Jessica-sim’s Comments (group member since Jan 01, 2016)

Jessica-sim’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Haha I also often fear I have a lot in common with Hastings ;-)

Yes, Adrian wrote about the John Malkovich adaptation in his review. I must say I have some problems picturing that but it sounds intriguing, but I'll read the book first before going on to explore the screen adaptations.

Enjoy all your Spoilers here!

February was such a short month! But most of us raced through the previous Poirot book by now, so we're ready for March. Here we have the ABC murders, the one Poirot episode that always seems to be one when I tune in... must have seen it at least 4 times by now. Looking forward to comparing it to the "real thing".

Enjoy!

Really?? That is intriguing! What's the difference between the versions? Extra paragraph?

Roman Clodia wrote: "Did anyone else think that, at heart, this is similar to the last book, Three Act Tragedy?

Again we have the two lovers as semi-detectives, and the murderer in disguise as a 'working man' whom no..."

Yes, I did spot the likeness between these two books. I also thought that if I hadn't read both so close together, I would probably not have noticed. But that's what I like about reading them all in order, you spot so many more things.

I did wonder about the white coat and about the stuffing he put in his mouth, also... where did he leave things afterwards? Wasn't the toilet searched?

oooohhhh my! Did I completely miss that maid, how did that happen to me? I felt like I was doing such a good job keeping track of things. I was so proud to be ahead of Fournier with my spotting of the 4 ways to blow a dart at someone, super red herring of course...

I was correct in my suspicion of the murderer, but wrong in method and motivation... sigh ;-)

Yes, Tara you're right we read it in that collection of early cases. It is also available as a single story for kindle Judy if your curiosity is piqued ;-)

All is not lost! My mother still hasn't forgiven me for not being interested in her Agatha Christie collection AT ALL, I even vehemently disputed her!all though high school and university even.... And look at me now! ;-)

I so enjoyed the previous Poirot that I already brought this book with me on the train to work on the first day of the month ;-). On my copy's cover the wasp is very prominent, which made me think of the Dr. Who episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp" but that took place in a mansion not on a plane...

Roman Clodia wrote: "I did find it hard to see Sir Charles distilling nicotine poison in his home-made lab - playing a scientist in a play, yes - doing chemistry for real was a bit of a stretch!"

Yes Roman Clodia, I also was raining my eyebrows when the secretary goes on a train journey, takes out a rusty key, climbs a cliff in the dark to open the door to a dusty shed and tadaaa chemistry lab... all is explained.
I must admit that before the find of the lab, Charles had not become a sure suspect in my mind. He was before though when Poirot asked him to stay behind in preparation of the sherry party. But then when he was only asked to play a role... I took the clue the exact opposite way that Poirot did.

Poor Egg!
I loved the detailed attention that this book breaths. Agatha Christie even took the trouble to explain the origins of the nickname "Egg".

I definitely thought that Satterthwaite would be "courting" Egg's mother. They shared a lovely scene.

Oh my, I really enjoyed this one! Might be my favourite so far , although that feels a bit sacrilegious because of Poirot's very small role. It was a very essential role though.

haha Adrian, yes another little challenge awaits us when we are done with Poirot... I really liked Satterthwaite as an amateur detective. Very insightful and critical. Though not necessarily as feminine as he thought himself to be.

I just started Act Three and I am (of course) thoroughly enjoying it. I notice the use of the word "twinkle" a lot. Just now Mr Satterthwaite "twinkled at" Lady Mary. "Twinkling" is a turn of phrase I associate heavily with Miss Marple. In fact, so far, this whole book has a more Miss Marple feel for me. Maybe it's the clergyman, young love and flowers.
Anyone had the same feeling?

Also Judy, good call on the not googling! I made the mistake of googling for a character list. The very first hit was a spoiler, so I gave up on the internet. Luckily, I encountered the spoiler naturally on the very next page... so little damage done ;-)

Judy wrote: "- a pity Christie didn't put lists of the characters at the start, as Ngaio Marsh does! "

Yes,I agree with that! I also contemplated making a list myself, maybe I still should now that I'm not so far in yet... yes good idea! thanks for the inspiration Judy ;-)

I've just got mine in the mail (finally!), the upside is it smells very nice new book-like. I'll start right away.

Best wishes for 2019 everyone! And thank you, again, for joining me in the exploration of all Poirot books. Over the last year, I've changed from "I've read ALL Agatha Christie stories, except Poirot because that's not my cup of tea" ... to "Oh my, have you read the Poirot books? They are such fun!" haha. Living proof that you have to personally invest time into something before you should make judgements.

For this year we have scheduled:

2019:
January - Three Act Tragedy 1935
February - Death in the Clouds 1935
March - The ABC Murders 1936
April - Murder in Mesopotamia 1936
May - Cards on the Table 1936
June - Yellow Iris (short story) 1937
AND Murder in the Mews (four novellas) 1937
July - Dumb Witness 1937
August - Death on the Nile 1937
September - Appointment with Death 1938
Octobre - Sad Cypress 1940
November - One, Two Buckle my Shoe 1940
December - Evil Under the Sun 1941
AND Christmas themed one! Hercule Poirot's Christmas 1938

Feel free to join in whenever you want or go back to discussions of any book we have previously read.

Indulge in discussing all spoilers and interesting plots twists here!

Hello, welcome to another year of reading Poirot books! We start off with Three Act Tragedy, which solely judging by the delivery time of my book order might not be the most popular in the series. Or alternatively, it is so popular that it's hard to keep up with the orders of course...

It has a nice classic plot for us: we have a dinner party in Cornwall and a poisoned Reverend.

Please keep this thread spoiler free.

Enjoy!

Yes, that is rather a leap isn't it? Somewhere in the book Poirot says that he likes this case because they are all shut off from the outside world, and they cannot rely on additional research so they need to use the grey cells only.

It must have been a big story in the newspaper. Perhaps upon reading that name, Poirot's encyclopedic detective brain had enough information (and confidence...) already to make the connection.

Yes, I am enjoying Molly Thynne. She reads very easily, it has the exact Cozy Mystery Feel I like.

I also somehow really like to read almost any book that's set on a train. Maybe because for my home-work commute I spend 45 minutes each way on a train, and I every time lament the nice manners of your co-travellers in earlier days.... but well maybe with all the murder mysteries... I should rethink that...