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NOV Book Discussion – MSW: "A FATAL FEAST" (Chapt. 1-5)
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So, it looks like Jessica has bitten off more than she can chew! I think it would be fun to live in a town like Cabot Cove but it seems like everyone always knows your business and I think I'd prefer a bit more anonymity!
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Tucking into the sample pages, I found a bit of mystery right off with the strange man who seems to be stalking Jessica by way of standing sentinel nearby her Cabot Cove home. My question is (unless I missed it in first chapter) why isn't the sheriff at least questioning Herbert Billup about his behavior? Or at the very least, being as inquisitive as JB usually is, why not go to him and ask him what's up?
I received the first letter in the mail and am off with the cab driver and later to the diner with JB. I trust I'll gather the latest gossip there real soon.
Good liftoff to this story, LM. It's like you've never been gone. That's because we had you in our mystery loving hearts since A&E. Rock on, fellow PI!
Nicole wrote: "I think it would be fun to live in a town like Cabot Cove but it seems like everyone always knows your business and I think I'd prefer a bit more anonymity! "Cabot Cove reminds me of St. Mary Mead from the Miss Marple books. Of course, there are some differences such as the former being a seaport village and the latter a countryside one but both towns share many similarities. The most obvious is the gossip, or as one of the characters in Miss Marple's The Murder At The Vicarage says, "Tea and scandal." In Cabot Cove rumors and gossip arise when new arrivals enter the village (Linda & Victor Carson, Hubert Billup and Archer Franklin), almost everyone appears to be in the know of Jessica's writer's block, and about Jessica and George Sutherland's romantic feelings for one another. Jessica hates the gossip and in Chapter 3 or 4 I believe, one particular piece of juicy gossip concerns the new wealthy retiree Archer Franklin. Those in the village assume that he is immodest about his accomplishments and very opinioned but rather than assume and gossip like everyone else, Jessica would rather seek the truth out herself. She'd rather meet the man himself and know what he's all about on her own . . . .then leave it at that. She's not the type that would go off and gossip about what she has learned from meeting him in the flesh.
Speaking of anonymity, it's like no matter if you keep to yourself, Cabot Cove seems to be a rumor mill of assumptions and judgments whether they be true or not. You'll be talked about among the residents behind your back and many will try to seek out what you're all about just to see if their gossip is true then take what they learn and blab it all around.
Jessica Fletcher is suffering from a rare case of writer's block, not progressing in her new mystery book. She writes a few sentences but she finds them awful! She doesn't seem to be getting anywhere and not only that but she's distracted with Thanksgiving festivities, the anonymous letters, Hubert Billup, and arrangements on where her friend George Sutherland can stay. Tina, you write -- have you ever had writer's block where you just either can't seem to come up with an idea for a story or you're working on a story but you're not progressing any further?
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LM, while writing my two books, last screenplay, I did suffer writers' block. It's awful but I eventually developed a system to help break through. I'd fight it for a while, if it won, I'd accept a temp defeat and busy myself with other stimulation. Go see people, visit book store, go to a movie. While other wise engaged, I'd all the while be dying to get back writing. It seemed it was then that I was inspired to get back to my computer and continue. I also kept paper and pen nearby for when an idea bobbled to surface, I'd quickly jot it down and get going again.
Another tool was to sit before paper or screen and just start a sentence. Any sentence. Write two words, five and so on. Eventually, something would stir and I'd break through and resume writing my story. At least these are the things that helped me. Onward!
Jessica's social calendar is to envy! For a middle aged widow lady she sure has a lot of stuff going on. It's no wonder she can't settle down to write, she's lost focus. I sense something "off" with Archer Franklin. Could he be a con artist?
Allison wrote: "I sense something "off" with Archer Franklin. Could he be a con artist?"And why would Archer Franklin move to Cabot Cove? Why would a wealthy man like him move to a small seaport town? Why not somewhere grand, in a bigger house or something? He had a villa in Monte Carlo. That would have been a great place for him to live as a retiree. And what attracted him necessarily to Wilimena? If he's a con artist, why would he con her? What would she have for him to con? Her money? She doesn't have much as him. He's loaded! Unless the money he received, the money that made him wealthy was because he took it from others.
