January 2025 Reading Wrap-Up

As I am blogging less (burnout? Laziness? The slow death of the blog?), I thought I would chat to you guys about my reading last month (maybe touch on my December 2024 reads as I am taking my time on reading lately, but seeing as I mentioned my reads that month in an earlier post, maybe not as there was a LOT of quitting reads that didn’t bring me joy!).

But as you can see the pic, I included the December reads of How to Catch A Boss by Ana Ashley and the Audible Drama of The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (mainly because I only touched on them previous so wanted to show them one more time before I speak January reads).  

Now, I did finish this in January (and both Goodreads and StoryGraph class this as January Reads), but seeing as I audio the majority of this in December, I do class this as a December read, and that was Rescuing the Writer by Nora Phoenix. This is a short story in the Forestville Silver Foxes MM romance series and, yes, I know this is a short story so things have to move much quicker, but I felt so underwhelmed and, the more I think about it, the more icky I feel. Maybe if this was a novella or a full length novel, this could have been explored and lessen, but I just felt very underwhelmed and it’s put my off trying out this series. 

Now, the big mamas: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan & The Magician’s Guild by Trudi Canavan. These are still my Currently Reading. I knew these would be my “Take Your Time” reads as these are longer than my normal reads, but I didn’t realise these would take me this long. At the time of writing, I am currently 59% into Eye of the World audiobook, read by Rosamund Pike (19 hours 18 minutes into a 32 hours 56 minutes, for those of you curious!) and 68% into my ebook of The Magician’s Guild. Now, both are longer fantasy than I normally go towards, and both are so much slower paced than my normal reads in general (you guys know me, I love my books to move at a nippy speed), but I am weirdly enjoying myself. 

Now, I can’t tell if I am enjoying self with these because I am allowing myself to sink into these worlds, or for another reason but I know I will need to talk to you guys about these when I am finished to keep eyes peeled on the blog as these will be long posts (and, hopefully, I will figure out if I will read the next book in both these series…)

Now, the book I am classing my January read is Designing Terry Prachett’s Discworld by Paul Kidby. Now, he took over as cover artist for Pratchett’s books when the original artist, Josh Kirby, died in 2001 and most of his artwork is cemented as fan folklore for Discworld. I loved reading Kidby ideas on how he designed the characters and Terry’s world and the poking fun over his parodies (there’s one I knew vaguely which was his parody of the Mona Lisa, The Mona Ogg because of that smile/teeth. It’s only when I read his write-up, I found myself cackling and going “I get it now”), as well as loving the little details (as Granny Weatherwax is in the background, disapprovingly glaring, in several Nanny Ogg’s parody, the loving nod towards Josh Kirby in the original cover design for Night Watch and the chess pieces in Check Mort where Pratchett was playing chess with Death [and winning] as this was released while Pratchett was battling Alzheimer’s.)

I’m going to put some of my favourite art below, but I am going to try and read more arty books and going to more museums (I am going to try and be a cultured b***h, even though I will be pretending most of the time!). Or maybe I am just going to read more things and not feel guilty about it! Either way, let’s continue the weird reading into February, shall we?

Mini Catch-Up

Oh, the joy of blogger’s guilt. Been blogging for over 14 years (flipping heck, feeling old in book blogosphere! Hey Siri, play something young as I AM YOUNG, DAMNIT!) and, after a period of time, if you’re not blogging, you feel guilty for not blogging and chat about reads past, present and future. 

Plus, been going through a bit of a blogging/real life slowdown. Nothing wrong with that, but let me touch base with you as you guys know I haven’t vanished off the face of the earth with me blogging and reading (though if you follow me on my socials, you know I am very active). 

The main audiobook I listened to since we last chatted was Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie (affiliate link to bookshop.org is here). It seems that I might be considering doing an Agatha Christie a month or an Golden Age Mystery a month as I seem to have a load of these on my To Be Read lists (either on my physical shelves, my e-reader shelves or on my radar to investigate at a later date). Now, this seems to be one of the faves of the Poirot fans as it ticks all the boxes: a closed circle mystery of suspect on an holiday island off the coast, a messy love triangle (of sorts) and Poirot at his finest. I can see why fans of Agatha Christie rate this so highly. There is elements that are stuck in its time (the sexism at the end of the book where a successful businesswoman is told to quit her business so she can marry and be a good little wife left a sour taste in the mouth) and the case hinging on a lot of chance/luck…

