Let's Bust a Recap : Hallowe'en Party

You knew it was coming, right? As soon as Kenneth Branagh announced his newest Poirot adaptation earlier this year, I was faced with a conundrum: I already had The Murder of Roger Akroyd on my 2023 book list, but now, obviously, I needed to read Hallowe'en Party before seeing A Haunting in Venice. On top of that, shortly before hearing about the movie, I came across the book in a Little Free Library and had just added it to my collection. Literally. In February. Of this year. What's a girl to do? 

Come October I nearly had a fit. I strayed from my list freely and often this year, and, as evidenced by my little self-imposed check-in at the beginning of September, I was feeling the crunch to actually read the books I had put on my list. So I sat down with The Murder of Roger Akroyd and figured I'd just get to Hallowe'en Party whenever I actually planned to watch the movie. 

Well, the same friends who had us over to watch Death on the Nile notified me immediately after seeing A Haunting in Venice come available on hulu that I better get to reading, because we were going to have another watch party. 

Naturally, I obliged. 

In this slim mystery, Hercule Poirot is called by a spooked Ariadne Oliver after she attends a Hallowe'en party where a child is drowned in an apple bobbing tub. The famous author of detective novels is a personal friend of Poirot's, and she begs him to come investigate the crime(s) for himself. The child had declared earlier in the day that she witnessed a murder and so Poirot's mission is twofold: solve the murder of the child, and determine if the dead child really did witness a murder and solve that one too. 

Clever. 

Hallowe'en Party is one of Agatha Christie's much later novels published in 1969 and while it still had her telltale stamp of misdirection and numerous suspects, there was a maturity to this mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed. This is the first Christie novel I've read where I definitively figured out the whodunnit before the actual revelation, but the whydunnit still eluded me making the resolution as satisfying as any of her other books. Reading this one so close to The Murder of Roger Akroyd, I couldn't help compare the two, and this one was by far my favorite. 

The movie on the other hand was the most ridiculous adaptation yet. In Murder on the Orient Express, Branagh did a great job developing the suspects and laying out the mystery, but then royally screwed up the ending. In Death on the Nile, he dragged us through a horrendous adaptation but managed to end it perfectly. In A Haunting in Venice: it was a total free-for-all. Branagh basically took the character names from the book, lifted a few plot devices (like the actual Hallowe'en party, and the separate past and present murders), but then just made his own movie. Like, why? 

I mean, honestly, why?? I really can't get over it. It was awful. 

Even setting the novel aside, the movie just wasn't great; although, much to my own surprise, I enjoyed Tina Fey in the role of Ariadne Oliver. While it's certainly not how I imagined her as I was reading the book, Fey did a great job with the role. While I cannot in good conscience recommend that trainwreck of an adaptation to anyone, I would definitely recommend reading Hallowe'en Party. I will warn you that there are several child victims in this one, but if you can deal with that, this is a great mystery. 

And to end on a fun note: Agatha Christie dedicated this little novel to author P.G. Wodehouse. Because they enjoyed each other's books. You know I'm a sucker for a good dedication and this one made me smile real big. How fun.

Still waiting for your Miss Marple recs over here!

Let's Bust a Recap : The Murder of Roger Akroyd

The Murder of Roger Akroyd is one of the greatest mysteries of all time. And that's not just me talking. As recently as 2013, the British Crime Writers' Association voted it the best crime novel ever. Serialized in 1925 and published in 1926, The Murder of Roger Akroyd is Agatha Christie's sixth published novel and third to feature our favorite little Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. 

Well, I finally got around to reading it this year, completing my little three-book box set of "The World's Favourite Agatha Christie" that I purchased back in 2017 in anticipation of Murder on the Orient Express coming to the big screen. 

And it was a rollicking good time. In The Murder of Roger Akroyd, Dr. James Sheppard is assisting Hercule Poirot in the investigation and keeping account of the details in his personal diary (á la Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes) so he is our first person narrator. Akroyd turns up dead in his study—stabbed—sometime after 9:00 one evening right after the good doctor has left his presence. The doctor along with Akroyd's butler discover him after a mysterious phone call placed to the doctor at home alerts him something strange is afoot. Through a series of circumstances, Poirot is asked to help with the case though he is trying to live a quiet retired life in this supposedly sleepy little village called King's Abbot. In what I'm coming to believe is the typical Christie formula, nearly every single person is a reasonable suspect, but never fear: Hercule Poirot cannot be stumped. In this novel, we get blackmail, poisonings, suicide, love triangles, a secret marriage: it's all in there! The crazy twist ending changed the game for the genre, and The Murder of Roger Akroyd is a perpetual fan favorite the world over. 

My personal favorite aspect of this particular Christie novel is Sheppard's spinster sister Caroline whom he lives with. She's an absolute riot of a character and she singlehandedly elevated this mystery for me. Christie herself acknowledged that this character was possibly a precursor to her other famous detective Miss Marple, so now I'm pretty determined to finally choose a Miss Marple novel for my next Agatha Christie book. 

