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

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

P.S., I suppose this is the nearest we ever get to a Marple/Poirot crossover!

Intriguing that St Mary Mead appears in this book - I was slightly confused by this initially, and wondered if I was reading a Miss Marple book rather than a Poirot one!

Although this is the first book to mention St Mary Mead, the first Miss Marple story set in the village, 'The Tuesday Night Club', was (just!) published first, in a magazine in December 1927, a few months before 'Blue Train' came out in March 1928.

So they must have been written around the same time, and clearly the village was taking shape in Christie's mind. I think it feels very similar in this book to the village we know and love from the Miss Marple stories.

Just opening up this discussion. Many thanks to Susan for setting up the threads and posting the introduction.

Who is reading this one? I had never read it before and enjoyed it a lot.

The spoiler thread is linked below:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Just opening this up a day early as it's the weekend. Thanks as always to Susan for setting up the threads.

Who is reading this one? I found it a fun read, especially the early chapters. I did have a few problems with the plot which I'll post about in the spoiler thread.

The spoiler thread is linked below:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I've just watched the new Netflix film of The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman - I thought it was a lot of fun, fantastic cast. Pierce Brosnan's Cockney accent is not very good, but I didn't mind, he was great anyway!

Thanks Jackie, Carissa and Ellen - clearly many of us could do without these storylines. Ellen, I really admire you for working in dog rescue and can definitely understand you not wanting to read about cruelty in fiction.

Thanks Susan. For some reason incidents with dogs or cats are often harder to take than those with humans, as I know we've mentioned in the past.

Unfortunately the Rex Stout book In the Best Families gave me a nightmare so I will avoid reading it at bedtime. I'll just say there is an incident involving an animal - I could have done with a warning on the cover.

True crime rather than mystery, but I'm currently reading Heaven Knows Who by Christianna Brand, which is about the case that inspired our recent group read In Muffled Night by D. Erskine Muir. It's interesting to compare the two but I'm finding this a bit of a slog now that it's got on to the trial, as a lot of repetitive evidence is featured.

I've also started In the Best Families by Rex Stout, which is supposed to be one of the best Wolfe books (the third one featuring Zeck).

I agree - I think I've seen somewhere that they planned it out as 10 books, so would have ended the series here even if Per Wahloo hadn't died when he did.

Just popping back to this thread to say that I'm now reading Heaven Knows Who: The Trial of Jessie M'Lachlan, and I see the floors really were washed in the real-life case, but it doesn't sound as if they had light carpets, and there were also still lots of stains around. So far, I'm finding the true crime version more grim to read, although Christianna Brand's writing style is very readable.

I've read Lonesome Road and am now reading our next Christie, The Mystery of the Blue Train, which is one I don't think I've read before. Enjoying it so far.

I agree about Rebecka, she seemed a bit as if she had just landed from another planet. Also agree about the stark and unnuanced portrayal of politicians. I did wonder if Rhea was going to betray Beck to the terrorists at one stage, after she looks in his bag!

I wondered if it was Kenny - I would have been really annoyed if it had been though! I thought all the stuff about his relationship with Edith must somehow be relevant, but didn't work out how.

I've finished this now and also enjoyed it a lot - I agree the way they foiled the plot was confusing at times! I also did wonder if in reality the police, and in particular Beck, would come in for more criticism over the tragic twist at the church.

Although a lot of it is quite bleak, as you said in the other thread, there is also quite a lot of dark humour again - I enjoyed the idea of the list of useless cops being misinterpreted and used to decide which ones to appoint to a supposedly crack team.

I'm interested to see how many mentions of previous books in the series are turning up in this one.

I must agree that the beginning is fantastic. I also like the whole procedural feel to this series, the way the cops work together with various niggles and rivalries.

I don't think she would be in particular danger from the killer, would she? As she didn't know who it was, unless I missed something which is very possible. My memories are already fading slightly.

Maybe she thought it was something to do with Africa, and that she would be in danger because of that. I would have liked a bit more explanation, anyway.

I've just started this, not very far in as yet but I love the writing style, as always. I have read that Per Wahloo died before the book was completed and his partner, Maj Sjowall, finished it alone, so I won't be surprised if it's even bleaker than the previous books.

Wow, I thought there were a lot of names but didn't realise it was quite that many, Indeneri!