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

Frances’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

I've just finished this one, and was also quite upset when I thought that River had been killed. I actually really liked the character of the OB and the rather prominent role in this novel, and hope he isn't going to end up in some depressing nursing home going forward.

I'm going to have to do a reread soon as I'm having trouble keeping all the threads straight-particularly the Lady Di bits. Will Peter Judd return, do you think?

Just started reading this now and what an opening!

I don't think it's a spoiler to say I'm starting to find Lamb's disgusting habits and lack of hygiene annoying-it's hard to have a feature character that is so unappealing.

I've recently finished this one and while I really enjoy the characters of Tey and Archie Penrose I did find the mystery quite over-the-top, not to mention the jarring sense of this being a golden age mystery with some decidedly modern misdeeds (at least in writing about them so clearly).

I'm also finding it a bit jarring in that I've recently read The Man in the Queue and The Singing Sands so occasionally get the characters and plots confused. On the other hand, it adds to the enjoyment of knowing the books she is speaking of writing.

Finally, I was recently in Cornwall and attended a play at the Minack Theatre (a wonderful and unique theatre-going experience) and visited the area in which the book is set so it was an extra treat to know the settings she is describing.

I'm so glad-I've been hoping for the Tey for while!

I am reading this series and quite enjoying it, but agree that this one was much more grim than the previous one.

I have to agree that while I found the denouement quite gripping (and of course, hadn't guessed it) I think having the husband as the ex-husband was even more of a stretch than the usual Christie plotting. It would have been a great mystery even without the first husband as second husband bit, but I suppose that additional angle adds to the intrigue (and supplies that fiendishly ingenious plot twist for which Christie is famous).

Thanks, Jill, I didn't want to nominate it again myself but definitely want to give it another shot!

Well spotted, Judy! Agatha Christie never "wastes" anything, so any time an apparently minor character or mundane bit of information comes along, I'm always making a special mental note about it...and yet I still never solve the mysteries!

Ooh, good thinking! That makes sense.

I'm continuing to enjoy Allingham and and glad she's concentrated more on the personal/family aspect of crime/mystery rather than the gangs.

What did everyone make of Ritchie? He was certainly odd, both in terms of his physical movements and also with his odd way of speaking-short to one-word phrases in a rather staccato rhythm, his longing for solitude/isolation, and his rather bizarre living quarters-again his isolation (not living with the rest of the family) but also the strange furnishings/way of arranging his room. This is in contrast to his brother who apparently was an entirely "normal" member of the firm until his sudden disappearance. Then he chooses to kill his cousin (justifiably many would argue, but still...). Any thoughts on what Allingham was suggesting with this character?

That reminds me of the line from Northanger Abbey, something like “I’m not clever enough to speak unintelligibly” when talking about the fashionable wits of the day.

I'll be joining you as soon as my book arrives. Looking forward to another Campion!

I also found this was one, like Roger Ackroyd, where once the solution was learned on a previous read, it was impossible to forget. However I really enjoyed reading it to see if I could see the clues, and of course I couldn’t. I’m also enjoying having Hastings back!

Sandy wrote: "Following up on Tara's comment that if not for Poirot the murderer might have escaped:

Was any sensible reason given for the murderer writing to Poirot? I remember the 'Hercules' name theory when ..."

The murderer wrote to Poirot because he was relying on one letter going astray, and if he wrote to Scotland Yard it would likely arrive on time, even with an incorrect address.

I'd like to read more Tey, so I will nominate Miss Pym Disposes.

The Goodreads blurb says To Lucy Pym, author of a best-seller on Psychology, the atmosphere at the college where she is lecturing is heavy with tension. Beneath the so normal surface run sinister undercurrents of rivalry and jealousy. Then comes tragedy. An accident? Or is it murder? Respectable, law-abiding Miss Pym discovers some vital evidence - but should she reveal it?

I've just finished this now, having decided to tackle the Grant novels after reading The Singing Sands. I was initially disappointed as well by the confession as the solution, but then realized that this reads very well as a novel (not just a cozy mystery) and perhaps she was less interested in writing conventional mysteries as writing good stories.

What also struck me is that we spend most of the novel assuming Sorrell is the lovely young man and Lamont is the killer, and that all gets turned on its head in the end.

I am reading this now as I enjoyed the Inspector Grant character so much in The Singing Sands that I decided to go back and start the series. I think I like Grant more that Wimsey or Campion-he just seems more real and more sensible. I also enjoyed the Scottish section, and having spent a little time in the Highlands find Tey's descriptions so evocative and also very similar to how I've felt when travelling there. I think I'm going to be sorry that there where so few mysteries written by her!

I assumed the plug had been pulled, but just like the woman/slow horse who died(?) in the first novel (can't remember her name) perhaps we are just meant to think that (although it seemed pretty clear that he had irreversible brain damage).

I wasn't clear what the Batman/Spiderman segment was about-was that Donovan making room for himself in Black Arrow?

I didn't expect her to pick River, but it makes sense. I was very surprised that he went off on his own without checking in with Jackson-that seemed out of character/out of keeping with a well-trained spook.

Agreed-this series seems ripe for filming, but I wonder if they'd need to pretty him up a bit (or has it been filmed yet?).