Frances’s Comments (group member since Aug 21, 2017)

Frances’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

I ended up buying it as part of the 2nd Chronicles of Calleshire collection through my iBooks for about $24 canadian (which is about $19 US). This includes the next 3 books in the series.

I've just finished-I did enjoy the different chapters and seeing the different styles-my version had a synopsis of each author in the introduction which was fun to consult before reading each chapter. I'm heading over to the spoiler thread to discuss final thoughts.

Jill wrote: "I think the authors of this probably enjoyed the exercise more than this reader did. It became a very complicated plot by the time all the writers had a go, but that was fine by me. However, I did ..."

While this was a fun read in some aspects, I also found the changes jarring, and you could just feel subsequent authors turning the plot around with their additions.
The section by Knox where he gives a 39 point summary was dreadful-I just ended skipping that chapter!

One aspect that particularly jarred-we were made to feel that Elma was unattractive-both physically and in terms of personality-and yet she has this eligible man who is head over heels in love with her and willing to do quite questionable things to support her. I kept expecting to find a twist there-he is actually her brother, it's a ploy to get her her inheritance, he's a villain in his own right.

In any case, glad to have read this but would only recommend to hardcore Golden Age Mystery fans.

Sandy wrote: "Judy wrote: "I started The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman a few weeks ago but didn't warm to it and gave up... however then I was given the second book in th..."

I really enjoyed the first 2 books in that series and looking forward to getting the third (there's a long wait at my local library!).

Rosina wrote: "If we are looking for non-Golden Age series, can I throw in a word for the Roman Art Series, by Iain Pears, starting with The Raphael Affair. Seven books in the series..."

Ooh, I'd love that-I've enjoyed some of his other books and have started collecting these mysteries on the "some day I'd like to read these" basis so this would be great for tackling my tbr pile!

Christine PNW wrote: "Having said that, I will still go see it, complain about the parts I didn't like, but very likely enjoy it, overall.."

Sounds like what I'll do as well!

Judy wrote: "Just saw that Kenneth Branagh is making another Poirot film - this time he has chosen Hallowe'en Party, but the setting has been moved to Venice and it is being filmed under the title ..."

The first was atrocious from a Poirot perspective (He runs! He fights! He has a romantic past!) but I loved the scenery and the trains. The second they had mostly toned down the not-Poirot issues, and again I loved the scenery. I will no doubt go to any film that is set in early to mid 20th century Venice which is based, however loosely, on Christie.

I agree, this wasn't a very strong mystery, and I also suspected Glass by about 2/3's of the way in once the times didn't add up, and his religiousness started to seem unbalanced, particularly the way he would talk back to his superiors, suggesting a sort of "God's law is above Man's law" thinking. I also found the Helen/John couple both annoying and stereotypically weak foolish wife and strong silent husband.

I am always surprised by the wealth factor in these GA mysteries-John and Helen seem to be a middle class couple and yet there's a butler and cook and a hot breakfast served every day that can feed drop-in guests-does one just assume that someone has family money that supports all this?

I do plan to finish the series, and look forward to doing so over the next few months.

Oh dear, only a chapter in and if the religious quotations are going to persist this might be annoying!

I will be joining you and starting shortly.

This one was fun, with the opera staging in the background, the quirky cast of characters and a completely impossible murder with a solution that seemed incredibly far-fetched but clever. I quite enjoyed it and look forward to the next one!

I didn't particularly enjoy this one-I found the way that Luke tried to lead into conversations was clunky and the whole Eugenics thing was off-putting-I know he's trying to draw others out to voice their support of "acceptable" killing but it just bothered me-I remember there was a scientific young woman in another Christie who kept spouting about certain people should be killed off to benefit others and I just can't believe that even at the time this sort of talk would have been acceptable in these circles.

I also agree with Sandy about the romance not feeling right between Luke and Bridget.

Roman Clodia wrote: "I am also a bit puzzled at why Luke considers Ellsworthy 'abnormal' after a single conversation with him. Is this code for gay, at the time? He's described as effeminate but I'm finding it hard to read Christie's intention here."

I do think he was meant to be considered as gay-no stories of any failed romances in his past. I was just listening to the episode of the podast "Shedunit" in which she addresses the presence of gay characters in GA mysteries and how they are often portrayed-mostly as "artistic, fashionable" single men and of women "friends" who have lived together forever and behave as old married couples.

I would like to try again for The Floating Admiral as a fitting conclusion to this year's reading challenge.

In 1931 Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and 10 other crime writers from the newly formed Detection Club collaborated in publishing a unique crime novel. In a literary game of consequences, each author would write one chapter, leaving G.K. Chesterton to write a typically paradoxical prologue and Anthony Berkeley to tie up all the loose ends. In addition, all of the authors provided their own solutions in sealed envelopes, all of which appeared at the end of the book, with Agatha Christie's ingenious conclusion acknowledged at the time to be 'enough to make the book worth buying on its own'.

I will be reading this but a little bit later in the month.

I'm planning to read this but am waiting for my copy to arrive so will likely be joining you late. Looking forward to the musical theme!

And don't forget Cat Among the Pigeons!

I've just finished this and while it was enjoyable it did feel rather disjointed with all the separate investigations running parallel to the court scenes. I did enjoy the past and present linkages to explain the crime, and the eccentric prep school that Judy mentions, but found I had trouble remembering who was who in the French section. Not sure I would pursue further reading in this series.

I'm joining this one but only a few chapters in. I'm enjoying it so far!

I've just finished this and loved it on so many levels. I loved the outcome for Renfrew Bank, that Bolton got control of it in the end, and loved his class masquerade-is this a peculiarly English phenomenon, at least in the English-speaking world? I can't think of a Canadian equivalent-there are some mild regional differences, but not really a class designation to them. Would Southerners vs Northerners in the US have opinions of each other based on accents?

Would anyone really take kindness to the extreme of letting someone like Daphne leech onto them like that? Again, I know it's a plot device, but I can't even imagine Aunt Reg letting her come every morning, and for Maurice to let her take over his life seems unimaginable. At one point I was expecting Daphne to be a mastermind of something sinister, but alas she was just an incredibly pathetic person.

I love the epistolary form (is phone/text going to be the end of that?) and how effortlessly egalitarian and gay-friendly Caudwell is in her books - it doesn't feel as if she is making a point, she is just painting a world which is already there).

This was a reread of the whole series for me and I enjoyed it every bit as much the second time round-these books I will keep as I may reread again some day, I think they're that good.