The Joy of Erudition > Recent Status Updates

The second-best of the Agatha Christie books I've read, even though the ending was egregiously spoiled for me by Dean Koontz in Odd Thomas, where he states outright who the murderer was in this book.

"I never have liked that girl very much. She’s a good servant, and she says Ma’am, and she can say ‘Not at home’ without scruples if she has to answer the door instead of Parker, and she doesn’t have those peculiar gurgling noises inside which so many parlourmaids seem to have when they wait at table—"

Yes, those horrid servants, letting their stomachs growl while watching their masters feast at the table!

It's got the usual "everyone's hiding something" thing going on.

I like that it wasn't until 1/4 of the way through the book that Poirot showed up again, and his mannerisms have been greatly toned down.

I like this one much, much better than Murder on the Orient Express so far!

What an abrupt ending...

With all of the haggling, negotiating, extortion, and blackmail going on in this book, this is more like science-finance than science-fiction.

Reith and his sidekicks (who no longer have most of the unique characteristics they were introduced with) go on the equivalent of gold prospecting.

I stopped in the middle of this book to read "Juice Like Wounds", the short story that appears to be cut content from this book, in which Lundy, Moon, and a new character Mockery go off to battle the Wasp Queen, with impactful results. All we get in this book is the aftermath. When I came back to this, there was another skip, over a battle with Bone Wraiths! Alas, no short story for that.

Lots of references here, like The Taming of the Shrew and the poem "Goblin Market" whence this place gets its name, but McGuire makes hers different. This is Super Free Market Capitalism World, and poor Lundy was dropped into it with inadequate warning and with nothing but the clothes on her back.