Am I going to do another Christie this month? Yes, I think I am. I am leaning over between 3 titles (maybe a poll is needed on my socials?) and i am eyeing my British Library Crime Classics (I have one I am desperate to read but saving that for nearer the General Election as the murder is set at the Houses of Parliament). Would you guys like to know the British Library Crime Classics on my TBR? I am very tempted to blog them as they are a weird little mix…

Because I was having a bit of a DNFing blitz, I wanted to read something comforting but I wasn’t in the mood to reread (something I do want to do this year as I did NO REREADING last year. At ALL! I have three books I want to try and reread this year so hopefully, will attack them before the year is out). So, I dived into Mary Norton’s Bedknobs and Broomsticks (affiliate link to bookshop.org is here). This is a bind up of two stories (The Magic Bedknob and Bonfires and Broomsticks), which acts as the inspiration to the Disney movie, starring Angela Lansbury (I adore this movie. Yes, it’s trying too hard to be catch the success of Mary Poppins). And it was a delightfully cosy read but oh my, SO DIFFERENT from the movie. Yes, I knew going into this that the books were inspiration for the movie so there will be huge changes, but I was shocked on how different the two medias were and how dark the book got compared to the movie (yes, the movie is set during the Second World War, but we saw no one die. In the book, we saw someone get nearly burnt at the stake for being a witch).

But it was a nice read. Something I desperately needed as I go into reading some non-fiction (Rough Justice by Her Honour Wendy Joseph KC) and some literary/historical fiction (The Glutton by A…). Don’t worry, normal reading (and I use the term “normal” loosely) will return as I suspect that once these are done, I will be attacking my NetGalley backlog of audiobooks and eProofs (sorry in advance).

Audiobook Review - Lord Edgware Dies

Because of the events of the last few months with my employment and, because of this, falling into a bit of a reading/audiobook slump, I had no plans to do a library audiobook for a while. I am desperate to get my TBR piles of books/audiobooks publishers have kindly gifted me (in exchange for an honest review/reaction) under some control (remember last April when my Amazon was hacked/deleted and all my proofs were wiped off my kindle? I am still affected by that!). 

But I couldn’t bring myself to start audiobooking one of my many audiobooks that I have got from publishers or bought myself. I just wasn’t in that headspace. I needed something short, something I can listen to really quickly and that would kick me out of my audiobook slump. 

Then this became available on my library’s audiobook app. And who doesn’t love a classic murder mystery? 

Title and Author: Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie

Publisher: HarperCollins

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Borrowed via library’s audiobook app

Buy from (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

In Poirot’s ninth outing, after seeing an impressionist performance of Carlotta Adams, Poirot is approached by the actress Jane Wilkinson. She is currently married to Lord Edgware and, according to her, he will not give her a divorce and asks Poirot for help. Though Poirot doesn’t get involved, he agrees and visits Lord Edgware where he discovers that Lord Edgware is happy to give a divorce and wrote a letter to let Jane know. 

Poirot tells Jane Wilkinson and she is thrilled over the news, and Poirot thinks that is that. Except the following day, Poirot discovers that Lord Edgware has been murdered. Stabbed at the base of the skull, and witnesses say that they saw Jane Wilkinson at the family home at the time of the murder. But that can’t be possible as she had been at a party and there are twelve witnesses that can testify to that. 

Is it possible for a woman to be in two places at once? Who murdered Lord Edgware? How is it connected to a drugs overdose of Carlotta Adams? And how did a chance remark from a stranger help Poirot come to the truth?

NetGalley November 2023 - Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night

You think, while I was on holiday to a warm climate, I would read warm, sunny reads. Nope. Of course not. You all have been following this blog and most of my social media outlets for how long now? I wanted for something cold, something Christmas, something murder. 

And I had an itch to read one. So, imagine my surprise after attempting to read the prologue of Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night that I powered through, even though my brain was going “You should save this for Christmas…” and “You didn’t like the previous outings with Sophie Hannah’s take on Poirot. Why would this time be any different?”

Title and Author: Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night by Sophie Hannah

Publisher: HarperCollins

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by UK publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review/reaction

Buy From (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

It’s 19th December, and both Poirot and Inspector Edward Catchpool are planning their Christmas together, when a woman bursts in and begs for their help. This turns out to be Inspector Catchpool’s mother and she insists Poirot and Catchpool come to a Norfolk mansion to solve a murder and prevent another. In the safe haven of a hospital, a well liked man was murdered - hit over the head with a heavy vase - and soon, Arnold Laurier will be going to the same hospital (to the private room next to the murder scene) and his wife is convinced he will be murdered too, though she can’t explain why. 

