Endless Night by Agatha Christie

 

Title:  Endless Night

Author:  Agatha Christie

Narrated by:  Hugh Fraser

Publisher: HarperAudio

Length: Approximately 6 hours and 14 minutes

Source: Checked out with Hoopla through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

What season is your favorite?  Do you like winter?  It seems like an endless night to me with it being dark shortly after 4 PM in Northeastern Wisconsin.  I enjoy it when it snows, but I prefer the sunshine of the other seasons.

I listened to the audiobook of Endless Night by Agatha Christie for #ReachChristie2023 in October. The overall theme for #ReadChristie2023 is Methods and Motives.  Endless Night was my read in November for the motive of Greed.

Michael Rogers dreams of building his dream home on a piece of land he has found in Kingston Bishop, but he does not have the funds.  While walking by the property, he meets Ellie.  They fall in love and Michael is surprised to learn that she is an American heiress.  After they wed, they hired architect Rudolf Santonix to design their dream home.  Their marriage seems idyllic except for a local legend that says their property is cursed.  A local old woman confronts Ellie more than once to warn her off the property.  After a death does occur on the property, was it murder?  If so, who did I and why?

I really liked how unique this novel was compared to Agatha Christie’s other novels.  I enjoy how she kept experimenting with her writing throughout her lifetime.  This novel read like a gothic romantic suspense novel with the murder occurring very late in the story.  The novel is narrated by Michael telling the story.  I really liked the conclusion of this novel and how it related to her other works.  I don’t want to say more than that, as I really liked the ending and surprise of this novel.

What is even more impressive to me is that Agatha Christie was seventy-seven years old when she wrote this novel.  It received critical acclaim and is considered the best of her later works.

I have been enjoying reading Agatha Christie’s novels as part of the #ReadChristie2023 challenge and I am looking forward to #ReadChristie2024!

I enjoyed the audiobook narration by Hugh Fraser.

Murder on the Orient Express: The Graphic Novel by Agatha Christie, adapted and illustrated by Bob Al-Greene (Bibliolifestyle Book Tour)

 

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @williammorrowbooks for the review copy of Murder on the Orient Express:  The Graphic Novel by Agatha Christie, adapted and illustrated by Bob Al-Greene.

The overall theme for #ReadChristie2023 is Methods and Motives.  Murder on the Orient Express was my read for October with the method of stabbing. I had read the novel previously and thought it would be fun to read the new graphic novel. 

Hercule Poirot is taking the Orient Express to travel back to Europe.  Unfortunately, the train is stopped by a snowdrift on the journey and a passenger is found stabbed to death in the morning.  Hercule Poirot is on the case interviewing the passengers on the train to determine who killed Samuel Rachett and why. 

Bob Al-Green did a wonderful job creating a graphic novel out of this story.  I really liked the artistic choices he made such as graying out scenes that were memories.  He also used graphics to illustrate who the passengers were and what rooms they were staying in on the train. It really helped me to visualize what was going on in the story.

My thirteen-year-old daughter Penelope saw me reading this in October and asked to borrow it afterwards as she thought it looked interesting.  I think making Agatha Christie’s classic novels into graphic novels is a great way to get teens interested in her works.

I highly recommend this graphic novel to fans of Agatha Christie and to mystery fans.

Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night by Sophie Hannah

 

Do you prefer to read romance or mysteries during the holiday season?  I enjoy reading some of each genre.

Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night by Sophie Hannah was the December pick for the Rogue Book Club.  Unfortunately, I may have been the only person who read it besides the hostess so there was not much discussion of the book.

Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night is set in the 1931 Christmas season.  Inspector Edward Catchpool and Hercule Poirot are besieged by Catchpool’s mother, Cynthia, to head to Norfolk to investigate the murder of a man in a hospital ward.  Catchpool and Poirot stay with Cynthia Catchpool at a friends’ Christmas house party in an crumbling estate by the sea.  The owners, Arnold and Vivienne Laurier, their two sons and their spouses, the in-laws of the sons, and a couple of houseguests are all in the mansion.  Vivienne is sure that the ailing Arnold will be murdered next if he goes to the Norfolk hospital.  Arnold wants to go to be a mole on the inside to help Poirot’s investigation.  Arnold, like the murdered man, is a man that is generally well liked with no enemies.  What could be the motive for the crime?  Will Poirot be able to uncover the murderer before they strike again?

Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night moved rather slow for me, and I had a hard time getting into it.  I thought Sophie Hannah captured the essence of Hercule Poirot the character and I enjoyed him.  I just thought the build-up of the story and characters took a lot longer than I am used to in an Agatha Christie novel.  I also didn’t really like Catchpool too much.  He seemed rather clueless for a Scotland Yard Inspector.  The ending seemed like an Agatha Christie novel, and I enjoyed it.  It was a good cozy mystery for the Christmas season.

