Empty Shelf Challenge

I’ve started several book over the last few months that I just couldn’t get “into.” Trust me – it’s not the books – it’s the reader! 

So I’ve been rereading. That seems to be working right now. I started the year with Agatha Christie and then moved to “The Cat Who….” series and have read 10 of those. I’m comfortable with Qwill and his 2 Siamese cats so that’s what I’m reading right now. I’ve done many reviews on these books so am not going to rehash them here.

However, I do have a couple of quotes from “The Cat Who Sniffed Glue.”

Qwill was talking with a bibliophile and their conversation went like this:

Qwill: How many of these do we have to dust? (talking of a  HUGE personal library)

Eddington: I do a few hundred each time. I don’t hurry. I enjoy handling them. Books like to be handled.

Qwill: You’re a true bibliophile, Edd.

Later in the day:

Qwill: I’m amazed at your knowledge of books, Edd. I wish I could remember everything I’ve read and come up with a trenchant quote for every occasion.

Eddington: (looking guilty) I haven’t done much reading, I took Winston Churchill’s advice. He said, ‘It’s a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.’

Love both of these.

And remember your books like to be handled.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

I have been an Agatha Christie fan since the early 70’s.  I believe the first Christie book I read was “Murder On the Orient Express.” I was hooked. My favorites are the books with Miss Marple. I do have a secret crush on Hercule Poroit but Jane Marple – LOVE that woman.

In the past few months, I’ve had a hard time finding good books that keep my interest. (it's not the books - it's me.) This is a bit concerning to me because of my love of reading. So, I decided to revisit some of my old favorites that I have enjoyed in the past and I dubbed 2014 my year of “cozies.” I plan on revisiting some of my old favorite authors and introducing myself to some new ones.

Cozies are a sub-genre of crime fiction in which sex and violence are downplayed or nonexistent. The crime and detection take place in a small intimate community. I prefer cozies over the more graphic crime and detection books.

So, I began 2014 with “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” when Hercule Poroit was first introduced to the world. This book was first published in 1920. 

“The heiress of Styles has been murdered, dying in agony from strychnine slipped into her coffee. And there are plenty who would gain from her death: the financially strapped stepson, the gold digging younger husband, and an embittered daughter-in-law.

Agatha Christie's eccentric and hugely popular detective, Hercule Poirot, was introduced to the world in this book, which launched her career as the most famous and best loved of all mystery writers.”

Synopsis from GOODREADS.

 

One thing I enjoy about Christie’s books is that they move quickly. She doesn’t get bogged down in unnecessary information. She doesn’t over explain. Sometimes I can figure out who the murderer is – sometimes I can’t.

 

In “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” I was looking for a murderer that wasn’t too obvious. I was a bit surprised to find – Oh well, I don’t want to give it away. You may want to read it. So I’ll stop here.

 

"Every murderer is probably somebody's old friend," observed Poirot philosophically. "You cannot mix up sentiment and reason.” From “The Mysterious Affair at Styles.”

 

I hope you will try a few cozies this year. I think you will find them easy to read and fun.

 

I recommend any books written by Agatha Christie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miss Jane Marple: "..the finest detective God ever made."

I first published this review October 6, 2010

Agatha Christie, the creator of Miss Jane Marple, is the greatest mystery writer - EVER!!!  Rather than focus on one of her books, I've chosen to blog on one of her characters. - And Miss Jane Marple is quite a character!  She is an elderly spinster living in St Mary Mead. She's nosy, gossipy and has a 6th sense for detecting murderers.  She is stereotypical in her tweed skirts and with her knitting. She often seems befuddled but is very shrewd and misses nothing.

In her early appearances she wasn't very nice but as Christie develops her character she becomes a bit more modern. At least for someone "..born at the age of 65 to 70."  She also becomes kinder.

Miss Marple is not afraid of dead bodies and she is not easily intimidated.  her methods of crime solving are based on the belief that "human nature is much the same everywhere."  When reading  books with Miss Marple in them  I always think of Ecclesiastes 1:9  "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again: there is nothing new under the sun."

She has many "comforting and innocent past times - knitting, gardening, bird watching and of course watching people.  Miss Marple is so normal that murderers never fear her - until it's too late and she's figured them out.

It is said that Christie based her female sleuth in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd on certain friends of her grandmother and her grandmother.  Christie once said of her grandmother "[she] expected the worst of everyone and everything and was with most frightening accuracy, usually proved right."

Miss Marple appears in twelve books and many short stories:

• Murder at the Vicarage (1930)
• The Body in the Library (1942)
• The Moving Finger (1943)
• A Murder is Announced (1950)
• They Do It With Mirrors, or Murder With Mirrors (1952)
• A Pocket Full of Rye (1953)
• 4:50 From Paddington, or What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw! (1957)
• The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side, or The Mirror Crack'd (1962)
• A Caribbean Mystery (1964)
• At Bertram's Hotel (1965)
• Nemesis (1971)
• Sleeping Murder (written around 1940, published 1976)

Short Story Collections:

• The Tuesday Night Club features Miss Marple for the first time ever. Written in 1927.
• The Thirteen Problems
• Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories
• Greenshaw's Folly
• Strange Jest
• Tape- Measure Murder
• The Case of the Caretaker
• The Case of the Perfect Maid

Miss Jane Marple quotes:

     "There is no detective in England equal to a spinster lady of uncertain age with plenty of time on her hands."  Rev Leonard Cleming speaking of Miss Marple. 

"It is true of course that I have lived what is called a very uneventful life, but I have had a lot of experiences in solving different little problems that have arisen."  Jane Marple

"The worst is so often true." Miss Jane Marple

"You can only really get under anybody's skin if you are married to them."  Miss Jane Marple

"I'm afraid I am not very clever myself, but living all these years in St. Mary Mead does give one an insight into human nature." Jane Marple

The ex-commissioner of Scotland Yard, Sir Henry Clithering, said of Miss Marple:

"She's just the finest detective God ever made. Natural Genius."