Against both their wishes, Poirot and Catchpool go and, if they want to be home by Christmas, they will need to get their little grey cells working quickly to catch the killer and maybe prevent a second murder. 

Audiobook April - Mini-Reviews

Another day, another mini-review write-up on two audiobooks: one I got for review (in exchange for an honest review/reaction, of course) and the other from my local library (because why not!) 

We have (for review) One of Our Ministers Is Missing by Alan Johnson and the other (from library's audiobook app) Miss Marple's Final Cases by Agatha Christie!

First Reads of 2023

I'm not going to review EVERYTHING I read this year, but I wanted to touch on a few things that I have read in 2023 as it feels weirdly out of my comfort zone and yet, feels perfectly normal (though am not sure why). 

I am reading collections of short stories. I don't feel like I see a lot of these in bookshops or online unless there are linked to a Brand (whether that be a successful author or a character/series) or if it's indie collection or for charity. Maybe am not looking in the right places, so if you know of an awesome collection of short stories, shout them at me as I always like to discover new authors and styles. 

So, at the time of writing this, I have read three and about to start a fourth (after that, I think I will be diving into novels - I am eyeing The Postscript Murders by Effy Griffiths and An Autobiography by Agatha Christie. I won't affiliate link them to Bookshop.org till I have read them). And I thought it would be nice to pop in, say hi, write these up SUPER quick and be on my merry way.

Audiobook Review - Marple

I am not the biggest Agatha Christie fan (though I do plan to read more of her work and more crime novels from the Golden Age of Crime... they are sitting on my kindle, awaiting angrily for me!), but when I first heard of this new collection of short stories, written by twelve female authors, where they tackle one of the greatest crime fighting creation, created by the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, I jumped on it! I preordered the author and, being impatient, requested an eProof from NetGalley. 

Title and Author: Marple by Various

Publisher: HarperCollins

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: eProof gifted by UK publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and bought (then returned) audiobook. 

Oh, you saw the little detail in the info paragraph, did you? I will explain, but stay with me for a little while. 

If you ask most Agatha Christie what format works best with Miss Jane Marple - novel or short story - you might get a split, but most people I know think that she works best in short story form. There's something delicious about her in short stories that work so much nicer than when I read short stories with Poirot as the star (he works best in the novels, I found). But here is Miss Marple, solving crime for a new generation. Miss Marple tackling cases in St Mary Mead, London, New York, Hong Kong and beyond.

3 Christies, 3ish Weeks... What Was I Thinking?!

While in the mist of my Easter Break, I went down a bit of rabbit hole with audiobooks and going "Sod it! Let me do my weird thing" and Audible decide to do a huge sale on all their audiobooks (I become a member again. No idea why. Oh yes, the offer of three months for 99p per month.) And, like the basic so&so, I love a good sale. And, finally, I decide to get those Agatha Christie's I've had my eye on: Cards on the Table. And then, a few days later, The Hollow and after a day of listening to The Hollow, Five Little Pigs. 

This is the order I bought them and listened to them, but if you are a Christie fan, all of these are Poirot investigations. Cards on the Table is his 15th outing, Five Little Pigs (or Murder is Retrospect, depending where you live in the world) is Poirot's 25th and The Hollow (or Murder After Hours, again depending where you live in the world) is the 26th instalment. 

So, yes, am listening to them in the wrong order and yes, I got a little sick of Christie last year so had to quit her for a while. I had plan to read other crime authors from the Golden Age of Crime (Dorothy L Sayers's Whose Body, Joesphine Tey's Daughter of Time and Ngaio Marsh's A Man Lay Dead to name a few) and some newer authors (PD James and Ruth Rendell among others), but Christie is the Queen of Crime and when these title are under a fiver, how was I to refuse?

Ok, going to be keep of each of these and I don't want this post to be too long. 

Cards on the Table is a locked-room mystery: four guests at a party play the card game Bridge while the host is in chair by the fire. No one enters or leave the room, but by the end of the night, the host has been stabbed and one of the four did it. The host, before he was murdered, believed these four had killed once before and got away with it. But who among the four has just killed again, and will they get away with it? 

The Hollow is a different animal. Poirot is invited to lunch with his holiday home neighbours in the country. When he turns up, he discovers a man dying by the side of the pool, his wife standing over him. He was shot and the wife is holding the gun. The wife claims she picked the gun ups without thinking when she discovered her dying husband. Is she telling the truth or did she pull the trigger? 

