W… W… W… Wednesdays

There is a nice little meme hosted over on Should Be Reading that I thought I would take part in today. I love things like this, it’s the lister in me, I really love a good list. Worrisome.

So all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

1. What are you currently reading?

Well I’m currently reading Apocalypse Cowby Michael Logan and it’s hilarious. I can’t put it down. I also can’t walk through the park at night anymore. You’ll understand why if you read it or read my review on it’s way tomorrow!

2. What did you recently finish reading?

Black Heart Blue by Louisa Reid. This is a fantastic little book, moving and sad, tragic and so beautifully written. Review on it’s way.

3. What do you think you’ll read next?

Either Miss Marple – The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie as it’s been a while since I’ve had my Christie fix. Or One Moment, One Morning by Sarah Rayner for my book group. I’m slightly dreading this though as it’s a book about grief and think I might need to save it for when no one else is around!

Thank you Should Be Reading for hosting this meme!

Book Review: The Body in the Library

The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie

The blurb: “Those quiet ones are often the worst.  Jane Marple says so.” Miss Wetherby

Dolly Bantry wakes in her beautiful home in the quiet village of St Mary Mead; everything is perfect until the shocking discovery of a body in the library. Who is the murdered young girl and who could possibly have killed her? Suspicion falls on Dolly’s husband, a man with a reputation as a flirt, who swears he never met the young woman – but why was she found in his library?

Dolly calls on her friend, Miss Marple to help them in their time of need. Can she find the killer or is village gossip about Colonel Bantry true? Nothing seems certain, then another body is discovered…

My review: This is book 3 in the Miss Marple sequence (I seem to have skipped over 2!). I always preferred Marple on television but think in fiction I may love Poirot more. These are little pleasures however, discoving Agatha Christie has been like pulling on my favourite old holey jumper, sitting with a cup of tea inside on a rainy day and all the other little comforts we allow ourselves to make the days more bearable.

Published in 1942 this book is completely charming and holds up well 70 years later!

This is brilliant, slightly less good than the first Marple (The Murder at the Vicarage) but with some dazzling comedic moments. It’s always when the brusque police inspector or the hotel manager disregards the little old lady with the enquiring eyes that delights the soul. As The Times said at the time: ‘professional detectives are no match for elderly spinsters’ How true!

7.5 out of 10 stars for this one but always worth a read! *******.5

The Murder at the Vicarage

The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

The blurb: Agatha Christie’s first ever Miss Marple mystery, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers. ‘Anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe,’ declared the parson, brandishing a carving knife above a joint of roast beef, ‘would be doing the world at large a service!’ It was a careless remark for a man of the cloth. And one which was to come back and haunt the clergyman just a few hours later. From seven potential murderers, Miss Marple must seek out the suspect who has both motive and opportunity.

My review: One of the reasons I love having a book blog is so I can keep track of what I’ve read, recently I’ve found I can’t remember what I read in January, the year has sped by and so have the books which is both good and bad. This is the reasoning why I’m going to bore you with more Christie reviews as I have been reading them so here they will be!

This is the first Christie to feature amateur detective and professor of human nature, Jane Marple. I love Miss Marple. There I’ve said it. I don’t care what this says about my character I think a little old lady detective is by far the best thing since sliced bread.

In this jaunty little adventure Colonel Protheroe has been shot in the back of the head in the Vicar’s study and neighbor Jane Marple can think of seven suspects who had a reason to want the old Colonel out of the way. Told from the viewpoint of the Vicar, who had been mysteriously called away just as the shot was fired, this is an interesting and well-plotted example of crime fiction. Possibly not my favourite Christe, I’m still haunted by ‘And Then There Were None’  but definitely a contender, I’ll be looking out  more Marple’s soon!

8 out of 10 stars! ********

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

The blurb: Invalided home from the First World War, Lieutenant Hastings finds himself in a convalescent home very much to his disliking. Thankfully his old friend John Cavendish invites him to spend the rest of his sick leave at his family home. The beautiful Styles Court is home to John’s step mother Mrs Inglethorpe, and her new husband Alfred. Despite the tranquil surroundings Hastings begins to realise that all is not right. When Mrs Inglethorpe is found poisoned a murder investigation begins, and who better to investigate than war refugee Hercule Poirot, a retired Belgian detective.

