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

Frances’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

I'm just starting this one-so far I'm enjoying it!

Jill wrote: "I have finished The Thursday Murder Club and have left the elderly, going to the 11 year old Flavia I Am Half-Sick of Shadows for out next buddy read. Good start as ..."

Loved them both!

I will join-I read this series many years ago and enjoyed it so much I've refused to part with my ratty old paperbacks, always thinking I'd like to reread some day. November or December works better for me.

I didn't actually read the book, but as I mentioned in another thread I've been burnt a couple of times on buying a self-published novel (Amazon KDP) with rave reviews which was really poor quality, so I no longer read those unless recommended by someone I know personally (or whose reviews I've come to trust). Also, the very small number of ratings/reviews is also an indicator of concern.

Good points, Rosina, although I don't think she was shielding him once she knew what he'd done-she just wanted to get Annabelle safely away before deciding what to do. In both this case and in The Tiger in the Smoke the "mother figure" I think lends an interesting angle to it, as I think many people who have that relationship with an adult child would struggle initially to believe they could do something so evil, and then struggle to decide what to do about it.

Susan wrote: "I feel a bit bad about Fig Tree Hall. It had such great reviews, but I wasn't exactly engrossed either.... I can only apologise for nominating it."

I've had a couple of bad experiences with self-published books (Amazon KDP) so basically don't read them anymore unless someone I know personally recommends it.

I've just finished this in two days and although part of me was repelled by it (I just want a cozy mystery!) I also found it incredibly compelling and felt the characters and plotting was really well done. Like others, I was also very much reminded of The Tiger in the Smoke and Gerry was very much in the Jack Havoc mold, only in the end he did find he had an attachment to Polly. Interesting that there is no resolution to or elaborating on all the little personal touches-does Annabelle stay, does she choose Richard or Florian, does she remain close to Polly, how are Charlie Luke and Prunella doing-this is entirely focussed on Gerry Hawker, and Campion is a very minor side note (perhaps there to get his fans to buy the book?).

I prefer the "Hide My Eyes" title, perhaps because it touches on the angle of the experience of those who love the Sociopathic criminal and the effect of finding out what they are truly like on them. It was quite interesting to see this story unfold from Polly's point of view, particularly as we learn of her little attempt to find a wife/some stability for Gerry, which backfires so tragically.

I'm joining you as well, now about a third of the way in.

I've just finished Slough House, the latest in the Mick Herron series. Wondered if this group would be reading it at some point-it is, no surprise, excellent and topical (although he just misses the pandemic so not part of it)

While a fun read, I did find some of the social attitudes-not just to marriage but the whole colonialism and class issues-uncomfortable.

Anne is indeed an enjoyable heroine for the most part (her thoughts on marriage being the one disturbing part) and in the milieu in which she is moving youth and beauty are often a currency of their own-how much does she end up being supported by the wealthy people that she encounters, and how much of this is "earned" by the fact that she is young and beautiful? This would have been a very different novel if she had been older and/or plainer!

I've just finished so will head over to the spoiler thread, but enjoyed the note about Christie surfing.

Yes, and equally interesting that Campion is always shown as moving comfortably among the "lower classes" and understanding them and their allusions/slang but it never goes the other way.

Just watching the Crown and the episode with Thatcher at Balmoral and how out of place she was made to feel-absolutely not a fan of Thatcher but sympathized and got a bit of understanding of her desire to shake things up, feeling that the upper classes had ruled the roost for too long.

I've just finished and appreciate everyone's comments!

I joined this read as a way to read the series in order as I remember reading many of the books many years ago and struggling to figure out the backstory and various characters, and now find I'm not really further ahead reading it all in order in a relatively short span of time.

I too was made uncomfortable by the apparent acceptance of violence against women in a couple of the relationships (most clearly that of Tonker and Minnie) and was appalled that nothing was said after Rupert hit Amanda over the head with a hairbrush-perhaps his own contrition immediately after the fact was considered sufficient , but thought his father would have said something about not striking a woman or your mother. (Perhaps those things were still acceptable at the time).

Ch. XI has Luke was unhappy. Mr. Campion's strange world of nods and hints and mysterious understandings among people who trusted each other because they were or were not related, or had been to school or served in a ship or a regiment together, both bothered and fascinated him.

So I guess Allingham is aware of some of the opacity of her writing!

I'm about 1/4 of the way through, and I find so much of what is being said somewhat incomprehensible-are we supposed to remember these characters from previous novels (which I've been reading with this group, but still don't remember)? Also, everyone's manner of speaking seems to be some sort of private code with things referred to that I don't know about or odd phrases that I assume means something to the characters. I just feel I'm wandering around a bit in the dark, and so much of the conversation is hard to understand. I'm a native speaker of English, but from Canada (although I read a lot of 19th and 20th c English lit)-does it make more sense to English readers?

I'll be joining as well but like Abigail have a few other books in the queue before I get to this one.

I've just started this and it is rather fun having amateur detectives only this time around. 2 Christies in one month put me close to the end but I hope to finish this weekend.

Well said, everyone and a special thank you to Jessica for kickstarting this great read!

Jessica wrote: "Do you think Hastings would have returned had Agatha not written this book so early on?"

I think so-Christie seems to be trying to book-end the series with a return to Styles, which wouldn't be the same without Hastings.

I agree, this was a poignant read as we see Poirot reaching the end of his life, and coming up against someone instigating murders that he could see no way of stopping.

I think the idea of using words to incite others to commit acts of violence is particularly timely, and a worthwhile reminder that we all have that potential to be driven to do things we couldn't imagine doing before being brought under that malign influence. Given that this was apparently written in the 1940's, I wonder if the events of WW II might have been fresh in Christie's mind.

Nonetheless, I found the beliefs voiced by Judith and others around Euthanasia and getting rid of "useless people" to be incredible-I can't imagine her-someone brought up by Hastings and no doubt raised with at least some minimal religious teaching and doctrine-could ever come to espouse those sorts of beliefs, or at least to voice them in company. Also, I can't really believe that Hastings would ever be driven to murder to protect his daughter's virtue.

Ultimately, I found this a satisfying closing to our chronological reading of Poirot's adventures. I am somewhat sorry, given that Christie apparently wrote these to prevent Poirot living on beyond her, that her estate did give someone the right to write a continuation of his story.