And Five Little Pigs is, again, completely different. Poirot is visited in his London flat by a young woman. She is going to be married soon, but she wants Poirot is look into her past. Sixteen years ago, when she was a child, her father was poisoned and her mother was arrested and sent to jail for it. But the now grown-up daughter isn't so such. She believes her mother is innocent and asked Poirot to investigate. If it wasn't her mother who killed her father, one of their five house guest poisoned him and let an innocent woman go to jail...

Rereading Agatha Christie and Kimberly Derting

This post isn't going to be long (in theory. I just want to touch base on rereads). 

As you know over the past few months, I have talked openly about wanting to reread and discover some old fave authors and books (and maybe read some books from authors I have read in the past but not read). As a book blogger and someone who seems to be always adding new books on my To Be Read shelves and yet, am quite slow a reader at the same time, rereads are usually out of the question. Not always, sometimes you just want to reread something. And this year, with everything that has happened, rereading some books that are close to your heart or call to you are totally in order and, at times, desperately needed. 

And so, the past few weeks (since before my post of Future Rereads... Maybe...), I knew I wanted to reread Kimberly Derting's The Body Finder. It's been calling to me for quite a while and, in the end, I broke and went "Sod it!". 

This 2010 publication follows Violet Ambrose who has three problems in her life at the moment. The first is she has started to develop feelings for her best friend, Jay, and is unsure what to do with them. Second is her gift to sense the dead. Well, the dead that met a violet and murderous end. She sees/hears/senses the dead's echoes and the imprint that attaches to their killers. And third... a serial killer is on the loose and killing young, pretty girls in her small town... 

As you know, I love a good murder mystery/thriller and, due to COVID-19, the romance aspect appeals to me hugely of late (if you've seen the books I have requested from publishers or that I have bought the past few months, romance [straight or queer] have gone up hugely and this worries me). And when I read this back in 2010, I ADORED this book and devoured the series (the rest of the series is good and I enjoyed hugely but this first book can be read as a standalone). So, did going back make me like the book more or did me being ten years old change my opinion on it? 

No, not really. It was like coming back to an old friend. I had a wonderful time reading this as, while I knew the twists of the killer storyline (I did figure them out the first time I read this, truth be told), it was the romance between Violet and Jay that pulled me in this time. Funny how time changes us as readers. But I had a wonderful time rereading Body Finder. I have no plans to reread the rest of the series, as this was all I needed. 

Which leads me to Agatha Christie... Ok, now, backstory. I am 95% certain I read or audiobook Death Comes As The End in my late teens, but I can't remember anything about it. But, since the BBC announced that they were going to adapt it, I have been curious to reread/reaudiobook this and refresh my memory and, hopefully, this will give me the kick to read some Agatha Christies I have on my TBR (I had a few...)

Set in Ancient Egypt, a family is thrown into turmoil when head of the house, Imhotep, brings a beautiful concubine home from one business trip. His sons, their wives and his daughter are shocked and, while his sons and their wives are furious and plan to remove her from the house, the daughter tries (and fails) to befriend the beautiful concubine, Nofret. So when her body is found at the bottom of a cliff, no one really mourns her... but then more people start dying... is there a serial killer in the family and, if so, who? 

I make this sound more dramatic than it was. I remember really liking this in my teens but now... I just found it slow, boring and frustrating as, for a good chunk of the book, no-one was worrying about someone killing them off! And this book is such a product of the times, but I keep flinching at some of the terms characters use as they are racist and then, the writing felt odd and clunky. Not a normal Christie like I have read in the past. 

But, like I said earlier, we change as readers and I wondered if it was because I have been binging a lot of Christie over the course of the year as, after audiobooking Death Comes As The End, I audiobooked some Christies I've never read before: the Miss Marple novel At Bertham's Hotel, the Poirot short story The Mystery of the Spanish Chest and another short story Accident. I didn't like At Bertham's Hotel and I prefer the both short stories a little more, but I think I have Christie myself out. I have two novels on my kindle to read - Crooked House and The Pale Horse (I have low expectations with Pale Horse but high hopes for Crooked House) - and the rest I removed. 

But there's nothing wrong with rereading books and I have a few plans in mind over the next few months so you might see some more rereads on the blog or on Goodreads (goodreads.com/pewterwolf if you want to friend/follow me!) in future. Sorry/not sorry in advance! 

