Happy Birthday Agatha Christie!

I am in the process of reading all of Agatha Christie's mysteries. The goal was to do it in order, but I've already messed that up, so I'm keeping to the published date order as much as possible. 


Questions:
Who is your favorite - Poirot or Miss Marple? Poirot, and a nod to Inspector Battle.


Favorite Book (so far)? Chimneys


Thoughts on Hastings... Love him. He keeps Poirot's overlarge ego in check.

Agatha Christie and the Doctor

Favorite reference to Agatha Christie..."The Unicorn and the Wasp"episode of Dr. Who that explains what happens in those 11 missing days. Great stuff that. 

Peril at End House - Agatha Christie

Summary: Perched on the rocky cliffs of the Cornish coast, the imposing structure known as End House looms over the quiet hotel where retired detective Hercule  Poirot is vacationing. Though the house is intriguing, its reckless young mistress, Nick Buckly, is even more so. She has narrowly escaped a recent series of life threatening accidents, and something tell the Belgian sleuth that these so-called accidents are more than just coincidences or a spate of bad luck. Someone is trying to do away with poor Nick. But who? And what is the motive? In his quest for answers, Poirot must delve into the dark history of End House. The deeper he gets into his investigation, the more certain he is that the killer will strike again. And this time Nick may not escape with her life (Source: Book Jacket)


Comments: Another stunner by Agatha Christie. In reading her books in order (although, I might be out of order at this point, must check), I've started to see some patterns that I find interesting. First, many many references to those books of detective fiction her characters mention. It's quite amusing, if you think about it. It's a self-referential parody and I just love to see it, especially, when voiced by her imminent detective M. Poirot. Other themes, such as Hastings having implicit trust of military men. It's repeated in many stories, but sometimes he's right and largely, he's wrong. Poirot does not exclude anyone from review based on their title, wealth, or status. He's rather democratic in that way. This was indeed a page turner, read in a day (it's way to damn hot outside), and I didn't see the end coming, so I won't spoil that for anyone else. Empathetic characters, some drug dealing, a murder, and Poirot and Hastings, what more could you need?

The Big Four

The Big Four

Summary: Hercule Poirot has had his share of intruders - yet none more peculiar than the emaciated stranger covered in mud who stumbles into the detective's apartment, shouts half-crazed warnings about "the Big Four," and dies. But not before plunging Poirot into a crazy netherworld of international intrigue, secret weapons, kidnapped physicists, underground laboratories, hairbreadth escapes, and an employee from a local insane asylum who's all too eager to let the baffled Belgian in on the sinister secret of "the Big Four." (source: book cover)


Comments: You know, one of the things that I'm finding as I read Ms. Christie's mysteries, besides the excellent writing and very interesting stories, is how very funny she is. Not in a laugh out loud way, but in a subtle, Austen-like way - a barb here and there, some turn of phrase that makes fun of something - often of fiction and mysteries themselves. Rather a charming characteristic, I find. 
Hastings has returned from Argentina to surprise Poirot in England and the two get mixed up in some very serious business that reminds me of The Secret Adversary, the second book by Ms. Christie. That the poor gentleman, Mayerling, that stumbled into Poirot's room was a victim of "persecution mania" reminded me of how much terms change over time, just like the use of "brain fever" something no one would write about now. 
Poirot, of course, never changes. He's the same egotistical little man that he ever was. As an example, early on the discovery of the existence of the Big Four ...
"No Hastings, Number Four has left no trace, and he knows it. His visit we may call a reconnaisance. Perhaps he wanted to make quite sure that Mayerling was dead, but more likely, I think, he came to see Hercule Poirot, and to have speech with the adversary whom alone he must fear.
Poirot's reasoning appeared to me typically egotistical, but I forbore to argue."
Just as words have changed over time, so have considerations of gender. When Hastings thinks of Madame Oliver, the great physicist, "It has always seemed to me extraordinary that a woman should go so far in the scientific world. I should have thought a purely masculine brain was needed for such work." We see the time period very clearly and thankfully, it is a different world we live in now. 
I am glad Ms. Christie leaves the French text in (just as it is in Jane Eyre as well). It helps me get my little grey cells going on remembering or sorting out the particulars of the language. It seems likely that Poirot comes from the southern part of Belgium given that he speaks French and refers in the book to the town of Spa which, indeed, exists and is also in the French speaking part of the country. 
I enjoyed this book very much. The sharp, quickly-moving chapters were succinctly written and moved the story at a very fast pace, but also developed the characters as well. There are times that I have to look up words, such as, dyspepsia - chronic pain in the upper abdomen. And other terms that I'm not up on such as the Ruy Lopez opening in chess - it's also called the Spanish opening or Spanish game, named for the 16th century Spanish bishop and chess player, Ruy Lopez de Segura. 
Poirot can be a real sentimental, especially when Hastings risks his life (and others) to save Poirot from making a enormous mistake ... "You like not that I should embrace you or display the emotion, I know well. I will be very British. I will say nothing - but nothing at all. Only this - that in this last adventure of ours, the honours are all with you, and happy is the man who has such a friend as I have!"
But he's also a little on the practical side as well ... "That is possibly true enough," admitted Poirot. "I hope that they will not succeed in massacring Hastings also, that is all. That would annoy me greatly."