And another thing I wanted to add about Archer Franklin and his move to Cabot Cove is WHY this town? I'm sure there are other seaport villages he could have chose to retire in. There's nothing about Cabot Cove that really stands out. And he has no ties or connections to this town either. . . . or so it appears at the moment.
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Allison wrote: "Jessica's social calendar is to envy! For a middle aged widow lady she sure has a lot of stuff going on. It's no wonder she can't settle down to write, she's lost focus.
I sense something "off" w..."
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Anyone who's familiar with the MSW books, do you know if the endings follow the "drawing room denouement" like many of the classic mysteries from the Golden Age of Mysteries era? Many mystery writers today are getting away from the "drawing room denouement" formula but honestly, that's what I'm used to reading. With the current story that I'm working on, I thought about writing a seance scene that would result in the revelation of the murderer, leading to a drawing room denouement explanation but I've been trying to think of a scene that would expose the murderer and lead to a short explanation (without it become cliche or verbose) of how he did it, executing it without the typical "Agatha Christie" ending. Like I said, many modern mystery writers are getting away from the "drawing room" scene and this is where I may have to get more familiar with how they do it.
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I will always love the drawing room reveal. Maybe it's that it reminds me of HP mysteries.
More favorites for me are séances, hidden compartments. Boy meets girl is okay too so long as they're really involved in a mystery more than a relationship. If I want latter, I'd read a romance novel.
Let's see... LM, I don't know anything about your story so I can't offer much but w/out your revealing too much is the reveal in the séance coming from a spirit conjured up or is it more planted by a living participant attending the séance? Either way is that you could have maybe two or three séances which would give clues leading up to the reveal rather than telling all at one time unless it's at the end of the story and it's def. time for the wrap. Hope that makes sense.
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Yup, I also realized I read it before. I kind of remember WHY the letters were sent but I don't know what they mean. Also, I don't know who was murdered yet!I DO remember how Maureen made me laugh!! I certainly would NOT want to eat anything she cooked!!
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Nobody seems too concerned about the letters. So far it seems that it's just a prank of some sort!
Tina wrote: "My book finally arrived so I'm Reading. I have to say, I love this story. The diner, wharf, getting ready for the holiday...the backdrop is so Thanksgiving-y yet with enough mystery to get it going..."I loved all of that too! Very Holiday-ish!
LovesMysteries wrote: "Allison wrote: "I sense something "off" with Archer Franklin. Could he be a con artist?"And why would Archer Franklin move to Cabot Cove? Why would a wealthy man like him move to a small seaport ..."
That's what I wondered! If he's so wealthy, etc - why Cabot Cove of all places.
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Allison wrote: "Tina wrote: "My book finally arrived so I'm Reading. I have to say, I love this story. The diner, wharf, getting ready for the holiday...the backdrop is so Thanksgiving-y yet with enough mystery to..."
Tomorrow I will post the discussion to Chapters 6-10. The Chapters 1-5 discussion will remain open even whilst tomorrow's discussion is posted ;)
Tina wrote: "LM, while writing my two books, last screenplay, I did suffer writers' block. It's awful but I eventually developed a system to help break through. I'd fight it for a while, if it won, I'd accept a temp defeat and busy myself with other stimulation. Go see people, visit book store, go to a movie. While other wise engaged, I'd all the while be dying to get back writing. It seemed it was then that I was inspired to get back to my computer and continue. I also kept paper and pen nearby for when an idea bobbled to surface, I'd quickly jot it down and get going again."I remember a period when I suffered through a horrible period of block. I couldn't come up with plot ideas or characters --nothing! Nothing could penetrate through it and it felt like I would never come up with anything ever again. But as I said it felt like this block would never lift. So if that block ever return I need to remember your advice -- accept a temporary defeat and keep myself busy with other things, while at the same time not worry about whether story ideas will come again. Instead I need to be confident that it will, maybe not at that moment but it will come.
Speaking of writing, are you working on any new books/projects at the moment?
