A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie

 

What was your last read of 2025?  A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie was my last read of 2025.

Miss Marple’s nephew, Raymond, has paid for her to vacation in the Caribbean for her health.  She arrives alone but gets to know the people at the resort she is staying at.  She is intrigued by an old soldier’s story.  When he is found murdered, will she be able to connect the story with the crime?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       A Caribbean Mystery is my December pick for the Read Christie 2025 Challenge.  This challenge explored Christie’s stories through her canon of characters and their careers.  December was novels featuring military characters.  A Caribbean Mystery featured “the old major whose habit of storytelling puts him in grave danger.”

·       It cracked me up that just like Poirot, there really is no vacation for Miss Marple. Murder finds her wherever she goes.

·       Fellow guest, Mr. Rafiel and Miss Marple team up to solve the murder.  I liked their partnership.

·       This was a perfect read for Christmas break.

·       There were a lot of shenanigans going on with couples at the resort. 

·       The poor couple that owned the resort know that murder is bad for business and want the case resolved quickly.

·       Nemesis is apparently a sequel to this novel. I hope to get to it this year!

·       Miss Marple has great powers of observation.  When she knits or putters around, people tend to ignore her and say incriminating things in front of her.

·       This novel kept me guessing.

A Caribbean Mystery is a perfect cozy mystery to keep one dreaming of sunny days in the midst of a snowy winter.

Book Source:  Purchased from Amazon.com

At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie

 

Title:  At Bertram’s Hotel

Author:  Agatha Christie

Narrated by:  Stephanie Cole

Publisher: HarperAudio

Length: Approximately 6 hours and 44 minutes

Source: Purchased from Audible

Do you have a favorite hotel or place to stay for vacation or a place that you would like to stay?  I have always wanted to stay at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

I am participating in the #ReadChristie2025 Challenge.  The challenge this year is exploring Agatha Christie’s works through her characters and their careers.  The theme for September was religious figures.  The missing man in this story is Canon Pennyfather, a scholarly clergyman who is staying at the Bertram Hotel.

Miss Marple is staying at Bertram’s Hotel in London for a vacation.  Her nephew Raymond has gifted her the trip.  When Canon Penny father goes missing, will Miss Marple be able to help find him?

My thoughts on this book:

·       This novel had a great setting.  It set up the scene perfectly at the start of the book.  It is a very English hotel that Americans like to stay at for the ambience.  English patrons are given discounts to have them stay there to be a part of the ambience.  It is old fashioned, but with modern amenities that Americans like such as showers, toilets, and central heating.

·       Miss Marple wants to visit the hotel as she hasn’t been there since she was a girl, and she has very fond memories of the hotel.

·       Betram’s Hotel is thought to be inspired by Brown’s Hotel in London which was a favorite of Agatha Christie’s.

·       This novel was first published in 1965 and has a fabulous 60’s setting.

·       I did not guess the ending of this one.

·       I enjoyed all the different characters such as the forgetful Canon Pennyfather, Chief Inspector Davy, flamboyant Bess Sedwick,  her daughter Elvira, and many more.

·       This was a more character driven story.  Miss Marple turned out to be a secondary character with Chief Inspector Davy driving the investigation.  The murder did not take place until well into the story.

·       This was a good cozy mystery to listen to on audiobook.

Overall, At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha Christie is an interesting cozy mystery that is perfect for fall with a great setting.

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie

 

Title:  One, Two Buckle my Shoe

Author:  Agatha Christie

Narrated by:  Hugh Fraser

Publisher: Harper Collins

Length: Approximately 5 hours

Source: Thank-you to the Kewaunee Public Library.  I checked this out using #Libby. 

Do you like nursery rhymes?  I always enjoyed them as a kid and reciting them with my own children.  I love how Agatha Christie incorporates them into her fiction.

Dead bodies turn up everywhere for Hercule Poirot.  He goes to the dentist one day and his dentist ends up dead.  Was it suicide or was murder involved?

My thoughts on this audiobook:

·       I read One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie for my August selection for #ReadChristie2025.  The August theme is medicine or medical professionals.  The victim is a dentist, Mr. Morley.

·       This is the twenty third Hercule Poirot novel.  I think it would be fun in the future to read all the Hercule Poirot novels in a row.

·       Hugh Fraser was a great audiobook narrator as usual.

·       It was interesting that this novel has a nursery rhyme title like other Christie books.  The buckles on shoes do play a part in the plot! This novel was first published in the United States in 1941 as the Patriotic Murders and then in 1955 as An Overdose of Death before finally being published with the original UK title.

·       I did not guess the ending of this one.

Overall, One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie was a short read that kept me intrigued.

 

 

Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie

 

What has been your favorite memoir?

Come, Tell Me How You Live is a lighthearted memoir about Agatha Christie’s adventures in Syria while her husband, Max, was on an archaeological dig in the1930s.  She gathered together her notes and vignettes afterwards to put together this interesting memoir.

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I read Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie in July as part of #ReadChristie2025.  The overall theme this year is to explore Christie’s works through the canon of characters and their careers.  The career for July was archeologists.

·       Christie’s second husband Max Mallowan was a renowned archaeologist.  He was thirteen years younger than her, and they traveled the world together.  I love this for Agatha Christie after her disastrous first marriage.

·       There was not much in the memoir on actual archaeology, but more on the people, places, and trying to make a home in a new and foreign place.

·       My favorite vignette was unforgettable and disturbing.  Christie woke up one night to find her and her husband covered with mice.  He could sleep fine, but she could not so their beds were moved outside.  A cat was hired the next day who efficiently and methodically killed the mice.  Christie called it a “professional cat.”  I would have loved to see this cat.

