Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh

Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh

I love mysteries, but if I had to narrow the genre down to my favorite type, I'd pick vintage mysteries. Even narrower, I'd go with country house mysteries, preferably at Christmastime, but winter will do. Death and the Dancing Footman is one of those. Our Inspector Roderick Alleyn doesn't show up until about 2/3rds through. Usually that annoys me, but Marsh tends to make it work. This time around, it gives us plenty of time to meet all of the guests. Jonathan Royal is the owner of the country house and the host of the house party. He is rather not a good person. He's invited a group of people who will quite clearly not get along well. The Compline family consists of the mother Sonia and her two sons, William who is excessively devoted and Nicholas, her favorite. William is engaged to another guest, Chloris Wynne, who used to be engaged to Nicholas. Sonia's friend, Hersey Amblington, who owns a spa and...
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The Mysterious Mr. Quin by Agatha Christie

The Mysterious Mr. Quin by Agatha Christie

The Mysterious Mr. Quin is a collection of short mystery stories, by they're a slight departure from Christie's norm. Mr. Satterthwaite, is upper class, single, a man who loves his comforts and is rich enough to afford them. He enjoys life's dramas, watching rather than participating. Satterthwaite is both the main character and the sidekick. It's his reasoning and actions that solve the mysteries, but it's Harley Quin who mysteriously show up at just the right time, asks just the right questions. Mr. Quin is a touch supernatural, he seems to intercede on the behalf of the dead, those whose mysteries still need solved. These stories are not typical Christie. They're more romantic, with love often triumphing. They're a little dreamy, the plots don't have the precision of Poirot, but the conclusions do seem logical. It's a good collection, but not necessarily what I'm looking for when I'm picking up a Christie. And I have to say I like this Harley Quin better...
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After the Funeral by Agatha Christie

After the Funeral by Agatha Christie

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...
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Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie

Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie

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...
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Cherringham #1-3 by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards

Cherringham #1-3 by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards

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...
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From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming

From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming

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...
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