While I had a lot of fun reading The Murder of Roger Akroyd and would definitely recommend it if you're looking for a good mystery, I wouldn't say it's my new favorite. As I alluded to above, I'm starting to see a pattern to Christie's writing: multiple credible suspects, a flood of clues and red herrings to overwhelm the reader, and a brilliant resolution. I think reading one or two Agatha Christie novels a year is probably a good pace to avoid burnout, but maybe I'm judging too harshly after only reading a few (this one was my fourth). I'll be talking about another of her novels later this week which brings my Christie Total Read to five. I have about twenty-five more sitting on my shelf, and I've decided I must get to Miss Marple next.

So which one should I read?

Let's Bust a Recap : Death on the Nile

Well, if you're reading this, thanks for staying with me on this never-ending saga of "Has she quit blogging forever, or will something pop up randomly after a month and a half of silence?"

Listen, I did not accurately factor in how the World Cup would negatively impact my reading life—much less my blogging life. It's my all-time favorite sporting event and it only comes around once every four years. You'd think I would have given a thought to how planting myself in front of the TV for eight hours a day to watch the beautiful game would have an effect on the rest of my life, but no. Not a hope of that. 

Anyway, I'm popping back in today to try to make a dent in the To-Be-Blogged stack and to assure anyone wondering that yes, I do in fact intend to keep up this little hobby of mine, however sporadic that may look.

And the book I plucked at random out of the stack for today is Death on the Nile by the Queen of Crime herself: Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE. 

If you've followed this little corner of cyberspace for any length of time, you may remember that I'm still a bit of a Christie newbie. I've only read two of her other novels (in 2017 and 2018 respectively), and after reading And Then There Were None, went on a bit of a Christie strike thinking no other book of hers could possibly be worth it after that brilliant display of murder-mystery prowess. 

I knew the strike was destined to end sometime, however, as I continued to collect her books and add them to our home library. Since my recap of And Then There Were None at the end of 2018 (at which time I only owned three of her books) our Christie collection has grown to a whopping 28 of her novels. And when friends of ours invited us over to watch the new movie released this year, I begged for a little time to read the original work first. 

So about halfway through September, I re-entered the world of Agatha Christie to read her 1937 rendering: Death on the Nile.

And I have to say: Agatha did it again. 

In Death on the Nile, our famous Belgian, Hercule Poirot, is approached by the effervescent Linnet Doyle (previously Ridgeway) on board the steamer Karnak (cruising down the Nile—hence the title) about the matter of her ex-best friend Jacqueline de Bellefort stalking and harassing her and her new husband Simon. Linnet, who is independently wealthy and has everything she could possibly want, stole Simon away from poor Jackie, and ever since their marriage, Jackie has been popping up everywhere they are and making them feel terrible about themselves. 

But when Linnet turns up dead in her cabin one night after Jackie makes a huge scene with Simon and a little pistol, this case of harassment turns into a murder mystery that only Poirot could solve. As he delves deeper into the details, he finds that nearly everyone on board has a reason to want Linnet dead. But who actually killed her?

I won't ruin it, but wow. How does she do it? Once again, Christie tied my brain in absolute knots trying to figure this one out, and once again, I was left gobsmacked by the final resolution. If you've never read anything by Agatha Christie, Death on the Nile would be a great one to pick up. 

The movie, on the other hand, was a bit of a letdown. Opposite to my experience with Murder on the Orient Express which was wonderful up until the end where everything seemed to fall apart; Death on the Nile seemed to drag on and on, but then Branagh really stuck the ending. They significantly cut down the cast which took away from the brilliance of Poirot solving the case, and just added in a lot of awkward, unnecessary bits that didn't do anything for the story except maybe make it a little more relevant to contemporary culture. Gag me. Our little group had a good time watching it though, and then I had the satisfaction of being questioned about what was changed from the book. 

Interestingly, I found myself reading an article recently about the All About Agatha podcast. I'm not a podcast listener myself (though I've tried), and these Agatha experts rank Death on the Nile #9 out of all Christie's mystery novels. And for anyone wondering, that's 66 novels. I was thunderstruck to see that they had the gall to put And Then There Were None at #2, but also intrigued. I actually own a copy of Five Little Pigs (though I have an American edition titled Murder in Retrospect), and now I'm at a loss as to how to decide my next Christie novel. All along, I'd been planning to read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd next (which you'll notice is #3 on this list), but then that got upset by Death on the Nile this year. Not to mention, I still haven't read a Miss Marple mystery yet. 

SEND HELP.

All told, I'd definitely recommend Death on the Nile, and somebody please tell me which Agatha Christie novel I should put on next year's reading list! This link should take you to a list of the 28 I own on Goodreads if you feel so inclined to help a sister out. 

Where do you land on the scale of Agatha Christie fandom if 1 was "Agatha who?" and 10 was "I have a poster of her in my bedroom"? Any other World Cup watchers out there? Who do you choose in the final: Argentina or France?

