Sandy’s Comments (group member since Dec 14, 2015)

Sandy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Two Christmas books for $3 in the US


Hercule Poirot's Christmas



The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories

This was a reread for me but all I remembered was the location of the corpse, not the identity of the victim nor the of the killer. It was interesting how much of the solution was revealed in the first chapter, but not recognized (at least by me). The location of the body was stated, but the reason for the air gun and Betty's final visit to the children were more hidden. Good work by the author. I may reread that chapter before the library reclaims the ebook.

I still don't like GA's with drug themes but this one was very well done. I was pleased that Andrew escaped and intended to make good use of his life (which might be short!). I liked him.

In the US, Slow Horses is $3.

As part of my Christmas books, I read Hercule Poirot's Silent Night. This was my first read of Hannah's take on Poirot and I have mixed feelings. In an attempt to judge the book on its own merits, I alternated between trying to ignore that the main character was Poirot and that the author was not Christie. Neither method worked well. As a mystery, the book was fine until the resolution which seemed to drop out of nowhere.

I have started this now and, except for the snowman, I remember nothing. At least the US title only spoils the first chapter.

Welcome! I remember all those childhood series fondly. And that sounds like an exciting ten years.

Welcome Ellen. Mysteries are a pleasant escape; nothing like an imaginary murder to take your mind of the real problems.

I also dip into Mrs. Pollifax here and there, always on audio. I file them under mystery (I don't have an espionage shelf) though it is hard to take either the mystery or the resolution seriously. Not a series to inspire discussion or analysis, but a lot of fun.

Finished Murder Before Evensong and am looking forward to my library purchasing the next in the series. My short review:

A good cozy mystery with an excellent cast and setting. I found the interactions among the residents every bit as interesting as the murder.

I will add that I was a tiny bit disappointed in the resolution and one character I was hoping to see more of won't be back.

Sarah wrote: "Frustration abounds! I thought I had an old PB copy of Nicholas Blake's "The Case of the Abominable Snowman," but I have only "Murder With Malice," "A Question of Proof," and ""The Morning After De..."

The group read Thus Was Adonis Murdered and the rest of the (much too) short series a couple of years ago. I loved them.

I have an unwieldly number of library books right now; some are Christmas reads as I went a bit wild with my requests and others are long-standing requests for new books. Those are due back much too soon, without renewals, so many of our mid-month reads will be late.

My current read is Murder Before Evensong, the start of a new series with a vicar (Canon actually) as the detective in a cozy British village. The author is Reverend Richard Coles, who I never heard of, but his bio implies he is well known across the pond. While the time period is not mentioned it seems set in the 1980 - 1990's. Interesting characters.

This book was one of the first due back to the library, so it moved to the top of the list. The two main characters make such a cute couple.

Another book I hope to get to soon! I always enjoy time spent with Bobby and Olive.

I hope to get to this sometime this month. In the US it is commonly titled The Corpse in the Snowman.

I read this eight (!) years ago and will not be re-reading. Doubt I'll remember any of the stories but will eagerly read your comments in case I do.

I have it out of the library and am looking forward to my re-read.

Glad to have you join us for a group read. I agree that it is good the MacDonald books do not have to be read in order with over 40 of them and random reprinting. There are a few GA series that follow the detective's life (Campion and Wimsey / Harriet Vane) but it is much more common today. Imagine if Christie had tried to follow Poirot's life: he started post-retirement and then went on for years and years.

Susan_MG wrote: "Taking a break from fictional detectives, police and spies to read Straight On Til Morning: The life of Beryl Markham. I read Markham’s book, West Into The Night years ago and was intrigued when I ..."

I quite liked West with the Night when I read it years ago.

Greg wrote: "I'm reading a Christie short story collection, The Hound of Death, from 1933."

A collection of Christie that I wasn't aware of and very few of the stories sound familiar. Good find.

Being a stickler for reading at least the first book in a series before any others, I am reading The Plague Court Murders because I requested the second book which is Christmas related. After complaining about locked room mysteries with our Lorac read, this and the second in the series, are both in that genre. The detective in the series (who doesn't appear until the second half) is an amusing addition. This one has no footsteps in the mud; the second features no footsteps in the snow.