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

Tracey’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

An entertaining caper, not particularly believable but good fun to read. I did manage to suspect the culprit, he seemed too good to be true.

Was it common for people to head off to Argentina at the time? Tommy could have lived next ranch along to Hastings!

Good idea about the long game, that sounds like a very Poirot thing to do. I've never actually watched any of the Suchet series, now we've read them all, maybe I can delve into to this for my Poirot fix!

What an ending to a great journey through the Poirot books! I was suspicious of Poirot, but didn't suspect Norton. I agree with the comments about Judith, she was horrible and very much unlike Hastings.

I audibly gasped when I read that Poirot wore a false moustache. Surely it wasn't a fake throughout the series? Or did I completely miss that?

Judy wrote: "Tracey, your comments make me want to watch School for Scoundrels - I've just realised that I've seen very few of the Ealing comedies despite being a fan of classic films. I definitely wouldn't wan..."

It was on BBC iPlayer recently, but I've just checked and it's disappeared. They do have some classic film gems tucked away though!

This was a great light-hearted caper to read. I enjoyed Badger, although found him falling through the skylight quite improbable.

The business plan for second hand car dealership by Badger and Bobby sounded very dodgy. Their plans reminded me of the garage in the Ealing comedy "School for Scoundrels" (if anyone has seen that). Trading standards for used vehicles were obviously very different in the past!

I'll be very interested to read your opinions on The Thursday Murder Club when you all finally get to the top the library lending lists.

I really like Richard Osman, both on TV and on Twitter. But... I could only give this book 3 stars. I was a little disappointed after all the press.

Happy New Year everyone! Let's hope 2021 offers us all good health and some very good reads!

Sandy wrote: "Books I hope to get to:

Inspector Proby's Christmas - lurking on my kindle

Rumpole at Christmas - an audible collection of holiday short stories

A Christmas..."


I recently read my very first Rumpole short story, in
A Very Murderous Christmas: Ten Classic Crime Stories for the Festive Season and thought it was a very amusing read. Have brought The Collected Stories of Rumpole as a early Christmas present to myself! I vaguely remember the TV series being on, but was a bit too young at the time to watch it.

I've just finished Rodham. The mix of fact and fiction is a little disorientating, but an interesting premise and easy to read. After reading a book with so many references to current affairs, I think I'll head back into the comforting world of Poirot now!

Alwynne wrote: " Letters from Tove excellent selection of Tove Jansson's letters from 1930s to 1980s.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/sho..."

Looks intriguing, will add it to the rapidly growing tbr list. I saw a fascinating documentary about a Tove Jansson a few years ago, plus I'm a moomin fan.

This was the first Poirot book I ever read. Now I'm much more invested in both Poirot and Ariadne Oliver, so will be interesting to see if my opinion of it changes.

I filled it in. My reading habits have altered but it was due to my own circumstances, rather than the pandemic. I was on maternity leave throughout the original lockdown, until last month. I now have a commute and a lunch break to read in, rather than the reading during night feeds that I did at the start.

I have found myself enjoying reading more books set in domestic situations (often with a WW2 background), which may be related to the background of a pandemic? Or maybe I would have always be drawn to them due to my own family growing?

I see that the next installment of this series is due to be published in February 2021, entitled 'Slough house'. Something to look forward to!

I struggled getting into this book. I found some of the scene setting at the start far too long. I completely agree with the Rose and Pinkie comparison. I missed why Ashe would want to kill Janet without first getting all the money from her (or did I miss read?)

The ending was disappointing. A shoot out, followed with a confession with apparently no chance of conviction. I struggle to believe that in 1997 forensic teams couldn't find something to pin on the murderer. He moved the body, so there maybe be fibres on his clothes etc.

In previous books there seemed to be reoccurring mentions of fawn. In this book there seemed to be great detail in how people made their coffee. An awful lot of coffee grinding going on!

Plus, they were all so mean about Joyce!

While I very much enjoyed the party, Poirot complaining about his feet, and some of the characters (especially the teenage boys who become heroes). I found the mystery conclusion a bit poor.

I like the imagery of the ghosts bringing in the flames.

Judy - I've just read the thread you posted from the previous read. I certainly have done apple bobbing (in the late 80s in England), and Christie's flour game sounds very familiar.

I imagine Snapdragon would lead to either the children burning themselves, or the teenagers making off with the brandy!!!

I'd never heard of the game Snapdragon, after looking it up, I can certainly see why it is no longer a popular children's party game. Catching raisins in flaming brandy is probably not a good idea!

Rosina wrote: "I read somewhere that he is the son of Superintendent Battle, although in the TV version he's actually called Race, making him the son of Colonel Race (both Battle and Race were in Cards on the Tab..."

Thank you!