Library – Page 11 – Carol's Notebook

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...

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...

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...

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

May 10, 2018May 10, 2018 by Carol6 Comments

https://twitter.com/carolsnotebook/status/992475284963233793 I don't usually notice who narrates the audiobooks I pick up, especially those from the library, so I didn't realize Ralph Cosham was the narrator of The Scarlet Pimpernel, until he said "Armand," and then I was like "oh, yeah." His narration here was as good as I remembered. He does a wonderful job with both the British and French characters. The Scarlet Pimpernel is just a fun adventure/romance story. The Scarlet Pimpernel is one of the first heroes with a secret identity, kind of like Batman. Sir Percy Blakeney is an English dandy, concerned with dressing well, being amusing, but not incredible bright. That's just a disguise he's cultivated to cover his secret identity as the Scarlet Pimpernel, the leader of a group of daring Englishmen who rescue French nobility headed toward the guillotine. But his wife doesn't know about his secret - and ends up putting him in grave danger. But I'm sure it's not spoiling anything to say that...