Audiobook Review - Murder is Easy

• Title And Author: Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Audiobook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Borrowed from local library by BorrowBox, though borrowed eBook from Amazon's Prime Reading
• Length: 274 Pages or 6 Hours 57 Minutes

One of the main Agatha Christies that I would like to read in 2020. I’m might not sure if I am going to succeed in my challenge, but ha-ho. Let me try! 

So, Murder is Easy is one of Agatha Christie’s lesser known novels (no Poirot or Marple here). Instead, we have a standalone that starts in a super “grabs you by the throat” way. Well… it did for me. 

Luke Fitzwilliam is on the train when he starts talking to an elderly woman, Miss Pinkerton. She’s going to London to go to Scotland Lane as she believes a serial killer is at work in her small English village of Wychwood. And she believes the local doctor might be next… 

Luke doesn’t believe her, so is shocked the next day when he reads about Miss Pinkerton’s death in the newspaper. She was a victim of a hit and run. A coincidence, surely? But it’s too much of a coincidence when, a few days later, Luke reads about the death of Dr Humbleby of Wychwood…

Audiobook Review - Murder At The Vicarage

• Title And Author: The Murder At The Vicarage by Agatha Christie
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Audiobook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought
• Length: 304 Pages or 8 Hours 12 Minutes

My first Agatha Christie of the Year. And I am planning to read a lot more (I have … hang on, let me check my Goodreads To Be Read list … six.) Hopefully, I will try and read them all this year. I want to read more crime/mystery books this years as well as a few other genres. But getting away from the point, my first Agatha Christie of 2020 and my first, real Miss Marple novel. 

And while I do have one Miss Marple on my kindle - Sleeping Murder - and I do keep wondering about two or three other titles, I keep hearing this is a good place to start with Marple. So, when I saw just before Christmas that this was on a One Day Deal on Audible for 99p, I jumped at it, only to hesitant a little. 

Why, I hear you ask? Because I have tried to read a sampler of the book on my kindle multiply times and I can never seem to get past the first few pages. I just don’t click with it. But I hoped, when I decided to press play, that I would just go with it and hopefully, I would get it as I went. 

“Anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe would be doing the world at large a service!” Careless remark from the parson to his wife, only his words come back to haunt him when he discovered the Colonel, shot in the head, in the vicarage’s study. The people of St Mary Mead are shocked: who could have done such a thing? The wife? Her lover? The Colonel’s daughter? The newcomer whose past is a mystery? The doctor? The parson himself? 

But living in this picturesque English village lives one Miss Jane Marple, and she has her own thoughts on the murder…

#re3 Murder Month 2019 - Murder On The Orient Express

• Title And Author: Murder On The Orient Express by Agatha Christie
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Physical
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought
• Length: 240 Pages

I am going to say this now but this reread wasn’t planned to happened. After I finished reading Howl’s Moving Castle (link here to read my write-up) where I struggled to finished, I wanted something light to read. Something fast. Something I could finish within a week. My brain decided that, even though I was thinking of reading this for Murder Month, I wanted to reread Murder on the Orient Express. So, I read this back in August and decided to pop my write-up of this now… 

I think we all know the basic premise of Murder on the Orient Express, but to refresh your memory, this is the tenth outing for Hercule Poirot and he is returning to Paris after a telegram comes to him, begging him to return to London. While on the Orient Express, his is approached by an American, Samuel Ratchett, who wants to hire Poirot as his personal detective. Poirot refuses, not liking the man. But the following morning, Poirot discovers that Ratchett is dead, stabbed 12 times while he slept and that Orient Express is at a standstill due to a vicious snowstorm, meaning the murderer is still on the train…

eBook Review - The Mysterious Affair at Styles

• Title And Author: The Mysterious Affair At Styles by Agatha Christie
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: eBook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought
• Length: 288 pages

As you guys know, last year I rediscovered Agatha Christie. I read Mysterious Mr Quin and Appointment with Death, audiobooked And Then There Were None and The Murder of Roger Ackroydd and read Sophie Hannah’s take of Poirot with The Mystery of the Three Quarters. 

And this year, I decided I wanted to read a few more Christie mysteries. I don’t have any real plan of what books I was planning to read. Whatever I could get my hands on cheaply, but I knew I wanted to read 4 Christies and maybe one more Sophie Hannah’s Poirot. 

