Book Reviews – Page 119 – Carol's Notebook

After the Funeral by Agatha Christie

October 19, 2018October 18, 2018 by Carol2 Comments

In After the Funeral, everyone gathers at the estate for the funeral of Richard Abernethie, and imagine the surprise among the clan when dotty, arty Aunt Cora says, “But he was murdered, wasn’t he?” They all try to brush her comment under the rug, but Mr. Abernethie's elderly lawyer and friend, Mr. Entwhistle remains bothered, her remark nagging at him. He asks a few questions, but then Aunt Cora ends up dead too, killed with a hatchet in her bed. Entwhistle calls in Poirot, because clearly Cora wouldn't have been killed if it hadn't been for that remark. Poirot shows up a little late in this way, but Mr. Entwhistle is a good character, so it works. We have the standard mystery characters of the era, including the family butler, the motherly wife, the gambler, the hypochondriac, the actress, the stockbroker of questionable values, most of whom are potential suspects. Almost all of the family gained from Abernethie's death. I feel like it was a fair...

Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie

October 18, 2018October 17, 2018 by Carol7 Comments

Yes, I'm reading too many Agatha Christie's lately. No, I don't care. It's October and Hallowe'en Party was "available now" at the library, so I picked it up. This time Hercule Poirot is called to the case by an old friend, Ariadne Oliver. Ariadne is staying with a friend in Woodleigh Common and was at a Halloween party where a thirteen year-old girl, Joyce, was murdered. Ariadne is a famous mystery author and Joyce had been trying to impress her earlier in the day by telling her that she had witnessed a murder. The theory then is that the girl was killed by the person who she saw kill someone years earlier. We get to meet a bunch of the villagers and a couple of the older kids. I think the killer in this one was a little easy to guess, even if the motive was a little wonky. The kids make it a little tough, telling lies, being gullible, thinking they are more mature than they...

Cherringham #1-3 by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards

October 17, 2018November 1, 2018 by Carol2 Comments

I was looking for a short, light read and remembered Scared to Death, #27 in this series, which I read around this time last year. I remembered enjoying it and thinking I should read more in the series, so I picked up this first compilation. It was a good choice. Each of the episodes is self-contained, although they all star Jack and Sarah. They work well together and I like that, at least so far, they're friends, nothing more. We also get to meet Sarah's family and of course each episode introduces more of the townspeople. "Murder on the Thames" is our introduction to the pair. How they meet and end up working together actually makes sense. Sarah's old friend is found dead on the edge of the river just downstream from Jack's barge. When she stops by to ask him a couple of questions, she mentions that the police are considering it a suicide. Jack, former NYPD, knows that it can't...

From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming

October 16, 2018October 15, 2018 by Carol2 Comments

I'm officially done with the James Bond books. I enjoy the movies, but the books are just too incredibly chauvinistic and sexist. Usually I can take books for when they were written, but when characters say things like, "All women want to be swept off their feet. In their dreams they long to be slung over a man's shoulder and taken into a cave and raped." or when one scene is literally naked gypsy women fighting to the death over a man. Rape was never okay, not then, not now. Our Bond girl, Tatiana, is gullible and too sweet and beautiful and Fleming actually has her ask Bond, "You won't let me get so fat that I am no use for making love? You will have to be careful, or I shall eat all day long and sleep. You will beat me if I eat too much?" I want to say at least the plot was good, but I'm not entirely...

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

October 12, 2018 by Carol2 Comments

I finished Something Wicked This Way Comes several days ago, but have been putting off writing about it. Usually I put my thoughts down as soon as I can after finishing a book - I'm notoriously forgetful and if I wait too long I lose a lot of most books. It has to make a major impression to stay with me longer than a week or two. But I don't know how I feel about this one. I listened to Something Wicked This Way Comes for the read along hosted by Michelle at Castle Macabre. It's not something I would have picked up on my own. First, I'm not a huge horror fan. Second, I tend to avoid books that have children/teenagers as the main characters. The good: The writing is gorgeous! It makes even the small everyday things seem magical. The hero is a middle-aged library janitor who loves books. The carnival and Dark are downright spooky. The bad: The writing made everything...

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

October 11, 2018 by Carol4 Comments

Thanks to RIP and FrightFall, I tend to read a few scarier than usual books in October each year. It's probably the one time of the year when I actually read horror books on purpose anymore. I read way more back in the days of Anne Rice's vampires and witches, but not so much recently. When I was thinking about what books I might read this month, I decided to include We Have Always Lived in the Castle - it's a classic so I can use it as my Classics Club Dare book, people love it, and while it's horror it's not monster or gory horror. That's what I love about reading challenges and events, they encourage me to pick up books I wouldn't normally read and sometimes I love them. The opening paragraph is an amazing introduction to our narrator, Merricat. My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. I have often...