Agatha Christie – Page 3 – Carol's Notebook

The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie

November 22, 2020December 18, 2020 by CarolNo Comments

The Man in the Brown Suit has been on my list to read for a while. I've read a lot of Agatha Christie's, but this is a Colonel Race book, and he has never been my favorite of her characters. Honestly, I should have read it earlier. Anne Beddingfield, our amateur sleuth, is awesome. She's practical, but full of grit and she doesn't frighten easily. She's also a hopeless romantic. Anne was raised by her anthropologist father, a well-known academic but a poor man more wrapped up in the dead than the living. After he dies, Anne refuses a more "suitable" arrangement and determines to find adventure. Then it happens - a man on the train platform near her falls to his death after seeing something that frightens him. The doctor who tends to the man wears a brown suit, and after he leaves hurriedly, Anne has her suspicions as to whether or not he is actually a doctor. She...

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie

January 3, 2019January 3, 2019 by Carol6 Comments

When will these older, wealthy men stop inviting their whole families, most of whom hate them or each other, to Christmas house parties? Simeon Lee is the one who's done it this time. All his children, a grandchild none of the others know, and an old "friend's" son, are at the house for Christmas and of course Simeon Lee ends up dead, killed in a locked room. There are plenty of motives, although how was he killed is a good question. The killer was a surprise to me. I'm not sure we really had enough clues to guess who it was on our own. But it's a good ending. I do love Christie. I also listened to this short story. It's another Christmas only this time, Poirot already knows what the crime was, a stolen gem. It's his job to track it down. But he also learns how enjoyable an English Christmas can be. There's no actual murder in this one, which...

Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie

November 24, 2018 by Carol11 Comments

Jane Wilkinson wants to be rid of her husband, Lord Edgware. She asks Poirot to see him, to convince him to grant her a divorce. At the same time, she talks about how she would go about killing her husband if need be. As the title makes it clear, Lord Edgware does die. Jane, however has an ironclad alibi - but she was also observed at the scene of the crime. As always, Christie gives us several suspects and possible motives and two more dead bodies. She provides us plenty of clues, but also enough red herrings to keep us guessing. This time around we have several characters who are actors, which makes it even more difficult to tell who is lying. The final solution was well done, believable but with a perfect twist. Hastings is our narrator here, and I read the version narrated by Hugh Fraser, which was perfect. Hastings gets made fun of by Poirot for not understanding, but...

Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie

October 26, 2018 by Carol6 Comments

I love the title Sparkling Cyanide. Christie's titles don't tend to be particularly noticeable, but Sparkling Cyanide stands out. It captures clearly the method of murder - cyanide in the champagne, and it's a bit glamorous. Rosemarie died a year ago, presumably suicide. She was a beautiful woman, but her death benefitted several people. Her husband, George, truly loved her, in spite of her affairs, and has come to believe that she was actually murdered. Any one who was at the dinner the night she died could have done it - her lover or his scorned wife, her sister Iris who stands to inherit, the husband's trusted secretary, or a rather shady "friend" who, a year later is making moves on Iris. George organizes a second dinner party, with the same people, hoping to force a confession. It all goes terribly wrong when George is killed too. Colonel Race, a friend of George's, helps in the investigation. He doesn't actually do much, but he is on...

The Mysterious Mr. Quin by Agatha Christie

October 24, 2018October 25, 2018 by Carol7 Comments

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...

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...