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

Tara ’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Emma wrote: "I loved the archaeological details in this one (rather like those in the much later 'They Came To Baghdad'), and the way that Amy Leatheran's narrative both revealed and obscured. Christie uses her..."

I recall in a previous book (not sure if it was Marsh or Christie), there was reference to a detective story one of the characters was reading, and apparently that was made up. Linda Condon appears to be real though, and is available for free on Kindle (in the US). Not much detail is provided on the Goodreads page, but according to the editorial review on Amazon: "A wealthy woman never learns to have, let alone show, any emotions -- or, as the narrator puts it, to "lose herself". Although she does no one any harm, in the course of the novel Linda is likened to Siberia, described by her husband as a "woman of alabaster", and calls herself " the most sterile woman alive."

Susan wrote: "Definitely. I think Hugh Fraser does the Poirot books on Audible better than David Suchet! He is so versatile."

Hugh Fraser is most definitely my favorite Poirot narrator as well. I just finished another Christie book, The Seven Dials Mystery which was narrated by Emilia Fox, and it just didn't have the same magic.

Unless Mrs. Leidner was so self absorbed that she barely paid attention to either husband, who would believe that after 2 years of marriage, she wouldn't have picked up on similarities between them? Certainly once she started receiving the anonymous letters, you would assume that her guard would have been up. After reading enough of these stories, you also learn that any time someone is completely ruled out as a suspect, it means they are probably the guilty one.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Do those of you who listen to books feel you get as much out of them as when you read them?"

The narrator can really make or break an audiobook. Sometimes they ruin an otherwise great book, or make a mediocre one more palatable. They are certainly helpful when you don't have as much time to read a book as you'd like, but can listen to a book while doing other things. I do find that sometimes my mind wanders, which is a downside of the format, but you can always rewind if you need to :)

Michelle wrote: "Never have learned my lesson about not starting a new book at 9pm. Last two nights stayed up burning the midnight oil to read the following, one sitting each:

Old Baggage

[book:Wo..."

This seems like very heavy subject matter for a single reading session. They must have been intriguing stories.

Jill wrote: "Tara wrote: "I just received my copy of The Black Ascot by Charles Todd, from my book-of-the-month club. Interestingly the author is..."

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I think I will start with the one book I have, and consider reading from the beginning of the series if I really love it. I have so many other series/bookclub reads going on at the moment, it will probably have to wait until I finish another ongoing project before picking it up for an extended commitment.

Jessica wrote: "Well, I liked it but I'm not really satisfied.

What are your thoughts about Poirot's questions near the end? Why did he ask Franklin about the hats at Ascot?

And what about Poirot's observation..."

I think what Poirot means about innocent people being accused refers to the people immediately surrounding the victim (as most crimes are committed by persons known to them). A consistent theme across Christie's novels is that it is important to find the killer not just for justice for the victim, but also to wipe away the taint of suspicion that surrounds the loved ones if the guilty party is never identified. This frame of mind is especially important in this case as the killer was exactly the type of person who would have been suspected in the murder if the pattern did not point to a crazy stranger. In this regard, the killer not only would have been okay with Cust getting convicted, but he specifically framed him.

I just received my copy of The Black Ascot by Charles Todd, from my book-of-the-month club. Interestingly the author is a mother/son team, and this is book 21 in the Inspector Rutledge series. Has anyone read this author or series before? Does it suffer from not being read in sequence? (something I would normally consider doing, but I don't want to wait 2 years to read this book until after I have read the previous 20...)

Susan in NC wrote: "Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I'm very much hoping you'll want to continue the Midsomer Murder series by Caroline Graham."

I loved that series and read them all years ago - I was so excited to learn ..."
I'm on season (series) 8 on Netflix and I quite like it. Very tongue-in-cheek and highly implausible, but entertaining. I have never read any of the books though.

I also enjoyed the first Marchmont book, and would participate in a buddy read for additional books in the series.

Judy wrote: "I'm now halfway through Death on the Air and Other Stories by Ngaio Marsh, which I gather is the same as The Collected Short Fiction of Ngaio Marsh, but D..."

That sounds intriguing Judy, I will have to check out that story next. I read I Can Find My Way Out last night, and I thought Marsh did a decent job building up the characters in only a few paragraphs. Her familiarity with the theater also came in handy here.

Judy wrote: "PS, is anyone a fan of the Westmacott books?"

I picked up Unfinished Portrait at a random book sale, but I haven't read it yet. I believe the general consensus though is that they are not as good as her mysteries.

I particularly enjoy the way Fox can charm the 'working class' characters, and that he is allowed to shine in a way that Alleyn cannot.

For a man who everyone labeled as a loon, Lord Pastern (aka GPF) seems to have been rather insightful in terms of people's personal problems. It surprised me that it took so long for everyone to figure out Edward and Carlisle were in love with each other (including the lovebirds themselves).


I was happy to see that the family actually wasn't guilty, although the drug cartel angle seemed confusing. I would be curious to know more about these cases Fox worked on, presumably while Alleyn was spy hunting abroad.

Jessica wrote: "Yes, it's probably "just" that one that Hastings is referring to. What was resonating in my mind more is A Three Act Tragedy where Poirot certainly said words to this effect a couple of time, but t..."

This one ended up being one of my favorites so far. I don't think I had read it before (although I had seen the Suchet version), and I was a bit surprised how very good it was. An interesting case, and really not a bad idea for a murder.

Susan in NC wrote: "Jessica wrote: "Foreword, Hastings writes: "Poirot once taught me in a very dramatic manner that romance can be a byproduct of crime".

Which instance do you think he is referring to?"

I wondered ..."
Yes Susan, Hastings met his wife in the case (view spoiler)[ Murder on the Links (hide spoiler)] which we read last year. I don't recall her appearing in any other subsequent stories, so she seems to have been a vehicle to explain Hastings' frequent absences.

Susan in NC wrote: "Yes, happy belated birthday, Tara, and thanks for sharing the link to this wonderful bookstore!"

Thanks so much Susan and Judy :)

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Tara wrote: "I went to a mystery themed bookstore over the weekend,"

How fun! One of the disadvantages of living in a small town is that we don't have such a place."

It was a surprise birthday gift from my husband, and he also signed me up for a monthly book club :) I really had to behave myself and only got a handful of books, but I easily could have gotten more....
https://www.mysteriousbookshop.com/

I wanted a Hugh Fraser narrated audiobook, and the next one available at my library was Hercule Poirot's Christmas . Its out of order from our buddy read schedule, and not seasonally appropriate, but is still an excellent story. Fraser's reading of Simeon Lee is particularly good.

Susan wrote: "I have just started our next Ngaio Marsh Opening Night and discovered that the theatre in the book had a murder previously explained in a short story. In case anyone is interested, th..."

I went to a mystery themed bookstore over the weekend, and I just happened to pick up a collection of Ngaio Marsh short stories! I'm excited that this one is in there. The Collected Short Fiction of Ngaio Marsh

Susan in NC wrote: "Tara wrote: "I've seen the David Suchet version of this several times, but I don't know if I ever read it. Boy, was I missing out! This was a superb mystery, and definitely one of my favorites. It ..."

You were so right to skip this Susan, I wish I had done so myself. There is absolutely nothing redeemable about this version, and it will turn your stomach with its violence, perversity, and moral posturing. I'm still nauseous just thinking about it. I will have to re-watch Suchet to cleanse my palette.