That's Poirot for you. Just love him, and Hastings too. Up next, The Blue Train.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Summary: In the village of King's Abbot, a widow's sudden suicide sparks rumors that she murdered her first husband, was being blackmailed, and was carrying on a secret affair with the wealthy Roger Ackroyd. The following evening, Ackroyd is murdered in his locked study, but not before receiving a letter identifying the widow's blackmailer. King's Abbot is crawling with suspects, including a nervous butler, Ackroyd's wayward stepson, and his sister-in-law, Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd, who has taken up residence in the victim's home. It's now up to the famous detective Hercule Poirot, who has retied to King's Abbot to garden, to solve the case of who killed Roger Ackroyd - a task in which he is aided by the village doctor and narrator, James Sheppard and by Sheppard's ingenious sister, Caroline. (source: book jacket)


Comments: My saga of reading Agatha Christie's mysteries in order continues with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. I have to admit, I have read this before, it has been some years, and I still remember who was the murderer because it was such a shock the first time. That said, I did not remember any of the circumstances surrounding the murder or the plots twists. This gave me a very good opportunity to look at the clues against the murderer while reading the story. How were they inserted into the plot and what would I remember once Poirot put it all together in the end. Ms. Christie is subtle when it comes to adding clues and really nothing is as it seems often times. If the book jacket is to be believed, this book is the mystery that made Ms. Christie a household name. I can believe that considering how shocked I was by the murderer.
Ms. Christie created, to my mind, two of the most annoying women in this story; Caroline Sheppard, the nosy, insinuating, gossip and Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd, the money grubbing, constantly complaining sister-in-law of the deceased. While both are annoying, reminding me somewhat of Mrs. Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, at least Caroline was useful to Poirot and in her own way rather intuitive about the other characters in the story. 
Some of Caroline's running commentary directed at her maligned brother James regarding their new neighbor M. Poirot:
"I can't make it out at all," she said in an aggrieved voice. "I borrowed some garden tools the other day, and he was most polite, but I couldn't get anything out of him. I asked him point blank at last whether he was a Frenchman, and he said he wasn't - and somehow I didn't like to ask him anymore." 
I began to be more interested in our mysterious neighbor. A man who is capable of shutting up Caroline and sending her, like the Queen of Sheba, away empty must be something of a personality.
Here's a typical example of Mrs. Ackroyd when she is talking about one of the servants, "No more I do. She's - odd. There's something different about her from the other. Too well educated, that's my opinion. You can't tell who are ladies and who aren't anymore."* 
Sheppard himself was a country physician with a level of tact and diplomacy that his sister greatly lacks. He was, as he stated himself, "I played Watson to his Sherlock,"* but more correctly he played the role of Captain Hastings in this mystery. 

David Suchet as Hercule Poirot

Hercule Poirot is one of my favorite characters in literature. I really enjoy his persnickety character and his little grey cells. He's always dapper and charming. I do wonder what made Ms. Christie create a Belgian detective because one of my favorite parts of this book is the beginning when his name is mispronounced as Porrott. And someone always thinking him French (see above) and his disgusted reaction to it - funny. It does seem odd to me that Poirot has "retired" and lives at King's Abbot to tend his vegetable garden this early in the series of books (the book was published in 1926) , but we'll see how this progresses. I'm greatly looking forward to my next Christie Mystery - another Poirot story - The Big Four.