This will probably be my December pick for #ReadChristie2023 as I’m not sure I’ll get to a book featuring strangulation before the end of the year.

Book Source:  The Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie

 

Title:  Hallowe’en Party

Author:  Agatha Christie

Narrated by:  Hugh Fraser

Publisher: HarperAudio

Length: Approximately 6 hours and 27 minutes

Source: Checked out with Hoopla through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

 

Do you like Halloween parties?  If so, do you dress up in a costume for a Halloween Party?

In Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie, a Halloween party for teenagers ends in the murder of Joyce, a young thirteen-year-old who stated at the party that she had witnessed a murder, but didn’t know it at the time.  Ariadne Oliver gets her friend, Detective Hercule Poirot to help to investigate the murder.  Who is the murderer and why did they commit this horrific crime?

I enjoyed how the action picked up in this novel once Poirot was on the scene and I was surprised by the ending as usual.  I didn’t like how Christie seemed to be trying to make the story modern by throwing in some modern slang and making the children seem wild and promiscuous.  I know it was 1969, but the way some of the twelve-year olds and their behavior were described at the party seemed like it should have been a party for seventeen-year-olds.  This story just seemed off and was not one of my favorites.  It may be because it was one of her later stories.

I read Hallowe’en Party as both my #ReadChristie2023 October selection and as part of the read along with #deesreads.  I enjoyed reading everyone’s comments on the story.  I enjoyed reading it for the first time and feel ready to watch A Haunting in Venice, the new Hercule Poirot movie that is partly based on this novel.

Hugh Fraser was a great narrator.  I enjoyed how he was able to change his voice to be the distinct voice of all of the characters including children and even someone with a Scottish accent.  It was an enjoyable cozy mystery to listen to in an audiobook!

Death Comes as the End by Agatha Christie

 

Title:  Death Comes as the End

Author:  Agatha Christie

Narrated by:  Emilia Fox

Publisher: HarperAudio

Length: Approximately 7 hours and 11 minutes

Source: Checked out with Hoopla through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

Do you like it when a favorite author tries something new?  While I do find comfort in authors staying the same, I really like it when they explore new areas.  Death Come as the End was intriguing at Agatha Christie decided to set her mystery not during her contemporary times, but 4000 years in the past.

In Egypt, 2000 BC, Imhotep, the ka-priest, has brought home a new young concubine, Nofret.  His adult sons and wives are already restless and wanting to have more responsibility.  Nofret sows more seeds of doubt and malice, until one day she is found dead at the foot of a cliff.  Imhotep’s daughter, Renisenb thinks Nofret’s death is suspicious and starts to investigate the crime.  Who murdered Nofret and who will be the next victim?

Death Comes as the End was the August pick for #ReadChristie2023 and I enjoyed listening to the audiobook last month.  The prompt for August was “Fall from a Height.”  Emilia Fox was a great narrator.  I have listened to several books narrated by her and found that she is on my list of favorite narrators.  I enjoy how she acts out the part and has a different voice for each character.

As usual, I thought I had this one figured out, but Agatha Christie surprised me again at the end.  I did like the bit of a love story that was involved in this book as well.  I enjoyed the Author’s note at the beginning of the novel that explains the time and place of the story as well as her inspiration from ancient texts.  I enjoyed this brief foray into ancient Egypt.

They Do It With Mirrors by Agatha Christie

 

Title:  They Do It With Mirrors

Author:  Agatha Christie

Narrated by:  Emilia Fox

Publisher: HarperAudio

Length: Approximately 6 hours and 35 minutes

Source: Checked out with Hoopla through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

Do you pick books to read based on the title? 

They Do It With Mirrors is the June pick for #ReadChristie2023 to meet a theme of “gunshot.”  I thought it was interesting on the website for the challenge it said that Agatha Christie was less confident of her knowledge of death by gunshot as compared to death by poison. Guns were still prominent in her works with 42 deaths caused by them throughout her works. 

I started They Do It With Mirrors in June but didn’t finish it until July.  This title grabbed me.  What exactly do they do with mirrors?  I was hoping that mirrors played prominently into the answer to the murder, but unfortunately it is just a phrase that Miss Marple says to explain the solution.  I was pleased that unlike a couple of other Miss Marple mysteries I have read, Miss Marple is in this entire novel and is the primary detective on the case.

Miss Marple is visited by an old school friend, Ruth.  Ruth is convinced that there is something wrong with her sister Carrie and hopes that Miss Marple can visit and investigate the problem.  Carrie was also Miss Marple’s friend in school.  Together with her husband, she has transformed her home, Stoneygate, into a rehabilitation center for delinquents.  There are also a number of family members visiting as well.  After a murder takes place, Miss Marple uses her skills to solve the mystery.  Was it one of the delinquent young men or a family member?

