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

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Looks good to me, Susan! Thank you!

Just remembered, Susan, I had added in Cat and Mouse: A mystery in Wales by Christianna Brand for October-November, are you still up for that one? No worries if not though.

Could we also slot in the next Wimsey, Strong Poison, somewhere? Maybe in January as I think Susan in NC suggested?

I think Wexford is quite similar to George Gently - most of us weren't that grabbed by the first Gently, so if we feel the same after the second one maybe we could swap over to Wexford or one of the other series then? I'm not sure what availability of the early Wexfords is like, though, I will have a look. :)

Must say I'm enjoying the first Wallander book so far, many thanks to whoever suggested those (Susan?)

The poll is up - please vote for your preferred choice!

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

I'm enjoying the Henry Tibbett series but I don't think all the books are in print, in the UK anyway.

I thanked Susan in the other thread but will say thank you here too :)

Hi Susan and Susan, yes we're doing The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club in September/October, looks like it dropped off the list here but we're still doing it :)

The full list of buddy reads for September/October is:

Vale of Tears (Bradecote and Catchpoll #5) by Sarah Hawkswood
Special Assignments by Boris Akunin (Erast Fandorin #5)
Mrs Pargeter’s Point of Honour (Mrs Pargeter #6) by Simon Brett
Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell (Kurt Wallander #1)
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers (Peter Wimsey #5)

Hi Susan, thank you for this! Looks like the Lord Peter Wimsey book has dropped off (The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club) - it should be one of the reads for September/October, so the list of buddy reads for that month is:

Vale of Tears (Bradecote and Catchpoll #5) by Sarah Hawkswood
Special Assignments by Boris Akunin (Erast Fandorin #5)
Mrs Pargeter’s Point of Honour (Mrs Pargeter #6) by Simon Brett
Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell (Kurt Wallander #1)
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers (Peter Wimsey #5)

I've just changed the list in the 'upcoming reads' thread to add that book back in, otherwise just a copy of yours.

Nominations so far:

Susan: Post After Post-Mortem by ECR Lorac

Susan in NC: Roger Sheringham and the Vane Mystery aka The Mystery at Lovers' Cave by Anthony Berkeley

Sandy: No Game for a Dame by M Ruth Myers

Any more? Last call as I'll put the poll up this weekend.

No Game for a Dame is free in the UK too. Thank you for that one, Sandy!

Thank you very much for the updates, Susan. Lots of lovely books coming up.

Welcome, Anubha, must agree re The Big Four, fortunately not typical of Christie!

Thank you Susan, and thank you Sandy for checking. Great nomination.

Susan, thank you for the info about the TV version - it sounds as if there are quite a few changes from the book so I'm not sure whether to watch it or leave it for now in case I confuse myself, as you say.

I'm wondering if this was one of the first detective novels with a setting on board a train? Not that much of the book actually takes place on the train, but it definitely makes a strong impression.

Surely not, Susan! ;)

One of the issues I had with the plot was that it was hard to believe Rachel would allow her faithful servant to stay after it turned out she was organising things like the poisoned chocolates and even snakes in the bed!

Surely even the kindest employer would have had enough by this point, however much the servant insists that she is only trying to look out for her and warn her she is in danger! I found this a quite amusing and unexpected twist, anyway.

For anyone who wants to know more about the Blue Train, here are a couple of websites with interesting details and pictures:

https://www.purefrance.com/en/blog/le...

https://simanaitissays.com/2013/11/11...

It all looks very glamorous!

I think I'll watch the TV version of this one too, Franky, as, although I enjoyed it, I'm finding it starting to fade. Hopefully that will refresh my memory.

It's time to nominate for our November group read. Please nominate books which were either written in the Golden Age, or a little earlier or later, or are set in that period. If in doubt whether a title is eligible, just ask.

Usual rules apply. Only one nomination per group member. Only one book by any individual writer can be nominated per month, and authors can't nominate their own books. If you aren't sure whether we have read something, the group bookshelves may help, or just ask. If it was at least 3 years ago that we read it, it's fine to re-nominate.

Agreed re the tropes! I'm trying to remember which other book I read recently where someone had been left money to administer for the whole family, as Rachel has to in this one - does anyone remember a similar set-up?