So, when The Mysterious Affair At Styles came up on my kindle for 99p, I jumped at it. Agatha Christie’s debut novel and her first outing with Poirot was too good to miss. Plus, I didn’t know the story that well compared to her more well-known titles such as Murder on the Orient Express. 

After the Great War, Captain Arthur Hastings is invited to Styles in Essex to help him recover from his injuries he received from the War. It’s the last place he would expect to discover a murder. But when his hostess dies, her body spasming in her bed, anyone in the house could be killer. But Hasting is very lucky as, in the village, a small group of Belgian refugees lives, and one of them is a former detective. A detective who is growing bored of retirement… 

So, what do I think of Poirot’s first outing?

Audiobook Review - A is for Arsenic

• Title And Author: A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie by Kathryn Harkup
• Publisher: Bloomsbury 
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Audiobook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought
• Length: 320 Pages or 9 hours and 50 minutes 

As you might be have noticed over the past few months on here and on my social media (mainly my Twitter), I have slowly reading some more crime/thriller novels. I use to say this is a guilty pleasure of mine as my reading jam is usually fantasy, but not saying that now. I enjoy reading crime. What set this off was me reading/audiobooking Agatha Christie and making an effect to read some of her work this year (I am planning to read more next year as part of a reading challenge for The Pewter Wolf). But what intrigued me the most was how Agatha Christie did the killing in her works - poisonings.

So, when I saw this book a few months back, which looks at the poisons used in her novels, I became intrigued and wanted to read it. But no bookshop I went into had it on the shelf nor my library. Plus, I didn’t want to ask if anyone could order it for me - what if they thought I was plotting to kill my Other Half? So, when I saw this on Audible, I was in two minds for a good few minutes as I wasn’t sure if audiobooking this was a good idea, plus I wasn’t sure I would get on with the narrator, and it’s non-fiction (a genre I struggle in). But in the end, I went “What’s the worse that could happen?”

Agatha Christie was a chemist throughout both World Wars so her knowledge of poisons was extensive. A is for Arsenic looks into the poisons Agatha Christie used in well-known novels, such as Mysterious Affairs at Styles, Crooked House, Sparkling Cyanide and 4.50 from Paddington among others novels, and look at how the chemicals interact with the body to cause death, to cure the poison, real life cases and look at how the murder was committed in the novels. 

eBook Review - Appointment With Death

• Title And Author: Appointment With Death by Agatha Christie
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: eBook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought
• Length: 272 Pages or 5 Hours and 57 Minutes

This has been sitting on my Kindle for quite some time (I’ve just checked - since September of last year. I got it in an eBook sale, I think) and I’ve always wanted to read this when I was in the mood for crime. Plus, it’s Agatha Christie so it can’t be a bad crime story. 

In the past few months, I read then audiobooked three Agatha Christie's (The Mysterious Mr Quin, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and And Then There Were None) as well as read a New Hercule Poirot mystery, written by Sophie Hannah (The Mystery of the Three Quarters) and each had their own success and pitfalls. So, when I remembered I had this while reading Time Convert, I knew I wanted to read it. I wanted to read a murder and this ticked the boxes. 

“You see, don’t you, that she’s got to be killed?”

Poirot overhears this one night as he was closing his hotel window and thinks nothing of this remark. But this remark comes back to haunt him several days later when he is told of a death. Among the towering red cliffs of Petra, the body of Mrs Boynton was discovered, like some swollen, detestable Buddha or a spider. She could have died of natural causes - expect for a small puncture mark on her wrist… Was Mrs Boyton murdered? Poirot decides he will try and find the truth and gives himself 24 hours to solve the crime. But with that remark in his head and seeing how damaged the Boynton family have been under Mrs Boynton rule, will the murderer get away with it…? 

eBook Review - Mystery of the Three Quarters

• Title And Author: The Mystery of the Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah
• Publisher: HarperCollins 
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: eBook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by Publisher via NetGalley (in exchange for an honest review)
• Length: 400 Pages

I’ve had a bit of a bad run of authors writing new adventures for classic characters. I like that new audiences are discovering these well-loved characters, but recently, when I read these new advertures, I seem to hit a wall over liking the story. 

So why, I hear you ask, did I want to read this? Because I wanted to. Well, I wanted to read Closed Casket, the second in the new Hercule Poirot mysteries. I even got an copy to read, but got super chicken over it so never read it. But with this, I went “I want to try this. Plus, the premise sounds super intriguing and very Agatha Christie. And it’s an author I’ve never read before.”

