Judy’s Comments (group member since Oct 01, 2015)

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Good question about whether he was actually Corinna's cousin, Sandy - I wondered if we would have a reveal that he was actually an imposter, especially as she had never met him before.

It's also mentioned that he uses aliases but it seems as if he is really her cousin, which seems odd. He certainly doesn't seem to have bothered to take much care of her two houses!

Also, good point about the cover, which does seem a bit of a random image, although it looks quite nice!

The poll is now live - please vote for the book you most want to read in July.

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/3...

Grey cells? Sorry, not a serious suggestion! Exciting that you're buying a house, Jackie, hope it all goes smoothly.

Yes, they have made some very strange choices, putting it mildly.

Thank you Abigail - sorry you missed Death on a Quiet Day, but it sounds as if you were horrendously busy! It's not too late to post in the threads for it if you'd like and I'd be happy to chime in.

I think perhaps we'd better not reinstate Innes reads for now in that case, especially as most of the rest are out of print, sadly, but if anyone else does want us to carry on please let us know.

Jackie wrote: "I remember on my first read I was puzzled by Poirot growing vegetable marrows, what are those, zucchini? .."

Yes, they are basically the same as zucchini, or courgettes as we call them in the UK, but left to grow huge. Growing prize marrows used to be a popular contest at many village produce shows, but I can't see that it would take up much of Poirot's day, and I hope he wasn't wearing his patent shoes while wrestling with marrows in his garden! ;)

Sonia wrote: "I thought that by committing suicide Sheppard was sparing Caroline the publicity of a trial and his hanging. Poirot asked that Sheppard clear Paton and finish his manuscript."

I think that's right, but what confuses me is that Sheppard says in the manuscript that Caroline will "never know the truth" and he can trust Poirot and Inspector Raglan to "manage it between them". I can't see how Paton would be cleared in the public mind if the confession is hushed up. But then again, in reality I'm sure Caroline would work it out whether she is told about it or not.

I've finally started reading this and think I will finish it very quickly. It's quite dark and bleak, but it's a compelling read.

Ooh, sounds intriguing, Sandy. I'll look forward to hearing your verdict when you finish it.

Some contemporary reviews of the book here - some of the original reviewers did love giving nearly the whole plot away!

https://grandestgame.wordpress.com/li...

Susan wrote: "I don't know whether I remembered this, but I guessed the murderer from the start this time."

Same here. I think it is probably quite obvious, as there aren't many suspects and it's never likely to be gorgeous Gilbert, but I wasn't sure if I was remembering it. The plot is a bit like the early Patricia Wentworth thrillers, isn't it?

I was also sad about the cat, but I'd definitely remembered that from my first read, when it came as a nasty shock, so I knew it was coming.

I like Mr Pakenham - in some ways he's a better detective than Collier in this book. He sees through people quickly and is very resourceful, just a shame he came up with the tontine in the first place! I'm wondering if this was the first detective story to feature a tontine.

A somewhat bizarre idea from the Agatha Christie estate and the BBC - writing classes with a video/AI version of Agatha Christie. Apparently all the words will be from her actual comments on writing etc, but it still seems very peculiar.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...

Can't we just have one or two adaptations of her books where the screenwriter hasn't completely changed the story and characters? Or is that asking too much?

I'm under way with this one now and don't think it will take me very long - I'm enjoying the writing style, which is very readable.

Interesting that Collier is called George in this book but his first name changes to Hugh for the rest of the series - I wonder if Dalton just forgot or if there was a reason for the change?

Last call for nominations before the poll goes up!

Nominations so far:
Susan: In Muffled Night by D. Erskine Muir

Susan in N.C.: Calamity at Harwood by George Bellairs

Judy: Midsummer Murder by Clifford Witting

PS, Abigail, I agree it's a pain about the notifications not being sent by email any more! Not quite the same, but we do have a list of all the books coming up in the group at this link (kindly kept up to date by Susan) if that helps:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Hi Abigail, welcome back, good to hear you are able to read more again. The last Michael Innes buddy read was Death on a Quiet Day aka Appleby Plays Chicken which was a buddy read in March-April.

The discussion never got going but the threads are still there if you'd like to discuss the book now. I did read it so would be very happy to join in. This is the non-spoiler thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

As Susan said, we have taken the next Innes book off the schedule as no one was posting, but we could add it back in again if you would like, maybe over the summer? The next one was The Long Farewell.

Thanks for checking, Sandy. I forgot to say, it's £3.19 on Kindle in the UK.

I play board games with a few WI members locally, so I'll ask if any of the members have played Mah Jong - although it isn't exactly a board game!

I'd like to nominate the second book in Clifford Witting's Inspector Charlton series, Midsummer Murder (nothing to do with the similarly named TV series!) but I'm not sure about US availability - please could one of our US members kindly check? I enjoyed the first in this series, Murder in Blue, which we had as a group read last year.

Witting's second Inspector Charlton mystery, first published in 1937, is set in Paulsfield (clearly a fictional Petersfield in Hampshire). It is a market day and there is much noise and bustle. A bull decides it is time to liberate itself and goes on the rampage. As this is happening, a cleaner working on the statue in the middle of the square is shot dead, straight through the head. Inspector Charlton has very few leads on this case. There is no obvious motive for the cleaner's death, and when two further murders are committed within the same day, both taking place in the market square, the mystery has obviously deepened exponentially.

Thank you Susan -it's been a while since we had a Bellairs title. Calamity at Harwood is also on Kindle in the UK, £4.66 here.