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

Frances’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

I'm about half-way through, and although this is a reread for me I don't remember much of the plot. I do like how atmospherically Allingham writes about areas of London and about the fog/smog of the time, and enjoy reading about the little hidden corners such as the church/rectory setting here, which was also a factor in our recent Bats in the Belfry: A London Mystery read. Agreed-glad to hear that Val still has her design business, and that Amanda and also Meg are working.

Judy wrote: "The CrimeReads site has a great article today, 100 Years of the Mysterious Affair at Styles, with loads of book covers if you scroll down - some are great, some hilariously bad, particularly the on..."

And there are 2(!) with women in bras on the cover-A.C. and H.P. himself must have turned in their graves!

I really enjoyed this as well, it was my first Lorac and I plan to read more.

Was anything ever said to explain the fire in Dinah? I rather liked Elizabeth, and hoped we’d see more of her.

I've started this one and so far I'm enjoying it. I was a bit put off that in chapter 4 (view spoiler)[Grenville is so anxious to marry Elizabeth because he's 30 and she's 19 and he feels if he doesn't get her now he won't have a chance with her after she grows up a bit! (hide spoiler)] However so far it seems an interesting set up and I like the descriptions of the odd houses scattered in hidden parts of London, or the pub where no one would expect a pub.

This was one of my least favourite Poirot's so far-I felt there was too much strange Psychologizing, Mrs Oliver just started to grate on my nerves after a while with her inability to get to the point (and she must be an organized enough woman to be able to write successful mysteries), and it felt like it could use a good editing-some parts seemed to drag on for ever. There wasn't enough information about the will mix-up-for instance did the old woman disinherit her niece as she found out she was dangerous, how could the original will just have been lost, why weren't the witnesses ever interviewed.

One nice touch-though she seemed to disapprove of the young men in some ways, she did make them heroes at the end, and clearly Poirot had trusted them to protect Miranda (although again was that made clear?)

Part of the problem may be that, due to some library issues of all books arriving at the same time, I've read the 3 most recent Poirot's all within a couple of weeks-a pause until next month will do me good!

I'll be starting this after I finish this month's Poirots.

I've just started this one and look forward to the reappearance of Ariadne Oliver.

I really enjoyed this one, I do like the touches of espionage added. I did recognize that the clue about the crescent was upside down but that was never really pursued later-was it just that house #19 was the important one after all?

I also really enjoyed the idea of Poirot reading mystery novels-Christie does really seem to like the rather meta discussions of mystery novels and their authors.

I've also read and enjoyed this one-great secondary characters I thought.

I really enjoyed this one, I liked the complicated plot and the friendship between the girls. I'd like to have known more about Mrs Upjohn-she and her daughter seem particularly interesting.

I also really enjoyed Miss Bulstrode's explanation of her plans for the school-that it has to be posh to be desirable, and then you can bring in the girls who will make it great. I wonder how well that works in real life...

My copy has finally arrived and I've just started, but almost from the opening section I recognize the plot from a previous read and know at least one significant plot twist/problem, so it will be interesting to see if I can pick up the clues Christie will drop about it. I don't remember who gets killed or necessarily whodunnit, so looking forward to the rest of the read.

I'm not sure if I've ever read any Mary Stewart before (it would likely have been in my teens which is 40+ years ago) but, given how many other great books I still have on my list, I don't know if i'll read any more.

This was a very exciting read, but I agree that it felt dated and with some clunky plot devices and uncomfortable situations, which you've all touched on. Back to Christie and Allingham for now!

I'm about half way through and quite enjoying it-not exactly what I'd expected, but I like the characters and the intrigue around the convent and the Englishwomen abroad angle. The Pyrenees sound brilliant, and I love how Jennifer walks everywhere-even when it's some miles distant. I will finish and head over to the spoilers thread.

I'm still waiting for my copy from the library so will be joining you later this month.

I'm in Canada and we're just gearing up to go back to school-our numbers have been low recently so we're all hoping the plans in place will help prevent any upswing in numbers.

I am still waiting for my copy to arrive but hope to join you some time this month!

I don't think the Mrs Folliat character rang true-she was apparently mostly fine with Hattie having been murdered and buried, she seemed to have a good relationship with the current "Hattie" -in which case why the sudden transformation at the end to a remorseful frail old woman? Was that just realizing her son would be charged with murder? It didn't make sense to me.

I have just finished this and found it a bit disjointed-it didn’t seem to flow as well as other novels, and the characters didn’t stick as well as previous ones have. I will go over to the spoiler thread to discuss further

I’m now about half way through and agree that I’m struggling to keep everything straight. Remember the bit about not understanding the Palinode’s language as it was all family slang and obscure references? I feel like that as I’m reading-I understand the words but can’t make out the overall meaning

I also wondered about the Governor placement, but he could have been sent to be Governor General of somewhere independent like New Zealand or Australia.

Agreed-this wasn't a favourite-plot was fuzzy, not a lot of Poirot and the raft of "foreign" students who weren't seriously part of the plot and the unfortunate terminology used for them was uncomfortable. Hope to see more of Miss Lemon though!

I love the opening chapter introduction of Poirot and Miss Lemon:

Order and method had been Hercule Poirot’s watchwords from many years ago. With George, his perfect manservant, and Miss Lemon, his perfect secretary, order and method ruled supreme in his life. Now that crumpets were baked square as well as round, he had nothing about which to complain.

And a bit later: That was what places like Singapore were for. The sisters of women like Miss Lemon married men in Singapore, so that the Miss Lemons of this world could devote themselves with machinelike efficiency to their employers’ affairs (and of course to the invention of filing systems in their moments of relaxation).

I do love that, even after all these novels, she still has fun with her detective and his staff.