Poirot comes home from lunch to find an angry woman standing in his doorstep. Here, she demands to know why he sent her a letter, accusing her of murder. Poirot has not sent any letter, has no idea who she is nor the person who was murdered. The woman doesn’t believe him and, shaken, Poirot goes into his house, only to come face to face with a man who’s son has received the same letter from Poirot. 

Over the next 48 hours, two more people comes to Poirot, saying he has written these letters to him, accusing him of murder. But Poirot doesn’t understand why these four unrelated people are accused of murder by someone pretending to be him… 

Who is Barnabas Pandy who these four are meant to have murdered? Was he murdered? Who is the poison letter writer? And can Poirot find the answers before more lives are put in danger? 

Where do I start with this? 

Audiobook Review - And Then There Were None

• Title And Author: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Audiobook
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought
• Length: 224 Pages or 6 hours 1 minute

It looks like I am galloping through Agatha Christie now. And all because I was enjoying reading The Mystery of the Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah (which I will be talking about on the Pewter Wolf soon. Ish. Though am still playing caught up on the blog with my July/early August reading) and am listening to a podcast called All About Agatha, which is going through all Agatha Christie’s novels and short stories one at a time. So, because of this, I wanted to go read/listen to some of the Queen of Crime’s work. Now, I just listened to The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and, due to the twist at the end, I knew I wanted to listen to this, which I bought at the same, plus this has been called Agatha’s greatest work… 

Ten strangers, with nothing in common apparently, get summoned to a small island off the coast of Devon, through letters from old friends, employment and other means. But once on the island, after their first meal together, a chilling recording is played and the voice of their unseen host accuse each of them of committing murder and getting away with it… 

Not long after the message was played, one of them chokes to death, been given a fatal overdose of cyanide in his brandy. Soon, the tension and mistrust grows as their number grows smaller and smaller and they realise that the killer is among them and is prepare to kill the all. All in the style at the now terrifying nursery rhyme of Ten Little Soldier Boys… 

Audiobook Review - Murder of Roger Ackroyd

• Title And Author: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Audiobook 
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought
• Length: 320 pages or 6 hours 53 minutes 
 

Well, I am going through a bit of an Agatha Christie blitz, aren’t I? First I read The Mysterious Mr Quin (a collection of short stories I’ve wanted to read back at the start of July but only chatted about on here at the start of the month) and, at the time of writing this, I am reading The Mystery of the Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah, which is taking Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot and putting him in a new adventure (with the blessing of the Agatha Christie Estate, of course). So, I was around 40% into Mystery of the Three Quarters and I was having such a blast with it, I went “You know, I kinda want to read more Agatha Christie stories. But where do I start?” So I oooh-ed and aaah-ed and, in the end, I bought two audiobooks - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and And Then There Were None - and went “Ok, let’s try one out!”. On sheer impulse, I went with Roger Ackroyd. 

Roger Ackroyd knew too much. He discovered 24 hours earlier that the woman he was in love with and planning to propose to had poisoned her first husband, only for her to kill herself after revealing another dark secret: someone is blackmailing her. And after receiving the evening post, he discovers a letter by the woman, with the truth of who was blackmailing her. But before he could read it, he’s violently stabbed in the neck. 

The family and friends are in shocked - who could do such a thing? And why? 

Book Review - The Mysterious Mr Quin

• Title And Author: The Mysterious Mr Quin by Agatha Christie
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Physical, eBook or Audiobook: Physical 
• Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Borrowed from Library
• Length: 336 Pages
• Buy From: Book Depository - Foyles - Audible

Well… that was unexpected. 

Ok, in the words of Craig David, re-e-wind! 

Sorry, no idea why I wrote that but anyway, back story. As you might remember from a blog post from months back when I chatted about Agatha Christie, this was one of the titles I’ve wanted to read for a while. Ever since I heard of the general bases of this, I wanted to read this. I mean, a mysterious man (who appears as if by magic. A bit like the shop keeper from Mr Benn! Anyone remember that?) who solves crimes. Sold! But I didn’t know when I was going to read this. Plus, I wasn’t sure if this was best place to start with reading Agatha Christie. 

Then I went “Sod it!”, requested it at my library (this was at the height of my last reading slump and real life drama of buying a house, trying to get a handle on work and general “Am I good enough to continue book blogging? Or should I quit?” - you know, the good stuff in life) and, before I had time to get myself ready, my library said “We got it and the other two books you requested for you!” (the other two books were Fatal Voyage by Kathy Reichs and Want to Play? by PJ Tracy [and why I haven’t read them will be made clear in the coming paragraphs]) so I decided to read this. 