I love that Miss Marple is a nosey old lady and she is fine with that.  She strikes up conversations with everyone but is also not afraid to pull out her binoculars and pretend to look at birds so she can listen to other people’s conversations.  I was not quite sure how this one was going to end, but it was a satisfying conclusion.

Emilia Fox was a wonderful narrator of the audiobook, and I greatly enjoyed her narration.

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

 

Title:  Death on the Nile

Author:  Agatha Christie

Narrated by:  David Suchet

Publisher: Macmillian Audio

Length: Approximately 7 hours and 59 minutes

Source: Checked out with Hoopla through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

If you could go on a cruise anywhere, where would you go?  I’ll admit, the Viking River Cruise ads on PBS work on me and I really want to sale down in the Rhine one day. A trip down the Nile also does sound fantastic . . .unless everyone starts to be murdered on your boat!

I read Death on the Nile for both the #ReadChristie2023 May pick for “jealousy” and for the Back to the Classics Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library.  I read this book last year, so this time I listened to the audiobook.  David Suchet was a fantastic narrator.  Besides being the true voice of Hercule Poirot, he has unique voices for each character and really acts out the story.  This was a very enjoyable audiobook to listen to.  I highly recommend it.

Death on the Nile is the story of young newlyweds Linnet and Simon.  Linnet is rich and beautiful, and the only thing that seems to wreck her honeymoon is the fact that her former best friend Jackie keeps following Linnet and Simon.  Jackie is not pleased that her former fiancé has married Linnet.  After a murder happens on their cruise down the Nile, it turns out that many of the people on the cruise have something to hide.  Luckily for them, Detective Hercule Poirot is on the scene to investigate with his friend Colonel Race.  Why does death always occur where Poirot vacations?

We had an interesting discussion on the book at our Classics Book Club last night.  We talked about the racist passages that were in the book.  It was published in 1937.  It was jarring hearing some of them on audiobook.  Agatha Christie novels are also currently being edited by sensitivity editors to update the language.  We had a good discussion about changing an author’s work and the appropriateness of doing this (we were not in favor).

We also had a good discussion about all of Christie’s unique characters on this boat down the Nile and their various issues.  I think we all decided we did not want to be on this cruise with all of the dead bodies piling up. 

It was interesting to listen to the story again a second time and pick up on details I missed the first time.  I’m torn on Linnet as a character.  I both dislike her for her treatment of her friend and feel sad for her as she seemed to have no one in the world who really liked her for herself. 

Overall, Death on the Nile is a good story and a classic Agatha Christie that I’m sure I’ll reread several more times in my lifetime.

Sparkling Cyanide by Agatha Christie

 

What is your favorite sparking beverage?  In my champagne flutes here is Captain’s Walk Titletown Moscato.  It’s a delicious sparkling beverage.

One year ago, a group of friends went out for dinner at a fancy London restaurant, and one, Rosemary, died apparently from suicide by cyanide poisoning.  The same group meets again a year later to celebrate the birthday of Rosemary’s sister Iris.  One place is left empty in remembrance of Rosemary.  Rosemary’s husband George has begun to put the pieces together and thinks the suicide may have been murder.  When this evening again ends in death, will the killer be found before they strike again?

I liked that Rosemary’s murder was at the very start of the novel and then the various characters at the party are further fleshed out after the party.  I could then see why various characters would want to murder Rosemary, but did they and how? I didn’t quite guess the answer to this Agatha Christy mystery as per usual.  I enjoyed that George wanted to solve the mystery of his wife’s murder.  He realized she wasn’t perfect, but he loved her and wanted justice for her. 

This is called a Colonel Race novel.  He is slightly in it but is really a secondary character.

Sparkling Cyanide was the April read for the #ReadChristie2023 challenge.  Poison was the focus for this month, and this was the perfect book for it.

Book Source: E-book purchased from Amazon.com.

 

The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie

 

Title:  The Moving Finger

Author:  Agatha Christie

Narrated by:  Richard E. Grant

Publisher: Harper Audio

Length: Approximately 6 hours and 23 minutes

Source: Checked out with Hoopla through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

 

Have you ever received a Poison Pen letter?  I luckily have not.  I wonder how common they are in this day and age.  Is Cyber Bullying the 21^st century Poison Pen letter?

The Moving Finger was the March selection for #ReadChristie2023.  I finished it the morning of April 1^st so I was one day late!!

Jerry is a wounded aviator from World War II and needs to recuperate.  Lymstock seems the perfect village to rehabilitate in with his sister, Joanna.  As they get to know people in the village, they receive a poison pen letter insinuating that they are not brother and sister.  Others in town also receive such letters.  They seem to spread gossip and spite but are not altogether accurate.  Mrs. Symmington is found dead after she received one such letter and it appears to be from suicide.  Was it suicide or murder?

