Tara ’s Comments (group member since Jul 12, 2017)

Tara ’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Susan wrote: "We will announce the list once we have all decided on the choice of books, and the order. We are hoping to include some lesser known novels.

As usual, I will set up the challenge later in the yea..."

I'm not loving PD James as much as I love Christie (I don't know that she can ever be toppled), but I love that this group has provided the challenge to read an author that I might never otherwise explore. So many of these authors get lumped into one big bucket, but their work is so different and give a unique experience to readers.

Considering some of her most popular (And Then There Were None) and some of her favorite books (Towards Zero) would fall into this category, there should definitely be some winners here!

Judy wrote: "Tara wrote: "I haven't read this one yet, but plan to circle back to Christie's non Poirot books once we finish out our buddy reads...."

Our next challenge should be ideal for you, Tara. :)"

You have just made my day Judy!

Excited to see Elizabeth Peters on the list--I've been wanting to read her books for awhile. I would be interested in trying Heyers, but as I haven't read her stuff before, it comes more from an open mind than a specific desire.

Lady Clementina wrote: "Now I'm almost done with The Man in the Brown Suit, again more adventure than mystery proper but I'm enjoying these lighter reads at the moment. This one I've completely forgotten, so don't really ..."

I haven't read this one yet, but plan to circle back to Christie's non Poirot books once we finish out our buddy reads.

Lady Clementina wrote: "I've been revisiting Christie lately, most recently The Mystery of the Blue Train, great fun, though not the best of her puzzles."

I believe this was her least favorite book (or one of them). Given that it was written at the same time as the breakdown of her first marriage, I can understand why.

Jessica wrote: "If this one is turned into a TV episode I do hope they made it as funny as possible! Poirot pottering about in his 'guest house', disinterring the telephone from under a pile clutter haha"

Unfortunately the later Suchet Poirots were darker in tone, and even the bits that were humorous in the book came across as depressing in the episode. Margaret Rutherford did a Miss Marple movie, Murder Most Foul, very loosely based on the plot, which I enjoyed. Not authentic MM to many, but still entertaining.

Enjoying Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. A lot of characters to juggle initially, but once the story begins to build, they blend in well together.

Rosina wrote: "Judy wrote: "I think it does feel slightly odd when Charles is desperately hoping he will be cleared in the trial, but he seems to be forgetting that, if he is, there will be a second trial lined u..."

The second trial would have been complicated if he had been cleared of the first. The defense could claim he wasn't guilty of the first murder, and therefore would have no reason to kill the blackmailer. After all, they didn't have proof of that, only assumptions that it happened.
Uncle Andrew's case did seem the weaker of the two, at least in terms of concrete evidence. As I said in an earlier post, eyewitness testimony is very unreliable, and there have been several cases subsequently overturned with DNA evidence when ET was the linchpin of the case. Of course such science wasn't available at the time, but there was at least a chance for Charles that enough doubt had been introduced to find him not guilty.

Rosina wrote: "I suspect that it would be normal practice not to proceed with further murder trials (unlike a single trial for more than one murder) after sentence of death was passed. These were carried out quit..."

Interesting Rosina. Do you know if there is a difference in the burden of proof needed (i.e. preponderance of evidence vs. beyond a reasonable doubt) between an inquest and a trial?

The most interesting aspect to me was how well-planned and air-tight Charles's first murder appeared to be when presented from his perspective, and how obvious his guilt was when presented from the police's perspective. I thought it odd that they didn't bother with the second trial; was this consistent with the courts in England at the time? I believe in the US they would have proceeded with both cases for the sake of justice, and to be able to close out the cases conclusively. Personally I did not think the evidence in the first case went beyond circumstantial evidence (eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable, and the defense poked many holes in its likelihood), but Charles's ship was certainly sunk with the second murder. How did he imagine they wouldn't be able to connect the pipe and rope that he used from his own workshop? Very sloppy indeed.
This also reminded me of Crime and Punishment to the extent that the guilt of the crime and the anxiety of being caught can be exhausting to the point of being debilitating, even for a selfish prig like Charles.

