Tracey’s Comments (group member since Nov 08, 2017)

Tracey’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

This book was a good read this month as we approach Halloween! The end was quite ghoulish.

I mostly enjoyed the Lampreys. I found Frid a bit too over the top, though I suspect so did Alleyn, hence him not interviewing her. And the carry on with which twin was in the lift I thought was a bit tiring.

I actually felt sorry for Aunty V. She'd been drugged and manipulated by Tinkerton. Now, probably set for a life in an institution.

It was nice to see Nigel reappear (I'm a fan), though didn't think he added much to the story this time.

Susan wrote: "I had never heard of a bum bailiff, either, Judy, but assumed it meant someone that, literally, put their bum on a chair and staked a claim, which was what it actually seemed to be."

The bum bailiff confused me. Did they actually sit in the servants quarters for days until they got what they required?

Are Mr & Mrs Croft husband and wife, or mother and son? I am rather confused from the text!

As for the murder, I suspected everyone! My money was on Miss Darragh at the end. Was a clever method for Legge to make him look innocent.

Poor Fox. He certainly had a close call. It was an amusing passage when he sprung back (wearing his bowler hat and offering to drive) forcing Alleyn to tell him off! There was a mention of Fox learning French again, which I don't recall from the last few of books.

Wow, the Vancouver to Toronto train looks amazing! I'll have to start saving my pennies! I've been on the sleeper train from Glasgow to London a few times. There is something incredibly special about going to sleep on a bunk bed on a train, and waking up at the start of a new day in a new city. Added this book to my, ever growing, to read list.

Annabel wrote: "I've just read Ashes of London and The Division Bell Mystery on holiday. Division Bell is one of those Golden..."

I have The Division Bell Mystery in my to read pile. I am looking forward to reading it, hopefully it gives an interesting insight to the inner workings of Parliament.

I'm sold! :-)

Tania - that sounds like a great book. I do enjoy books that were written in the Golden age era, even if they are not crime. I find it a very interesting period culturally. Will add it to my ever increasing to read list!

Edited to add, I've just realised that it's available from Persephone books. I've been admiring them for a while, I may have to treat myself...

That struck me as rather an odd thing too, Sandy. I wondered if she was implying he took to drinking"

I'd not thought of drinking as a possibility.

Some years ago I worked in a neurology unit and I remember neuro breath mentioned then (I think there are all manner of theories ranging from glutamate imbalance to just poor oral care). Maybe sombody else might know more about this?

It is amazing that he manages to maintain a seemingly sucessful medical practice with such revolting breath.

The book did feel Agatha Christie - lite! It was a quick read, a little bit farcical at times, especially when Hastings got dragged out of being on guard by Barbara. The plot felt familiar to me, though I've not seen the play or read this before. I wonder if it's a TV adaptation that I've seen before?

I've just finished The Diary of a Bookseller, a real life diary of the owner of a second hand Bookshop. An entertaining read, if you liked the TV show 'Black books' then you would probably enjoy this. Gives an interesting insight into the struggles of keeping a physical Bookshop open.

Agree with many of the comments above. Struggled with this book. Found the scenes with Flora quite unbelievable. Kurs was certainly a villan, hinted that it was a personality change was due to head injury (mentions of bad /neuro breath). But how he was involved in with a network of other undesirables was never really explained - unless this was the dossiers that Davison mentioned?

Enjoyed Una as a character, so it's a shame she's been killed off at start of the series.

I recently read Agatha: The Real Life of Agatha Christie and much preferred the portrayal of Agatha in that.

I hadn't realised quite how late they were still being written. Wikipedia puts the last Alleyn book as 1982!

I'm still fond of Nigel, and liked how he was mentioned as 'Watson' under the cast list at the start of the book. By reading the novels each month, it highlights to me the passage of time between books, with Alleyn and Troy now preparing for a wedding, and Nigel and Angela becoming parents. I had hoped that Alleyn's mother would have been in the audience at the show, as I've enjoyed her appearances so far.

While I enjoyed the read, the sexually repressed spinisters with implied mental health problems grated on me.

One part that really made me chuckle was when Roper brought Gladys Wright in for questioning, by giving her a ride on the bar of his bike for seven miles. I can't imagine police officiers doing that now!

I've just finished Excellent Intentions by Richard Hull, a court room setting where you don't find out who is in the dock till the end. Enjoyable, but I didn't find it as (wickedly) amusing as The Murder of My Aunt.

Pamela wrote: "Donald reminded me a bit of Maurice in Death In Ecstasy "

Well observed the similarities in character!

Am I the only person who missed Nigel and Angela in this book? I quite like camaraderie between Alleyn and Nigel.

I considered Katherine to be the killer too, though had my suspicions over the actual murderers. As anyone new to a job in detective fiction is surely suspect! Though didn't realise how there were working together.

There were a few lines that really made me laugh, especially when Derek meets the Comte "but I should take a good deal of pleasure in kicking you down the Promenade des Anglais"!

My favourite Marsh book so far. Enjoyed the London high society setting, the whole idea of the season seems rather ridiculous and intriguing at the same time. Poor Bunchy, was really quite keen on him as a character till he managed to get himself murdered!

Donald seemed rather easily mislead, Bridget was far more sensible than him. Not sure about the scenes between Troy and Alleyn, felt the visit to his flat seemed a bit stilted to me. I did have half a thought of 'just get on with it' at this point!