The Mysterious Mr Quin is a collection of twelve short stories that follow Mr Satterthwaite as he gets himself involved in mysteries - some from the past, some present - and his mysterious acquaintance, Mr Quin, who seems to be the catalyst for the truth to come to light… 

One Day, Agatha Christie...

I'm not sure why I want to write this blog post about Agatha Christie. It's come a bit left-field, even for me, but once I thought this idea up, I went "OOOH! This sounds perfect". Now, if you look at my review listings, I have only read and review two Miss Marple short stories. I actually reread my review because I can't remember a single thing about them.

But, in my youth, I audiobooked a few of Agath Christie's novels (most/all were Poirot) on audio-cassette (remember those!?), and I, over the course of the last year, keep downloading samplers on my kindle of Agatha Christie novels that catch my eye or are going to be adapted on TV or film (some I watch - And Then There Were None, Crooked House, Poirot and Marple). And because I've only read a handful (no-one wants to know about me and Stevie's at SableCaught's attempt to read an discuss Murder on the Orient Express - we both liked the book, but the video/audio was so bad, it's never seen light of day!), I thought "Why don't I show you guys some titles that I might read or reread one day?" So, that's what am going to do - and if I enjoy doing this, I might do it again with Ruth Rendell and PD James... maybe...

But, let's stick with Christie! And I'm going to keep the list short - five or six titles as I don't want to overwhelm, plus most of the titles that catch my eye is mostly Poirot (

APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH
I have this on my kindle. It was on sale, so thought "Why not?". So, heads-up, you will be reading my thoughts of this in the next 12 or so months! I have a funny feeling I might have misread the basic plot, but am totally up for it. While on holiday, a ghastly American widow dies and no one really cares if she was murdered or not. But Poirot is part of the party and has only twenty-four hours to solve the crime. But as someone said hours before her death, "if only she just dies..."

THE MYSTERIOUS MR QUIN
I only discovered Mr Quin a few years ago and, since then, I have been itching to read this collection of short stories. There's something about Mr Harley Quin that really appeals to me. I think it's the element of magic to him that appeals to me. No one really knows who he is or how he appears, and yet he seems to know more than everyone else, as if by magic himself. Plus, one of Agatha Christie's favourite characters and she only ever wrote him when she wanted to. I do hope to read this collection soon...

DEATH COMES AS THE END
Another book I want to read in the next 12 months, but I think I've audiobooked this as a teen, but I can't be sure. But I do want to read this as a murder mystery, set in Ancient Egypt - sign me up! At the bottom of a cliff lies the body of the concubine of the Ka-priest, Nofret. Young, beautiful, but venomous, most people are glad she died like the snake that she was. But Renisenb, the Ka-priest's daughter, doesn't believe Nofret's death was an accident, and she believes that the evil is in her household...

THIRD GIRL
I am positive that this was the first Poirot novel I audiobook. I remember one or two details - the first is that three young women live together in a flat-share and one goes to Poirot, believing that she might have committed a murder. The other is something near the end, which I found so absurd, I'm surprised I audiobook other Poirot novels (I do remember liking Hallowe'en Party and Hercule Poirot's Christmas, so maybe I will reread these one day... But the prior three titles are more likely to be read sooner rather than later). Might not be the best Poirot to start with, but I didn't realise how long this series is...

THE MYSTERY OF THREE QUARTERS
I am a bit of a wuss about a modern author tries to write a well-loved character and only a handful of authors can do it. I did want to read Sophie Hannah's attempt to read Poirot with Closed Casket, but I chickened out. But the premise of the upcoming Poirot intrigues me so I might - MIGHT - check this out. Poirot comes home from lunch, to find a woman on his doorstep. She got a letter from him, accusing her of murder. Poirot has never sent this letter, nor did he send a letter to the man, waiting for him in his house. Is someone trying to ruin Poirot's good name? Is there a murder? And how can Poirot investigate when he worries he might people at risk?

That's it. Not going to say any more titles, though there are more titles that appeal to me to read or reread: The Hound of Death, Nemesis, Cards on the Table, The Hollow. Now, I'm not sure if I will or when, but you never know... Plus, sometimes it's nice to read something outside my comfort zone. But till then, am gonna stay with YA and Kathy Reichs when in the mood for a good murder. But one day, Agatha Christie... one day, I will read you...