I'm glad to see I was not alone in having trouble with first third of the book, but as the suspense and anxiety builds, its hard not to get sucked in. It took me 2 weeks to get through the first few chapters, and then 2 days to finish! (The pending library due date certainly helped in that timetable). Its inevitable to sympathize to a degree with the killer, even though we are certain of his guilt, which is an odd feeling when you are used to rooting for the detective. Aside from the murder, I felt quite sorry for the fellow with regard to his love interest. She really didn't seem particularly interested in him, and he was rather oblivious to this fact.

I was also very confused by the cold case identities, but considering about half were discarded at some point along the way, the either or of Eva Kane and Lily Gamboll made it a bit easier to follow in the final third of the novel. My print copy did have a character list in the front, but as I listened to half of it on audiobook, it didn't help much.

I agree with the group that the humor in the book was its real strength. Poor Poirot wanting to make a big splash as "the detective" sniffing around, and half the people didn't even know who he was! I did find it rather sad in the beginning that he felt so bored and alone, but only lamented his absent friend Hastings because there was no one there to admire his brilliance.

Susan in NC wrote: "I’m really looking forward to this, but won’t be able to start for a few days. I thought I had read all the Poirots years ago, but I’ve realized I don’t think I read the later ones - so each is a n..."

Hugh Fraser's old lady voice is so humorous. One of the many reasons I so enjoy listening to his reading, typically putting one on right before bed to help lull me into sleep.

Ariadne Oliver and Poirot's misadventures in the Summerhayes's boarding house were my favorite aspects of this book. Much needed comedic relief from a rather gruesome murder.

Listed in the Kindle Deals thread is Time To Be In Earnest: A Fragment Of Autobiography ($1.99 in the US).

Getting a bit ahead of myself for our buddy read, I just started Dead Man's Folly by Agatha Christie, so that I can finish it before watching the Peter Ustinov film which is due to arrive with my next Netflix DVD delivery. I'm a fan of Ariadne Oliver, particularly in the respects to which she resembles her maker. Hopefully I'll remember enough details when the group gets to it in August.

I am also listening to The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart, primarily because I had enjoyed The Man in Lower Ten so much. Unfortunately I'm not clicking with this one. It feels more dated than the latter book, despite only being published a year or two earlier. The narrator is also terrible, sounding far too much like a computer generated voice to connect with her. I am hopeful I will enjoy more of her books, and intend to keep reading.

Nick wrote: "I enjoyed reading this, but:

(1) It did not present a challenging detective novel; By the middle of the book it was obvious what had happened at the embassy and why, and it was equally obvious who..."

I've read that Christie didn't anticipate Poirot being a long-running character (and wanted to kill him off much earlier in her career), otherwise he wouldn't have been so elderly from the beginning. But then again her other long-standing detective, Miss Marple, was also quite old, so who knows.

Another character that barely ages is Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone. She is much younger (mid-30s), but the entire series (25 books) takes place across only a few years time.

I haven't read Ellis Peters's Felse books yet, but I own a handful, and am interested to see how they compare to her Brother Cadfael series. The first book is Fallen Into the Pit, and here is the blurb from Goodreads:

When an obnoxious former Nazi land-worker is murdered in the small English village of Comerford, Chad Wedderburn, classics master and hero of the Resistance in WWII, is accused of the murder. But none of his students believes he is guilty, including Dominic Felse, who discovered the body. Dominic resolves to discover the true murderer.

Reading The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart, who was dubbed as the American Agatha Christie. For a book written over 100 years ago the writing and dialogue read very modern. Its also satisfying my interest around travel related mysteries, so its a double win.

Looks like we only have 4 more Marsh books. Would that be the soonest opportunity to start a new buddy read?