't it. And yes, Miss M, though she solved things, did play a pretty small part. Though her forte is just sitting around talking with people and overhearing things. And processing them properly, of course!

Ah, she went home a little disappointed I expect, that Bertram's was lost as a result of these events. But fortunately, she realizes that nothing lasts forever and change is inevitable.

Nicole, I thought the same thing about the "nobody asked me" business! As far as the Bess character, it is certainly very vivid in the book and in the Hickson adaptation. Not really at all in the McEwan. On the whole, I like her! Christie so often wrote such strong female characters.

I'm reminded of how fairly little Miss M ends up doing in the book, at least in the investigation part. There is a lot of Inspector Davy. It is a good thing that he realizes how much of a help Miss M has been, though, especially in what she has noticed. And so he keeps her involved passively throughout.

The ending is somewhat similar in the book to the Hickson version, but I think it appears more dramatic because it is visual (and aural) in the TV version!