*p. 170
**p. 163

The Secret of Chimneys

The Secret of Chimneys ~ Agatha Christie ~ 1925
Summary: A bit of adventure and quick cash is all that good-natured drifter Anthony Cade is looking for when he accepts a messenger job from an old friend. It sounds so simple: deliver the provocative memoirs of a recently deceased European count to a London publisher. But the parcel holds more than scandalous royal secrets. It contains a stash of letters that suggest blackmail - and lead to the murder of a stranger who's been shadowing Anthony's every move. Discovering the dead man's identity means retracing his steps - to the rambling estate of Chimneys where darker secrets, and deadlier threats, await anyone who dares to enter.
Comments: No Poriot, no Miss Marple, but tan, educated, charming, intelligent Anthony Cade. A ner-do-well to be sure, but bound by a task and unflinching to complete it. Sigh.
Anthony Cade is the center of this story that starts in Africa and leads to London via the repercussions of the failing government of Herzoslovakia that will have an impact in many other countries, including England. Cade is leading a group of British tourists - a job he hates, but it pays the bills when approached by Jimmy McGrath, an old friend, who asks Cade to take the memoirs of Count Stylptitch to a publisher in London. Many, many, people want this memoir to disappear, so it's not a violence-free chore, but it could be exciting - much more so than touring a bunch of old people around. McGrath also asks Cade to take a bunch of letters to Mrs. Virginia Revel - letters that it appears she wrote to her lover while married. McGrath thinks that backmail may be involved and it would be the right thing to do to return the letters to Mrs. Revel. Now widowed, Mrs. Revel is an independent woman who speaks her mind. Though young, she is observant, intelligent and accustomed to getting what she wants. That's simple, since she's a beauty as well.
While I would love to go through the entire story in detail, that would defeat the purpose of my comments. There are several recognizable Christie characters in The Secret of Chimneys, or I should say characters in this book will become recognizable as types in later works. Cade is the independent man who you can trust even though you may not know his entire story. Virginia Revel is a type that is easily seen in other Christie works - this is not a negative.
I enjoy these types of characters. There are a couple of plot twists that I didn't expect and a romance that I did. The Scotland Yard Inspector Battle is sincere in his duties, intelligent and secretive, but still very likable. The French Inspector (involved because Count Stylpitch) died in Paris, Monsieur Lemoine, has some of the (slightly annoying) qualities of Poirot. There is an interesting sub plot to the two murders in the book - King Victor, the exquisite jewlery thief has recently been released from prision and may be at Chimneys to steal something left there, perhaps, many years ago.
One of my favorite parts in the book, I have to note since it won't give anything away. While trying to make heads and tales of all the things happened at Chimneys, Cade says, "Watson to your Sherlock, in fact?" "Detective stories are mostly bunkum," said Battle unemotionally. "But they amuse people," he added as an afterthought. "And they're useful sometimes." Love Christie's sense of humor. 
The Secret of Chimneys is a very good Christie read, while comfortably predictable in some ways, there were turns in other parts. A very enjoyable read.

Agatha Christie - Poirot Investigates

I recently finished Poirot Investigates and am starting on The Secret of Chimneys next. I enjoyed PI because it is a series of 14 short stories where Poirot gets to show off in his usual fashion and frustrating Hastings the entire time.


The Collection includes:
The Adventures of the "Western Star"
The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor
The Adventure of the Cheap Flat
The Mystery of the Hunter's Lodge
The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb
The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan
The Kidnapped Prime Minister
The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim
The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman
The Case of the Missing Will
The Veiled Lady
The Lost Mine
The Chocolate Box


I enjoyed the Hunter's Lodge where Hastings takes the lead. I also liked very much the Kidnapped Prime Minister. And in true Poirot fashion - The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim which Poirot solves the mystery w/out leaving his rooms -- what a show off!

Need to get back to Everything Austen II and finish my over committed list, so The Secret of  Chimneys may have to wait until the new year. Perhaps I'll start on Mom's birthday - January 11.

Agatha Christie - Reading in Order

This started because my mom's favorite mystery writer was Agatha Christie. About a month after my mom died, I decided to read Agatha Christie in order - I've read several before and seen the recent
BBC/Mystery shows, but in my mind to get a sense of an author, it's best to start at the beginning. So I did. So far, I've read The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), The Secret Adversary (1922), Murder on the Links (1923), and The Man in the Brown Suit (1924). I'm currently in the middle of Poirot Investigates (1924) which is a book of short story mysteries, each a chapter a piece so it's a little change of pace. I'm hoping to finish that this weekend and start The Secret of Chimneys (1925) next. I can't really say I have a favorite so far, but I did enjoy Affair at Styles quite a bit - it's rather ambitious for a first publication. Murder on the Links didn't do much for me, but it gave me a better understanding of Poirot and Hastings.  It will also be interesting to see how (if) Ms. Christie's style changes over the many many years that she published. I've not come across Miss Marple yet, but I'm sure it won't be long.
Thankfully, I own several of Ms. Christie's books already. In fact, one set is from my mom that she purchased in the 1990s. But I've been purchasing the ones I don't own. I realize that I could borrow them from the library, but I've had a terrible time doing that. I've had to return too many books to the library unread because they set off my allergies - mostly to cigarette smoke -- it's unfortunate, but it's true. So I spend a little here and there to complete my collection. Hopefully, the boy, who has shown an interest in mysteries, will be interested in carrying on the tradition.