Let's Bust a Recap : And Then There Were None

Y'all. This was the last book I finished in October. 

PSA: it's December. I've bought a grand total of like, one Christmas present, and I have six blog posts just waiting to be written. My tree is up and there are lights on it (thanks to my husband), but there's a gigantic Rubbermaid bin of ornaments and other decorations sitting open in the middle of my living room. Will my tree be decorated by Christmas Eve? Maybe. Will we still be talking about books I read in 2018 after 2019 has already started? Probably. Let's just keep our expectations nice and low and enjoy the holidays, deal?

Okay, so last year I read my first Agatha Christie and thoroughly enjoyed it. I decided to follow it up this year with her most popular work and the one that has personally been the most recommended to me, And Then There Were None. This, the most difficult of her books to write according to Christie, was published in the UK in 1939 and the US in 1940. More than 100 million copies have been sold, and, not only is it the world's best-selling mystery, it's also just one of the best-selling books of all time. Pretty impressive. 

In this book, ten strangers are randomly and somewhat mysteriously summoned to Soldier Island, an isolated rock off the Devon coast. Completely cut off from civilization with no host present to greet them, they are each charged with committing terrible crimes. 

And then they start dying, one by one. 

Who could the murderer be? Will any of them make it off Soldier Island alive? Will the police ever figure this out? Y'all. I thought Murder on the Orient Express had a masterful ending, but that was child's play compared to And Then There Were None. Christie managed to create the impossible murder mystery and then brought it home in the most incredible (and satisfying) way imaginable. 

I have very mixed emotions about this book. Not the actual book itself, but my reading of it. On the one hand, I'm so glad I read it. It is excellent. 10 out of 10 would recommend to a friend. On the other hand, I have absolutely peaked with Christie. It makes total sense to me that this is her most popular book, and I will call you a liar to your face if you tell me there is a better Christie mystery out there. 

So how do you follow that up? I still haven't landed at the level of fandom which would compel me to read every book she's ever written, but I do still own three more of her novels. I'm thinking maybe I'll take a break from Christie in 2019 and then put a Miss Marple on my 2020 book list. What are we thinking, friends? Are you fans of Agatha Christie? Should I just keep reading Christie mysteries every year for the rest of my life on earth? So many books, so little time! Give me all the advice.

Let's Bust a Recap : Murder on the Orient Express

Well, I have finally arrived in the world of Agatha Christie. This was my first of her many, many novels and it took a major motion picture coming out this month to finally kick my booty into gear. I'll be honest: Agatha Christie has never been a real high priority of mine. Despite her status as the best-selling novelist of all time and the fact that her works trail only the Bible and Shakespeare as the world's most widely published books, I have never at any point in my life been dying to read her. But what with the aforementioned movie coming out, Christie shot up to the top of my Life List and into the murder mystery pool I dove. 

Murder on the Orient Express was first published at the beginning of 1934 and features Christie's popular Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. (Somebody please school me on the pronunciation of that name. To the best of my knowledge, it comes out sounding something like "air-kyul pwarrow"....am I close?) Our famous detective finds himself stuck on a train that has gone straight into a snowbank, but to make matters worse, one of the passengers turns up dead in his bed having been stabbed 12 times sometime in the middle of the night. The killer has to be on the train because of their unexpected stop in the snow. Can Hercule Poirot figure this out? 

Oh he can, y'all. Because apparently, he is the smartest, most clever detective you ever did see. 

What I liked most about this book was the way all the facts, evidence, and testimonies were laid out had me trying to solve the mystery right along with Poirot. I mean, I almost got out my own little notebook to start taking my own notes on the case, but I'm just not that dedicated. And I DID figure part of it out. But the conclusion was so intricate, masterful, and outrageous that it left me sitting with a stupefied grin on my face. Literally. I just sat in my rocker for a good 3 minutes grinning like an idiot and trying to decide how I felt about the ending. I also appreciated the humor in this novel as Christie had Poirot's cronies jumping to conclusions all over the place and getting more and more exasperated at the seeming impossibility of the case. 

If you're looking for cons, Murder on the Orient Express was not as unputdownable as I was expecting it to be. Every Christie fan talks about how engrossing her novels are, and I would not quite put this one in that category. If you are trying to solve it along with Hercule, the details start to get a little overwhelming as there are so many suspects. 

Overall though, I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and I look forward to reading more of Christie's work. Not all of it, mind you, but definitely more. I purchased Murder on the Orient Express in a box set of "The World's Favourite Agatha Christie" which also included And Then There Were None and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Both of those come highly recommended by friends of mine so I'm psyched to read them. I would also like to read one of her Miss Marple novels at some point. 

So let me have it: what are your favorite novels by Agatha Christie? What can I not miss? Have you read any of the Miss Marple mysteries? Which one(s) should I read? Bring it on. I can handle it. Did any of you see the movie over the weekend? No spoilers, please, but what did you think? I plan to see it this coming weekend, and I'll definitely let you know what I think.