My review: Lovely to meet you finally Monsieur Poirot! As I have previously mentioned I love Marple on the tele so Poirot for me was a reluctant pick-up having never really warmed to the adaptation (I have since resolved to give it another go)

The Mysterious Affair at Styles is a wonderful, classic whodunit that will keep you guessing until the end, Poirot is infuriatingly brilliant at ‘umming’ and ahhing’ in all the right places and you feel the frustration of Hasings the narrator, to be left out of Poirot’s thought processes. But the motley crew of suspects is brilliantly thought out and you’d need to get up very early to outsmart Christie! I did think I had it in the bag but was outmanoeuvred, had a slight Jonathan Creek feel to it. (Can you tell I watch too many detective dramas on TV)

Written in 1916, the book ages beautifully, painting a picture of the times and morals in post war/pre war Britain. The wonderful Agatha Christie website mentions that Christie’s favourite review of this book was in the Pharmaceutical Journal, which praised, “this detective story for dealing with poisons in a knowledgeable way, and not with the nonsense about untraceable substances that so often happens. Miss Agatha Christie knows her job.” Amen! I read this in one go, brilliant. (Murder at the Vicarage is my next Christie instalment!)

7.5 out of 10 stars! *******.5

And Then There Were None

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

The blurb: Ten strangers, apparently with little in common, are lured to an island mansion off the coast of Devon by the mysterious U.N.Owen. Over dinner, a record begins to play, and the voice of an unseen host accuses each person of hiding a guilty secret. That evening, former reckless driver Tony Marston is found murdered by a deadly dose of cyanide.The tension escalates as the survivors realise the killer is not only among them but is preparing to strike again… and again…

My review: This is Agatha Christie at her very best (from my limited knowledge!) I could not put this book down. Ten strangers are invited to spend a vacarion on the mysterious Soldier Island and the most perfectly sculpted murder mystery ensues. Every player has dark secrets and motivations for killing, the accusatory finger of judgement swings backwards and forwards as the story is narrated from the ten different viewpoints.

Once again Christie has thrown in a spectacular twist, I became so confused and frustrated that I was sure there had been a trick or some way she’d cheated. I had guessed at the culprit one of a few potentials, only to find I was wrong, then I was right again! Brilliant! This has really put many other crime books in the shade, bar the great Conan Doyle this is now one of my favourite books.

9 out of 10 stars! *********

Endless Night

Endless Night by Agatha Christie

The blurb: Gipsy’s Acre is a truly beautiful upland site with views out to sea and, for Michael Rogers, it stirs a child-like fantasy. He wants to settle there, amongst the dark fir trees. Yet, as he leaves the village, a shadow of menace hangs over the land. This is the place where accidents happen. Perhaps Michael should have heeded the locals’ warnings: “There’s no luck for them as meddles with Gipsy’s Acre.”

My review: ‘Some are born to Sweet Delight, Some are born to Endless Night’
As a reasonably recent (5 years!) convert to crime fiction and after meeting and falling in love with Sherlock Holmes I thought it was time I introduced myself to Agatha Christie, the doyenne of crime.

Endless Night is the first of two Christie’s Ive recently purchased and it left me feeling a little deflated. I love Miss Marple, however I only love her so far in her television incarnation, I have yet to visit her in print, and am slightly nervous about doing so, consequently I plumped for two Christie’s that do not feature her most famous detectives – Marple and Poirot.

Endless Night is a cleverly worked tale with elements of the gothic horror about it. According to the website it was of Agatha Christie’s favourite books, and perhaps my opinions are too coloured by modern crime novels. The main character, Michael visits a property called Gipsy’s Acre, a house that’s been cursed by the Gypsies. However he falls in love with the land and strives to achieve his dream of living there, despite numerous warnings from the locals and mysterious accidents. This book is slow to get going, but do perservere there is a splendid twist at the end which came truly out of the blue and made the lengthy set up suddenly all become clear. Christie doesn’t waste her words. Still this hasn’t been one of my favourites – Ill tackle Then There Were None next!

6 out of 10 stars ******!