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

Sandy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Good guess. Money is great motivation.

Icewineanne wrote: "Checked out the current book in the lead, The Religious Body. Our library only has copies of the talking book which are restricted to print disabled persons. Good grief.
Amazon here has the kindle ..."

Amazon has the kindle for $8 in the US (more than I am willing to pay) but my library system has copies, both print and audio. They have many of Aird's books so she must be more popular here.

I've started One by One They Disappeared, that has been on my kindle for a while, in preparation for one of our later reads in the series.

Jan C wrote: "Sandy wrote: "I fell down on my assignment as US moderator! Per Amazon, Two-Way Murder is only available as a pre-order for next April. Sorry for the late warning."

That's just on ..."

You are right about it being available in paper and audio. I am definitely confused. Amazon tells me it is available on kindle when I look at the British Library paperback, then tells me I can't have it yet when I click on the offer. It isn't available in my libraries yet so they must be waiting for the US Poison Pen release.

I fell down on my assignment as US moderator! Per Amazon, Two-Way Murder is only available as a pre-order for next April. Sorry for the late warning.

Judy wrote: "Sandy, if I remember rightly, I've read there is some confusion over the order of the early Maigrets, as one or two of the Penguins have been published in a different order from the original French..."

I looked on Wiki and the first several all had the same publishing year. So far I see no need to read in order, but there was a dramatic development in the first book that affected potential on-going characters (hard to be clear without spoilers).

I found The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: The Untold Story of a Lost World fun and informative.

I recently read The Eight of Swords and one of our buddy reads, The Carter of 'La Providence'. The Maigret confused me by being the third in my omnibus edition, Inspector Maigret Omnibus, Volume 1: Pietr the Latvian; The Hanged Man of Saint-Pholien; The Carter of 'La Providence'; The Grand Banks Café, despite being listed as the second in the series.

I had forgotten how much humor there is in the Fell books. I already have another out from the library.

Rosina wrote: "Judy wrote: "I've finished this and agree with the comments above - it just had too much in it for me! I found it slow to get going and thought the incredibly complicated ending went on for far too..."

I hadn't noticed the butler cliché. Thanks for pointing it out.

Of course the murder victim's "flight" was extraordinarily improbable but it is hard to top some of the GA's murder methods.

I look forward to revisiting Inspector Wilkins sometime and wonder about his future promotions. Will he ever be allowed to return to his beat?

I am about to start The Eight of Swords, a 1934 first edition from my library. Not an exciting first edition however, just a plain library cover with brittle pages.

Tara wrote: "Wow, I didn't realize how far behind I had fallen with the buddy reads here, I have so many more books to catch up on! This was a bit of a slow start for me (I picked it up and read a few chapters,..."

The group read Murder Underground in May of 2018 and you can find our discussion by using the bookshelf. My tiny review: More humor than mystery, it is an enjoyable romp with a slapstick ending.

Jill wrote: "Sandy wrote: "Jill wrote: "I found this to be slightly better than just Ok. It felt for almost half the book that I was eavesdropping on people, and to be honest, if that were the case, I would hav..."

I wonder if we read the same book. My edition: The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy/The Affair of the Mutilated Mink/The Affair of the Thirthy-Nine Cufflinks: An Omnibus Edition

This a somewhat amusing look at GA manor house mysteries. So many twists at the end! I didn't even try to determine who was where, and at what time, during the storm. An enjoyable enough read but never really engaging. I will probably read the next one as I have the omnibus edition, but maybe not immediately.

Nancy Drew led a lot of us down this path. Welcome to the group.

I didn't like this book much, though I might have liked it better on my first read when I gave it two stars. I found the twists unrealistic and felt Tom was only made a murderer so Christie could explain why Peters (aka Boris) was on the scene. I was amused by Mrs. Baker but she had no background and thus no reason to belong to the organization. I did like Hilary / Olive and thought she was well developed and changed realistically during the story.

I did a very quick re-read last night and it is not amoung my favorite Christies. I found all the characters but the lead quite wooden.

Jan C wrote: "I have 3 of these books so I don't think I'll nominate either."

That makes voting hard!

Lady Clementina wrote: "Just started Murder at the Savoy, a netgalley copy; the second in the series but my first time reading it. Set in 1940s London"

I've requested the first in the series, Murder at the Ritz from my library so will be reading it soon.

Susan in NC wrote: "Sandy wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "Beat me to it, Michaela! Ok, I’ll try again with a Catherine Aird. I’ve read the first two, and am up to The Stately Home Murder. Bu..."

I was surprised when I found out Aird is a more recent author as her books seem very GA to me. According to GR she is in her low nineties and still alive. Here's wishing her well.

Since Eric Ambler came up for discussion in the Detective Club article, I will nominate A Coffin for Dimitrios.

" A chance encounter with a Turkish colonel with a penchant for British crime novels leads mystery writer Charles Latimer into a world of sinister political and criminal maneuvers throughout the Balkans in the years between the world wars. Hoping that the career of the notorious Dimitrios, whose body has been identified in an Istanbul morgue, will inspire a plot for his next novel, Latimer soon finds himself caught up in a shadowy web of assassination, espionage, drugs, and treachery. "