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

Tara ’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Lady Clementina wrote: "Robin wrote: "Tara wrote: "I suspected George for most of the novel, until of course he ended up as victim #2. While I am disappointed that I never figure out the murderer (although it seems obviou..."

Rereads can be enjoyable to observe the laying out of the clues, even if the surprise factor is gone. But like you, unless its a well known book, or I have read it multiple times, I can often forget the culprit, so its like a brand new story.

It is certainly a unique take on beautiful women. Often envied by those who do not share their physical assets, it can be difficult to envision they suffer difficulties (and most attractive people make out better in the world than less attractive ones). I also admire Christie's ability to use the same tropes and character types from one novel to the other, but by either switching things around or subverting expectations, you are fooled time and time again.

Its amazing that Jimmy was relied upon to be such a good judge of character, but yet he never seemed to even consider Bender as a suspect, despite being the most obvious one. And I'm sorry, but if you're a big drug kingpin, 1. you are not going to be spending your day running tourists up and down a lift. You'd have the lift operator as one of your stooges so you could use the lift at night for your drug running, 2. even allowing for #1, there is no way you would murder your business associates at your place of work, and leave the gates locked, making yourself more of a suspect than you would have already been.
In fairness to the police, they did seem to know which side of the bread was buttered, but it didn't make any sense that they would have sent Jimmy in to the drug den at the end, particularly if they sent in a plainclothes officer to follow him! Just cut out the amateur and put the undercover agent in.
But despite these gapping holes in the plotting, it was enjoyable reading, and since I never read to solve the mystery, the fact that it was obvious doesn't spoil the fun for me.

Not my favorite mystery, but certainly not the worst one I've ever read. Jimmy did seem rather full of himself, although his impressions did match reality (not the unreliable narrator type here). Its also plausible that the police would team up with a reporter they trusted, since he's going to investigate the case on his own regardless, but they seemed to do so at the expense of the local constabulary. Poor Inspector Beech.

I suspected George for most of the novel, until of course he ended up as victim #2. While I am disappointed that I never figure out the murderer (although it seems obvious after the fact), I don't think I would enjoy her books as much if I did.

I have heard that his work is a bit all over the map, so that doesn't surprise me. I don't think its bad per se, and is rated by some as his best, just not my cup of tea.

Angie wrote: "Tara wrote: "I'm reading The Chinese Orange Mystery, my first by Ellery Queen. I was concerned by comparisons to Philo Vance, who I found to be quite insufferable, but ..."

I also read and enjoyed The Dutch Shoe Mystery. Not my favorite detective, but one of the better GA ones IMO.

Wayne wrote: "Bit late, but I only recently read A Morbid Taste For Bones, and soon after joined this group. I don't think we ever had Cadfael on our tv screens in South Africa, however I might have missed it, s..."

Was this the cover of your book Wayne?
These covers drew me in as well (I first spotted them on my library shelves as a teenager), and I've been hooked ever since! Hope you enjoy more in the series

I think Rosemary could also be seen as being similar to (view spoiler)[Arlena from Evil Under The Sun or Linnet from Death On The Nile (hide spoiler)]. At the surface beauties who get everything they want, but in reality, they are victims to their own fragile egos.

Reading The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein. I'm not a huge sci-fi reader (although I have liked the genre in the past), but this one just isn't hitting the spot at the moment.

I think I've read about half of this year's assorted Christie's, so its great to get to experience new ones. I'm liking Sparkling Cyanide, and as usual, I'm stumped on the killer.

Jan C wrote: "Tara wrote: "Totally spellbound by The Bride Wore Black by Cornell Woolrich, with another fantastic cover in the American My..."

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the movie Jan, once you've watched it. I'll have to see if I can rent on Netflix DVD.

Alwynne wrote: "Tara wrote: "Totally spellbound by The Bride Wore Black by Cornell Woolrich, with another fantastic cover in the American My..."

From what was discussed in my book club meeting, the film makes significant changes to the story, but I suspect if you like that, you'll also enjoy the book.

Totally spellbound by The Bride Wore Black by Cornell Woolrich, with another fantastic cover in the American Mystery Classics series. This is my first reading of Woolrich, but if his other work lives up to this caliber, I will definitely be reading more.

Have we read a Charlie Chan mystery before? If not, I'd like to nominate The House Without a Key

Biggers brings Honolulu to life with his deft descriptions of the landscape and its hybrid ethnic communities. And with the creation of Inspector Chan, Biggers also shatters stereotypes and is ahead of his time in highlighting the positive aspects of Chinese-Hawaiian culture.

In this first novel, published in 1925, Chan comes to the aid of an aristocratic Boston family who find themselves in dire straits over what has befallen Dan Winterslip, the black sheep of the family, who lives in a mansion on Waikiki Beach — the house without a key.

The troubles begin when a young nephew is dispatched by the family in Boston to retrieve a wayward aunt who has overstayed her welcome in Dan Winterslip's house.

Tania wrote: "I agree : ) but I can see why he rubs some people up the wrong way.

Home Front sounds really good. I've read a few of the Mass Observation Diaries, the best (and most famous), is [book:Nella Last'..."

So much of war coverage is on the battlefields (as it should be), that often people are unaware of the impacts to people at home. I recently read a rather comprehensive WWI book, and I learned for the first time that people in England were starving, due to the prioritization of other commodities over food. The "book" I'm listening to actually sounds like a series of podcasts (it is broken out into episodes), so not sure if your library would have it, but there are probably some really good alternatives out there.

Tania wrote: "Spot on about 'Weird Things' Tara, I thought it was rather hit and miss. I did like it. I loved The Diary of a Bookseller and follow ups ; my favourite in the books about books cate..."

Loved Diary of a Bookseller! He is curmudgeon, but thats what makes the book so good. I particularly enjoyed it on audiobook.

I'm also listening to The Home Front: What Was Life Like During World War II? on Audible. So far I am finding it interesting and even-handed in its analysis. It also includes real civilians giving radio interviews, which would have been quite rare at the time.

Jan C wrote: "Tara wrote: "Leaning into my love of books about books, I recently finished Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops and am now mid-way through [book:Ex Libris: Confessions of a Comm..."

With weird things there were some laugh out loud moments, but a lot that I didn't understand why they were deemed as noteworthy.

charcoal wrote: "She must have been an early adopter, as I found a magnificent picture of Mrs Christie using a dictaphone in the 1950s. Wearing a deep red wool dress with matching jacket!"

Thats pretty fantastic. Thanks for sharing!

Sandy wrote: "Tara wrote: "Sandy wrote: "Tara wrote: "After a few months away from Amelia, I am back for the next installment in the Peabody/Emerson adventure tales, [book:The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog|15..."

Totally true. I don't dislike her so much that she ruins the book (sadly there are some narrators that will do that), but not my preference. I listened to the entire Sue Grafton series on audiobook, and they switched narrators mid-way through, and it was rather jarring. It took a few books to get used to the change.