·       Christie chronicled a lot of hatred between different groups of different religions against each other.  Some were told with humor such as driver that tried to run over people of a particular religious group whenever he saw them, but I didn’t think it was funny.  Sadly, this conflict hasn’t changed with time in the Middle East.

·       Christie did write this memoir with a lot of wit and humor throughout.  It was nice to read a different genre from Christie rather than a mystery.

·       I wanted to travel with Christie as she seemed like a very fun and charming person.  The site conditions didn’t sound so fun, however.

·       It was sad thinking about all these archaeological treasures being found and carted away from their homeland.

Overall, Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie was a great memoir filled with wit and humor.  This book gives one the experience of what it would have been like to live through an archaeological dig in the 1930s.

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

Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie

 

Title:  Cards on the Table

Author:  Agatha Christie

Narrated by:  Hugh Fraser

Publisher: HarperAudio

Length: Approximately 6 hours and 0 minutes

Source: Audiobook from Amazon Music monthly allotment.

What is your favorite card game?  Mine is Euchre although it’s been long time since I’ve played.

Mr. Shaitana has a gathering at his London home.  He has invited four detectives as well as four other people of whom he has secret information about.  The four non detectives play bridge all night, but by the end of the night, Mr. Shaitana is dead.  Who killed him and why?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       I am participating in the #ReadChristie2025 Challenge.  The challenge this year is exploring Agatha Christie’s works through her characters and their careers.  The theme for May was detectives.  This novel featured four detectives with Hercule Poirot, Colone Race, Superintendent Battle, and Ariadne Oliver all at the party and on the case. 

·       Wow!  This was one of my favorites Agatha Christie novels.  It was a great mystery with great characters and a great story.  The ending caught me totally off guard.

·       There was a lot about the game of Bridge in this story.  I have never played this game but have fond memories of my great grandparents hosting bridge parties.  Have you ever played bridge?

·       On the challenge website, it stated that Agatha Christie was not allowed to play cards on Sunday as a child so it it always felt slightly wicked when she did as an adult.

·       Hugh Fraser is a wonderful narrator of the Hercule Poirot novels, and I enjoyed listening to him again on this one.

Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie was a wonderful mystery with complicated characters and a great story.  I loved how many favorite past characters came together to solve the mystery.

The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie

 

Do you like to read short stories?  I have always enjoyed short stories.  Sometimes its just a perfect sized read when you are having a stressful day.

I am participating in the #ReadChristie2025 Challenge.  The challenge this year is exploring Agatha Christie’s works through her characters and their careers.  The theme for February was authors and I read The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie for the first time.  Miss Marple’s nephew, Raymond, is an author and he is present throughout this collection of short stories.

A group gathers at Miss Marple’s house and each member tells the story of a crime to entertain the gathering and for them to solve.  The teller of the story must have the real-world answer to see if they solved the crime correctly.  They are constantly surprised when Miss Marple always has the answer.  “The Tuesday Night Club” sounds like a fun group get together.

My thoughts on this collection:

·       I greatly enjoyed the short story format.  It was great escapism reading last weekend.  I like the ability to pick up the book and read a complete mystery story and move on to something exciting like chores afterwards.

·       This was the start of Miss Marple, and it was fun to read.  I feel that at some point, I need to read her mysteries in order.

·       I love Miss Marple.  She is sharp and can apply her observations of village life to new situations to solve mysteries.

·       The collection was entertaining and gave me a chuckle with a few of the stories – especially with Miss Marple having surprising answers and understanding of human nature.

Favorite quotes:

“’Aunt Jane,’ said Raymond looking at her curiously, ‘how do you do it?  You have lived such a peaceful life, and yet nothing seems to surprise you.”

“’I always find one thing very like another in this world,’ said Miss Marple.”

Overall, The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie was an entertaining short story mystery collection and a great introduction to Miss Marple.

Book Source:  Purchased from Amazon.com

Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie

 

Are you participating in any book challenges this year?  One that I’ve participated in the past few years and look forward to participating again this year is the #ReadChristie2025 Challenge.  The challenge this year is exploring Agatha Christie’s works through her characters and their careers.  The theme for January was artists and I read the excellent Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie for the first time.

Hercule Poirot is approached by a young woman who is ready to get married, but she wants to know the truth of her parents.  Sixteen years earlier, her artist father was murdered.  Her mother was tried and convicted of the crime, but was she guilty?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       This set-up of solving an older crime to help a daughter, seems to be a theme Christie enjoyed.  I just read a similar set up at the end of last year in Elephants Can Remember.

·       Hercule Poirot thinks the five suspects from the house party fit the rhyme, the five little pigs went to the market and he can’t keep that thought from his mind.

·       This story was unique in that Poirot interviews each subject and then asks them to write up their memories in their own words.  The reader gets to read these written accounts.

·       The murder occurs during a very awkward house party where both the wife and the girlfriend are in attendance.  I know artists are eccentric – but it was a bit much!  I felt like the victim deserved to be murdered in this book.

·       I really thought I had this one solved again this time, but I was led astray by a red herring.

·       The house party setting had a limited number of potential murderers (five little pigs).  They were all interesting characters and had reasons they could have committed the crime.

·       I loved the cover of this novel.  It really captured the scene of the murder in the novel.

Overall, Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie is Hercule Poirot and Agatha Christie at their best.  It was an excellent novel and mystery.

Book Source:  Purchased from Amazon.com.