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

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

A new year and new Poirot! And what does January bring us? Five Little Pigs.

Five Little Pigs is unusual in the way that the same events are retold from the viewpoints of five people present on the day of the murder sixteen years earlier.

I do believe this story is completely new to me! Enjoy :-)

Oh my! I am personally running so late with the Poirot's for December 2019... but that doesn't take away the joy of preparing my reading for next year!

I am still permitting myself the luxury of buying one book per month and that book is the Poirot we are reading then. Therefore my home "library" (ahum 4 Ikea Billy shelves, a desk, an aquarium and a very comfortable chair) is a little unbalanced with 2 complete shelves dedicated to Agatha Christie already as I already owned most of Agatha's non-Poirot books before we set out on this adventure.

Can you believe we are embarking on the third and last year of reading Poirot? Whatever will we do in 2021 ;-)

Our previous Poirot discussions remain open, so feel free to drop in whenever you want. For 2020 we will read:

January - Five Little Pigs 1943
February -The Hollow 1946
March - The Labours of Hercules (short stories) 1947
April - Taken at the Flood 1948
May - Mrs McGinty's Dead 1952
June - After the Funeral 1953
July - Hickory Dickory Dock 1955
August - Dead Man's Folly 1956
September - Cat Among the Pigeons 1959
October - The Clocks 1963 AND Hallowe'en Party 1969
November - Third Girl 1966
December - Elephants Can Remember 1972
AND Christmas themed one The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (short stories) 1960 not published in the USA

I am undecided where to fit in the last one:

At long last (fittingly) - Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case 1975

perhaps January 2021 just to not quit cold turkey? Or add it as an extra in December?

I'm saving this one till Christmas, though Tara's comment about it not having much of a christmas feel disappoints me somewhat ;-)

I enjoyed your musings about ideal Poirot holiday locations. I agree he would appreciate a location with good opportunities for people watching. Nothing too active and nothin too boring. That's actually why I think cruises or train journeys would fit him pretty well.

I'm now starting this one, I have read it before and think I know exactly what will happen ... haha I will be probably be completely wrong about that.

I'm reading 'N or M' by Agatha Christie at the moment and could not put my finger on what it was reminding me off.... Until Tuppence steps out of her hotel onto a fellow guest knitting. They are knitting all the time! Needles all around such a dangerous place! Haha no doubt the rest of the book will be greatly different, but the country side hotel with knitting guests and murders all around... Check

Yes! I'm looking forward to it

I agree with all the above! I tried to sleuth along with Poirot but doubt I actually had all the information to solve it myself. I was convinced the shoe buckle meant swapped identities, never once did I think oh right the one pair was new...and the other one old...

I think neither Raikes nor Carter had actually anything to do with it at all.

I loved the scenes with Barnes and him walking away chuckling to himself that he was sure he hadn't had a wife. Do you think Poirot had already figured iut he was the infamous Chapman?

I really enjoyed the book, but wasn't really satisfied with the plot or maybe my own sleuthing skills were not up to par! Haha will go see what the spoiler thread makes of it.

I really enjoyed the book, but wasn't really satisfied with the plot or maybe my own sleuthing skills were not up to par! Haha will go see what the spoiler thread makes of it.

Judy wrote: "I'm having lots of dental problems right now so am not too sure about this one at the moment!"

I understand! But it's actually quite fun to see that the fear of going to the dentist, complete with pretending the horrible toothache magically went away just before the appointment and all the thought processes one goes through in the waiting room, is the same for people in many different walks of life (and time periods) Perhaps knowing that Agatha Christie would feel exactly the same as we do, will make our next visit slightly better ;-)

Yes.... Dentists.... And such a confrontational cover... Perhaps I should make my long overdue check up appointment to get rid of that worry everytime I pick the book up hahaha

Enjoy your spoilers here!

Already book nr 23! Enjoy :)

Glad you enjoyed the TV episode! I don't have access to itv (Netherlands) unfortunately... But the ancient technology of DVDs still works! ;)

I just ransacked my mother's DVD collection to steel some Poirots and this one it in there too! So do let me know what you thought of the episode Judy. I'll watch it sometime this weekend.

Read it in one evening after some reluctance with the first 20 or so pages. Especially after chapter 6, with the letter collection speeding things up, I found it very enjoyable!

I think I mixed this story up with another but don't quite know which one... I was right about the aunt from overseas pretending to be someone else but thought Mary's adoptive father had to be in on the scheme too.

I'm really enjoying the change in pace with the letters in chapter 6.

I would like to get Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon off my TBR list. I have a pristine copy in my bookcase (at least 2 years already ...)

October already how time flies! Saturday I went to the library to get this one, they only had a translated version and I had to triple check if it really was the correct one. Translated back to English from the Dutch the title changes to: Quilty in ones one eyes.
I wonder how these two titles will hold up in the end!

That's interesting Tania!

I just started the audiobook with Hugh Fraser and it starts off with a bang allright! "You see don't you that she got to be killed!" oh my...