Tina wrote: "The triangle of admiration between thes three seniors is comical. I can picture Seth being jealous of his UK rival. LOL"Do you believe that Seth is romantically attracted to Jessica or is he more like the father-figure type, one who deeply cares about Jessica and wants what's best for her? Maybe he believes no one is good enough for her. Is Seth jealous of George because he wants Jessica romantically or is he jealous in a fatherly way? On a different note, was there a MSW episode where Jessica's first husband Frank committed infidelity and she found this out after his death? If this is true, was this included in the book series? Tina? Nicole? Anyone knows? If this is true, maybe this is why Seth feels overly protective.
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I'm doing some promoting, querying, submitting some of my finished projects. That brass ring lets my fingers touch it and then slips away. For now. Something may come together eventually. And I designed a clients' holiday cards for them, am promoting my relative's show cat. Seems the peeps (agents, trainers etc.) in the animal entertainment world are more helpful than the human entertainment people.
LovesMysteries wrote: "Tina wrote: "LM, while writing my two books, last screenplay, I did suffer writers' block. It's awful but I eventually developed a system to help break through. I'd fight it for a while, if it won,..."
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LovesMysteries wrote: "Tina wrote: "The triangle of admiration between thes three seniors is comical. I can picture Seth being jealous of his UK rival. LOL"
Do you believe that Seth is romantically attracted to Jessica ..."
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It leaked out from Winnie's gushing that Archer had designs on an invite even before there was a hint of a chance for him to be invited to JB's dinner. Does his wanting an in for Thanksgiving have anything to do with Jessica's out of town guest? Hmm?
Nicole wrote: "Nobody seems too concerned about the letters. So far it seems that it's just a prank of some sort!"The letters doesn't seem threatening at all. I mean they're just letters cut out from magazines pasted onto white paper, that's it. They aren't vicious like the letters from Agatha Christie's The Moving Finger: (
) or Dorothy L. Sayer's Gaudy Night (
). So this may be a reason why those such as Mort Metzger doesn't take it too seriously. But with Jessica's profession as a mystery writer and always being on the scene of a crime wherever she goes, it's not that surprising that she's suspicious of a lot of things and would find the anonymous letters sinister at the very first.
In Chapter 5, Jessica sends the letters to Mort Metzger for the second time, deciding to take him at his first offer to see if there are any fingerprints. But you know what? I'm guessing that there won't be any fingerprints found. A person writing anonymous letters isn't going to make him/herself obvious by allowing his/her fingerprints to be found, even if it's just a prank. The only way this would happen is if he/she accidently and unknowingly did so. This person, call him "X", would be a lot more cautious than this. Reminds me of Agatha Christie's The Moving Finger in which there are no fingerprints on the letters even though some were found on the envelopes but that could be due to the mailman and the post office who handled them: "There are no fingerprints on the letters and envelopes of a
distinctive character. That is to say, they have been handled
by the postal authorities, the recipient, and there are other
stray fingerprints, but no set common to all, showing therefore
that the person who put them together was careful to
wear gloves."
And I think in the case of the anonymous person in A Fatal Feast, he/she probably wore gloves as well.
Tina wrote: "That Archer is sure arrogant...though I like the way he dresses. However, the ascot is a bit much for Cabot Cove. lol"Archer is a bit TOO MUCH for Cabot Cove! LOL!
Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot once said, “It is the psychology I seek, not the fingerprint or the cigarette ash.”Let's put our "little grey cells" to the test and analyze these anonymous letters. In a previous post, I mentioned how I believe that Mort Metzger won't find any fingerprints on these letters. So let's use some psychology and not rely on mere fingerprints alone.
Do you believe that these letter are from a man or a woman? What can you deduce from these letters that tell you about this person, what he/she is like, what his/her temperament is, is he/she a prankster or someone dangerous, etc?
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Though there's no threat, it's still kinda creepy esp. when you toss in Billups trolling Fletcher. Note - though Billups may not be linked to letters, the two would be the makings for one spooky brew. Think if we had this about our personal space. What it might be like.
