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

Sandy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

I quite enjoyed this book despite its 'plodding' nature.

My review (with apologies to P D James but I thought of Dalglish when French interacted with his co-workers).

An interesting mystery as we trail behind Inspector French as he follows the clues through many twists and turns, bouncing back and forth between the coasts of Britain and France. The comradery between the policemen, both British and French, is one of the pluses of the book (and contrasts with P D James's detectives who weren't allowed a sense of humor). I expect Crofts' view of the men who need to work together, often under pressure, is more realistic. The book begins and ends on exciting high notes, but the majority is a basic police procedural as they trace leads, usually successfully but often to dead ends.

I also suspected each character in turn. And the war time setting made it a bit more mysterious.

Tara wrote: "I think there is an element of fantasy to these books. In reality, someone traveling to a foreign country with no money and no plans, particularly a single young woman, would probably end up on the..."

I agree that Christie was probably aiming for plausible, or possible, rather than realistic.

I'm half done and while I like the book, plodding is a good description. There is another half to go but I feel it should be wrapped up soon. Evidently I'm wrong. Still I'm not bored and happy to be plodding along with French.

Rosina wrote: "Susan wrote: "I am listening to An Instance of the Fingerpost on Audible, Sandy and enjoying it so far."

I hope you have the unabridged version, with four separate readers. The abridged version is..."

I only see the abridged version available on Audible in the US. It is 5+ hours which is shorter than most Christies.

Gary, sorry you lost your father but your memories of him remain and they sound like good memories. My father also read to me at night and I still think of him when I remember those books (and how he complained if I asked for the same few over and over).

Susan wrote: "I am listening to An Instance of the Fingerpost on Audible, Sandy and enjoying it so far."

Oh, a fourth version! I'll check my libraries.

I've started Mystery in the Channel, so far so good, and finished Love and Death Among the Cheetahs, so I'm nearly current in that series.

I've taken An Instance of the Fingerpost out of the library as I could not possibly cope with the tiny print version I own. It is big! I may need to move to a third version and find an electronic copy.

Susan wrote: "Free
Fortune Favours the Dead (book 1)"

I read and enjoyed this. My short review:

I thought this a great homage to the Nero Wolfe / Archie Goodwin relationship with two very interesting women detectives. Hoping to visit with both of them again.

I've finished Death in Delft and liked it a lot. It is probably more modern in feel (language and characterization) than an historical mystery should be. I found it very readable, liked the main character and the historical figures, Vermeer and Van Leeuwenhoek, added interest. The setting was different, both in location and the religious tensions.

Luckily for me the series is available on Kindle Unlimited in the US. And it was a kindle deal recently.

I also really liked this Bobby Owen book. There were many suspects, lots of very different clues, and strange things to be explained. I missed his earlier boss, Mitchel (?), but Bobby might get a promotion quicker when he is compared to his new boss.

I never caught on to where the necklace was hidden!

I've started Death in Delft and expect it will be another series I want to follow. At least there aren't too many of them (yet).

Judy wrote: "Glad you are enjoying it, Sandy. Did you manage to finish your library book before it vanished? I once tried turning off wifi but sadly the book disappeared anyway after a few hours!"

I'm using a fairly old dumb kindle and keeping it off line has always worked. My problem is forgetting and connecting automatically. And I did finish my book, #7 in Anne Perry's Pitt series. Thanks for asking.

I am half done now, liking it a lot and agree about the complicated plot. I wonder if Punshon will tie all these loose threads together or leave a few hanging. And will I notice any hanging threads?

Judy wrote: "One from today's Bookbub in the UK - Henrietta Who? by Catherine Aird is currently 99p. Second in the Calleshire Chronicles series."

Also in US

I'm reading An Atlas of Extinct Countries, a quick history of 48 countries that are no more. Emphasis on the humor but true (so the blurb says). Each country gets a map, a cause of death, and a couple of pages of its history, so I can polish off a country or two between other reading.

I'm reading a Nero Wolfe take-off: The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe: Parodies and Pastiches Featuring the Great Detective of West 35th Street. So far I've only read the serious pastiches (vs. parodies) and they are quite good. I was going to save the book until I finish the real Wolfe books but life is short.

ChrisGA wrote: "Enjoyed this though i couldn't get my head around her taking off after a man she just met. Fun though improbable adventure."

Victoria was an improbable mix of hard-headed common sense and adventurous daring-do, but fun to follow.

I hope to start soon. I own the kindle version but didn't download it. Now I have a kindle library book that I haven't finished. The due date has past so I can't connect kindle to internet until I'm done. Hate it when the book just disappears.

Abigail wrote: "I can’t explain Canon Avril’s agelessness, but as for Edward being Hal’s grandson and not enough time elapsing between the 1930s and 1960s for that to be true, there’s an intriguing disclaimer at t..."

That is interesting ... and how old would that make Campion and Canon Avril?