I really enjoyed Jerry and Joanna and their personalities.   It really worked well having them as outsiders to the community.  Through them we are introduced to the characters and learn their quirks and history through their visit to the village. Jerry is the narrator for the novel and I enjoyed his perspective. Christie really threw me through a loop with this once as I thought that Mrs. Symington’s daughter (and Jerry’s love interest) Megan was guilty the entire time. I was so wrong, but I love how Christie tricks me every time.

This is called a Miss Marple mystery, but Miss Marple is hardly in this book.  I think the mystery could have been solved without her.

Richard E. Grant was a wonderful narrator.  This was a fun audiobook and an enjoyable listen.

Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie

 

Title:  Partners in Crime

Author:  Agatha Christie

Narrated by:  Hugh Fraser

Publisher: HarperAudio

Length: Approximately 6 hours and 56 minutes

Source: Checked out with Libby through the Kewaunee Public Library.  Thank-you!

 

Do you have a favorite crime solving or fighting duo?  This was my first Tommy and Tuppence novel, but it won’t be my last.  They were a witty detective duo that I greatly enjoyed.  They reminded me of Nick and Nora from the Thin man movies.

#ReadChristie2023 is focusing on murders and methods in Agatha Christie novels.  The prompt for February was the use of blunt objects and the book pick was Partners in Crime.  In Partners in Crime, Tommy and Tuppence have been asked to take over Blunt's International Detective Agency and they jump at the chance.  The agency has been a cover for spies. They solve the mysteries that come in as they wait for the spymasters to show themselves.  Tommy finds inspiration from the master detectives of history including Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot.  I loved his mangled violin playing as he tried to channel Sherlock Holmes.  The book is a series of short story mysteries that the two solve.  They were interesting and hilarious.  I loved the repartee between Tommy and Tuppence.

There are only five Tommy and Tuppence novels and this is the second one.  I was intrigued to learn that Tommy and Tuppence are the only Christie characters that age over time.  They start young with one of her first novels, The Secret Adversary in 1922 and end as an old couple in Postern of Fate in 1973.  This definitely makes me want to read all of these novels.   Partners in Crime came out in 1929 so Tommy and Tuppence are still a young couple.  It was funny to me though that Agatha Christie was already including her creation of Hercule Poirot in the pantheon of great detectives in this book.

My favorite story in this collection was The House of Lurking Death which was a case of poisoning.  The Man in the Mist involved murder with a blunt object as per the prompt for February.  It was a clever case.  I enjoyed all of the stories. 

Hugh Fraser was a good narrator for this audiobook.

Towards Zero by Agatha Christie (Bibliolifestyle Book Tour)

 

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @officialagathachristie for a review copy of Towards Zero by Agatha Christie.   I have participated in the Read Christie Challenge the past two years and enjoyed it.  I am excited to start 2023 with this novel to start the 2023 Read Christie Challenge.

About the Read Christie Challenge:

Read Christie 2023 is the official reading challenge from Agatha Christie Ltd (ACL), which explores 12 stories and themes throughout the year.   The 2023 theme is Methods and Motives in Agatha Christie's stories.  Each month, alongside the official choice, there are alternative titles for readers to choose from that fit the categories.  January's theme is Jealousy.  The official ACL pick is Sad Cypress.  The official alternatives are: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side or Towards Zero.   To join in, download the Read Christie 2023 challenge postcard from agathachristie.com.  The postcard will be included in your welcome email.  To join in on Instagram, tag your post with #ReadChristie2023.

Review:

I received a copy of the alternative pick for January, Towards Zero.  I had never read this book before, and I greatly enjoyed it.

Towards Zero is working from the premise that “A murder is the culmination of a lot of different circumstances, all converging at a given moment at a given point.  People are brought into it from different parts of the globe and for unforeseen reasons.”  The story starts with various seemingly unconnected people and gives their background as the pieces all come together.  Many of the characters eventually converge at a house party at a seaside home of an old widow.  When a shocking murder happens, Superintendent Battle interrupts his vacation to solve the crime.  How do all of these pieces fit together?  Who would murder this poor old woman and why?

I loved the concept and liked seeing how all of the characters and their experiences came together to solve this mystery.  Once again, I thought I had this figured out, but Christie got me with a red herring. I also enjoyed Superintendent Battle thinking about how his old friend Hercule Poirot would solve such a crime.  This is the first Christie novel I’ve read with Superintendent Battle, but I see he is featured in four more novels before this one and this is his last adventure.  I loved the atmosphere; it seemed like a powder keg with all of the various personalities together and something bad was bound to happen.

Favorite Quote:

“A little malice, adds a certain savour to life.”

Overall, Towards Zero is an excellent Agatha Christie mystery.