Tina wrote: "Well, the sender certainly wants to get JB's attention. As for the identity, I'd guess a man. Not sure why but there it is. Also, not much I can gather re: their personality from just this bit of i..."Well in A.C's The Moving Finger, everyone thought the writer of the letters was a woman --I guess it just seems more like a womanly thing to do rather than a man. But in JB's case, if it's from a man it seems even more creepy than it would be from a woman though it's creepy in both cases.
I would like to know from what magazine these letters were cut out of. If they were from some fashion magazine then it's safe to say that the anonymous letters are from a woman . . . . unless a man did it to throw us off track.
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Tina wrote: "Let's see... LM, I don't know anything about your story so I can't offer much but w/out your revealing too much is the reveal in the séance coming from a spirit conjured up or is it more planted by a living participant attending the séance? Either way is that you could have maybe two or three séances which would give clues leading up to the reveal rather than telling all at one time unless it's at the end of the story and it's def. time for the wrap. Hope that makes sense.Yeah, the reveal in the séance is most likely planted by a living participant who is trapping the real culprit. But I was trying to explore other possible avenues aside from the wrap up -- the traditional drawing room denouement
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LovesMysteries wrote: "Tina wrote: "The triangle of admiration between thes three seniors is comical. I can picture Seth being jealous of his UK rival. LOL"
Do you believe that Seth is romantically attracted to Jessica ..."
Tina wrote: "How about a wrap right there at the last séance? It still has elements of the traditional drawing room reveal but yet not 100%. Could tweak it a bit here and there."I was only going to have one seance rather than a couple before the last one. If I did have an explanation of how the culprit committed the crime after the seance reveal, then it would have to be short and not prolonged. I didn't want to have the culprit revealed during the seance and have him die of a weak heart or anything -- reminds me too much of the Poirot short story Problem At Sea.
I'm going to think of some other possible endings.
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LM, you'll be fine. You're clever and love the art of word crafting. You'll get it done. Channel Mrs. Fletcher and you'll be on your way. Best!
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LovesMysteries wrote: "Tomorrow I will post the discussion to Chapters 6-10. The Chapters 1-5 discussion will remain open even whilst tomorrow's discussion is posted ;)"
Since I finished this one early I started reading book #1 in the series! I think I might go back and read all of the ones I missed. I read some here and there but too sporadically.
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Tina wrote: "Ready for the next block of chapters?"I'm going to post the next book discussion later on tonight. I've been procrastinating a bit with posting the next one (it's not like me at all) but I'll be right on it, I promise ;)
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Tina wrote: "That's fine, LM. Procrastination is a cousin of Writers' Block. LOL I have and continue to spend time with both. :-/"This procrastination business actually started when I was in college. I developed a lot of horrible habits then. One of them was going to be really, really late in the morning only getting like 2 or 3 hours worth of sleep. Not good for a college student's brain . . . especially when you have a test or a quiz to take in the morning, lol!
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The Parlor PI's
Books mentioned in this topic
The Moving Finger (other topics)Gaudy Night (other topics)
This is my first time hosting a book discussion on this forum but I'm no stranger to book discussions and hosting one either. I've done it plenty of times when the A&E message boards existed. I'm hoping we'll generate plenty of discussions, talking about the plot, the characters, cross-referencing other works of fiction, etc. Regardless of whether you read the book before or not, we all can have something to bring to the table, offering new insights and enlightening revelations to one another.
As you all know, our main read for this month is the Murder, She Wrote book A Fatal Feast. This is my first time reading the book so I'm looking forward to figuring out "whodunit".
So here's a short summary from the assigned chapters thus far:
How can Jessica Fletcher finish her new mystery novel with a deadline less than a month away when she's constantly distracted with a legion of Thanksgiving festivities and hosting duties? To add onto the stress, she receives a series of anonymous letters in the mail postmarked from Ohio – letters cut out from magazines and pasted onto plain white sheets of paper spelling out the letters G-L-O. What does it mean? Who would Jessica know from Ohio that would send these enigmatic letters? Are they from some fan playing a joke or is there something far sinister and threatening going on? Local sheriff Mort Metzger doesn't take it much too seriously, but should she? And who is Hubert Billup, this new arrival to Cabot Cove who hangs about the town sitting and staring at the locals?
Next week we will discuss Chapters 6-10.
Let's start discussing!