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

Frances’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Susan wrote: "I love Cormoran Strike too, Frances. I cling onto the review copy I received of the first book, when nobody knew it was really J K Rowling who wrote it :)"

Ooh, I would love to see that-is it linkable?

Susan wrote: "I love Harry Potter - those books made my daughter the obsessive reader she now is. J K Rowling can do nothing wrong in my eyes - the modern Enid Blyton. Although not as prolific :)

This buddy has..."

Agreed-and I really enjoy her Cormoran Strike series although it definitely wouldn't fit the Golden Age aim for this group.

Mrs Pargeter is certainly a character from the 80s, and perhaps that isn't too far back to have the "historical" feel that many of us enjoy in the early Christies or Sayers type reads, but I still find the hearkening back to the era of wealthy housewives at home polishing/cleaning to be somewhat "nostalgic".

Judy wrote: "Yes! There was a great line where Mrs Pargeter was thinking she hoped "madn..."

I find that there is often a coyly self-referential passage in mysteries about novels vs "real life" which is starting to annoy me a little, but overall I am really enjoying this series. I love the Mrs Pargeter character, a woman of a certain age who lives well even if on her own, isn't judgemental (other than against murder) and has a very interesting list of contacts, as Sandy mentioned. I look forward to the rest of the series!

I'm about a third of the way in and am enjoying this one as well-I do enjoy his writing, the short chapters are great, and I do like Mrs Pargeter as a character. Is she going to change house every book? That does solve the "Why is St Mary Mead such a deadly place to live" problem for mystery authors!

I've just finished now and quite enjoyed it, although I agree the mystery was absolutely bonkers. I do love his characters, and agree that some of the grumpiness comes out in hilarious ways: ...a transistor radio, which was emitting...a symphonic movement of vaguely romantic cast; from the movement's excessive length, vacuity, and derivativeness, Fen judged it to be Mahler. I also loved his explaining, when Padmore offers to write up his cases, that Crispin is already doing so!

I did feel it dragged on a little, so I would be interested in reading some of the short stories as perhaps the humour and occasional preciousness of the writing might work better in a shorter format!

Ok so a combo of Sandy and Abigail’s comments and me finding a cheap paperback copy have got me started-I’m about 1/4 of the way in and quite enjoying it. Knowing crispin/Montgomery was a film composer adds to the enjoyment-is Thouless meant to be Souless or thou-less (given his church musician background)?

Sarah wrote: "I read "An Instance of the Fingerpost," written between the last two Argyll books, and didn't like it much. But I'm willing to give the others a try.
As for "Giotto's Hand," Forster waxed and wane..."

I couldn't finish An Instance of the Fingerpost and it is absolutely something I should have loved-history, mystery, medicine-but might also try something else at some point-I'm sure I have The Dream of Scipio on my bookshelf somewhere, just need to find the time!

It looks like there are only 2 books left in the series, the last one written in 2000, so I assume that's it. Anyone know/heard otherwise?

I'm also continuing to enjoy this series, as you say Sandy the culprit was suspicious because of her likeability and obvious time spent on the continent (how else could an English woman have learned to cook properly :) ). I was less satisfied with the ending-why would Argyll give up the chance, if not for fortune, at least to establish his reputation as an art researcher and discoverer-how he traced the lineage of the Leonardo was pretty interesting and intelligent! Also, even if he didn't want to profit hugely, he could have at least secured a sizeable commission and bought a nice flat in Rome for him and Flavia.

I do like the travel aspect of these books-the 90's seemed such a simpler time for cross-continent travel-and the glimpse into the art world of the time.

I'm reading this as well-surprised there is no kindle edition, not sure where I obtained my copies but probably found a bunch in a garage sale at some point. Enjoying it so far but not too far in yet.

Thanks!

I rather enjoyed this-not great, but good enough that I would like to continue and see if it gets stronger going forward. I thought the ending a bit lame-solved by reading the murderer's diary-and didn't think the diary style suited the Colonel's personality. However I'm enjoying the 67 year old still-in-her-prime sleuth and look forward to the next one.

Also, for those using an audiobook, is it Par-jetter or Par-geter (hard g)? Or something else?

I’m almost done and also quite enjoying Mrs Pargeter and look forward to reading more about her and her late husband.

Thanks for the heads up-I think I will also give this one a miss as it was going to be quite expensive to get and I do have the short story collection I can read to get some more Fen.

Thanks everyone, I look forward to reading these with you!

Would there be any interest in a buddy read of the 6 Tommy and Tuppence novels by Christie +/- any of the short stories? I don't know if the group has done this-I know there was a read of the Marple series and we've done at least one of the T&Ts, but someone mentioned that this is her one series where the characters seem to age over time and I'd enjoy reading them in order. I'm not sure if this is the correct place to make a suggestion, feel free to move/delete if not.

That's fine-I hadn't looked closely at it, just saw it on the Goodreads list and have a copy from a job lot of Crispins I bought at a garage sale (car boot sale equivalent in North America).

I do see it listed as the next book for our read and I have a copy so I'm ready to go!

Agreed-I love this series and it was an intriguing mystery-well-crafted and an original murder plot.

I was equally interested in the maternity/hospital setting and policies-that Inspector Sloan pops in and out of the delivery process does seem so crazy now, but I guess both expectations for fathers and hospital policies have changed considerably.

I also enjoy seeing Sloan's relationship with Margaret-they seem well-suited and as if they understand each other and care for each other well. I hope it survives the chaos that a new baby brings!