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

Sandy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

I am reading, and enjoying it, but finding I'm not reading it avidly. Might have the names straight. Fandorin's 'conversion' to Japanese adds an interesting element.

In US: is $1 (not this edition)

Welcome Mya. Your life sounds very different mine (big city 'girl') with a single language.

Judy wrote: "Ooh, sounds intriguing, Sandy. I'll look forward to hearing your verdict when you finish it."

Verdict is I did not finish . Got to the halfway point, was confused, read the reviews and decided I might never know what was happening.

Then became available. (Still waiting for the new St Cyr that has been 'in transit' for over a week!). And I should be moving on to our buddy reads.

As expressed many times in these threads, no time for so-so reads with many winners waiting.

I rather like Judy's humorous suggestion: My / Our Little Grey Cell?

Judy wrote: "Good question about whether he was actually Corinna's cousin, Sandy - I wondered if we would have a reveal that he was actually an imposter, especially as she had never met him before.

It's also m..."

He had his own use for her houses; not to his advantage if they were desirable properties.

Looking at the cover - who is the girl on the phone? Our heroine has brown hair and didn't do a lot of calling.

I was also upset about the cat. So unnecessary.

This was a reread and I remembered the cousin was the bad guy. Was he actually her cousin or had he killed him for control of the property at some point? He used a variety of names but must have kept his real name for trustee if he was her cousin.

Collier is going to have to improve his detecting skills without the American's help.

Jackie wrote: "I am in the process of buying a small house and I can't help thinking about naming it, since I have always wanted a house with a name, as if I lived in a village in one of Christie's novels.

The ..."

Not a problem! Nice to have a house with a name though the post office will demand an address.

Susan wrote: "Yes, it was definitely a thing wasn't it - growing large vegetables for the summer show! Very competitive, and I think we've seen these things in many a GA book. Who grew the biggest marrow, made t..."

Sometimes leading to murder!

I am reading The Mystery of the Crooked Man. It is filled with blatant Christie references without ever using her name. The protagonist is rather unlikable but interesting and humorously snide. Mixed feelings but I plan to persist.

I wonder if the author had to get permission from the Christie estate. So far the grandson has not been portrayed favorably.

It is fun to see how many references I can find. I know I am missing many. Almost wish I owned a copy I could highlight.

My first read of this was long ago and I don't really remember my reaction to the twist. I expect I was very surprised. It is an unforgetable twist and knowing it has colored subsequent reading. Now I try to guess, unsuccessfully, when Poirot suspects his friend. In my opinion, it does not stand up to rereading once the ending is known, unlike most of Christie's books.

Loved the Mah Jung scene. I listened to the book, and it sounds very true-to-life.

Judy wrote: "I'd like to nominate the second book in Clifford Witting's Inspector Charlton series, Midsummer Murder (nothing to do with the similarly named T..."

US: on kindle for $5

Susan wrote: "I can change it if it's too expensive. Is Dorothy Erskine Muir available in the US, Sandy? Shedunnit is looking at her in their new episode and I've never read anything by her. Sh..."

The three you listed are all $4 in the US.

Cluff is $17 on kindle in US, but the BL series is usually avai!able in libraries.

I have started this after listening to the Secret Life of Books podcast recommended earlier. It is a reread, so I listened to the spoilers. Don't remember much of the plot but remember the twist!

I am listening to an audio version narrated by Hastings (who is not in the story). Poirot is still a very 'new' character.

Bobby does not have to chase the murderer through the darkness in this one, so maybe he is feeling his age. He uses the technique of gathering everyone together for the grand reveal, with the exception of the murderer(s). I was surprised by the ending but, looking back, it was properly clued.

Punshon still has strange women in his characters. This takes place entirely outside London and Olive is only vaguely referred to in an offhand comment about girlfriends. I missed her.

Susan in NC wrote: "Thanks, everyone-don’t have a laptop, only an iPad. I think it’s an iPad privacy thing, actually, not remembering the sites visited, so you log in every time."

When I am on a tablet (Amazon's Fire), I use the internet connection to access goodreds.com

My version of the ebook has a short story at the end telling why Bobby joined the police. From Curtis Evans' introduction, there are five short stories and one will be included at the end of the last five books. Nice to revisit young Bobby.

Other than growing older and moving up the ranks he hasn't changed much. He complains about not being able to do as much as he could but still races through woods and pummels the bad guy.

I've barely started myself. So many books....