It is a truth universally acknowledged that an Agatha Christie uber-fan who decides to write his own mystery will be influenced by the Queen of Crime. Kemper Donovan, host of the Christie-centered podcast All About Agatha, has himself acknowledged this regarding The Busy Body, his second novel but first full-fledged whodunnit. Indeed, I could share some of … Continue reading CHRISTIE ADJACENT: The Busy Body by Kemper Donovan
Agatha Christie
AND THEN THERE WAS MURDER IS EASY
I know, I know! I promised a bit less Agatha Christie this year! Let’s just call the next two posts “Christie Adjacent!” First things first: in an act of kindness (which he regarded as cruelty!), my friend Scott from overseas made it possible for me to be one of the first Americans to watch the … Continue reading AND THEN THERE WAS MURDER IS EASY
RANKING MARPLE: Settling the Scores
When I was struck with the idea last year of reading and “ranking” the twelve Miss Marple novels, it was more of an excuse to revisit the lady and think long and hard about each of her books than it was to come up with a “definitive best of” list. All art – even murder … Continue reading RANKING MARPLE: Settling the Scores
RANKING MARPLE #12: Nemesis
“Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an everlasting stream.” (Amos 5:24) In the early days of World War II, with bombs continually threatening to burst over her ultramodern London flat, Agatha Christie decided to write Hercule Poirot’s last case. She put a lot of thought into how she would end the career – … Continue reading RANKING MARPLE #12: Nemesis
DO YOU WANNA KILL A SNOWMAN? Book Club Reads The Sittaford Mystery
As those of you reading this who also follow some of my blogging friends may have realized, what happens in Book Club does not stay in Book Club. The best part of Book Club is the clubbers themselves. We have decided that it doesn’t matter whether we love or hate a book – it’s all about the … Continue reading DO YOU WANNA KILL A SNOWMAN? Book Club Reads The Sittaford Mystery
RANKING MARPLE #11: At Bertram’s Hotel
“What more perfect image could Agatha have used for the disappearance of the world she had known? How wrong – how utterly wrong – were those who believed that Agatha Christie was a fossilized creature, suspended in an England that was forever 1932, comfortably taking tea in a firelit lounge: the very setting that Agatha … Continue reading RANKING MARPLE #11: At Bertram’s Hotel
RANKING MARPLE #10: A Caribbean Mystery
A Caribbean Mystery doesn’t get enough love. I am here to rectify that. It merits barely a mention in the various Christie biographies. Robert Barnard, in A Talent to Deceive, dismisses the book as “in the tradition of all those package-tour mysteries written by indigent crime writers who have to capitalize on their meager holidays.” Even my go-to … Continue reading RANKING MARPLE #10: A Caribbean Mystery
THE AGATHA CHRISTIE DRAFT
(Warning: you should go into this article knowing that there will be massive spoilers of the solutions of many Agatha Christie titles! Enter at your own risk!!) Everyone has a list in their head of their favorite things. If I was to list just three of mine, I’d say that I love Agatha Christie I … Continue reading THE AGATHA CHRISTIE DRAFT
“WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT THE DISAPPEARANCE . . .
Last night, Theatre Works, one of the Bay Area’s most accomplished theatre companies, opened its 53rd season – and welcomed its new artistic director, Giovanna Sardelli – with a production of Mrs. Christie by Heidi Armbruster. Sardelli herself had directed the world premiere of this play in 2019 at the Dorset Theatre Festival, but Armbruster had been workshopping … Continue reading “WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT THE DISAPPEARANCE . . .
THE CASE OF THE BODACIOUS BOOK COVERS
Mystery publishers have long adhered to the well-known adage – and I’m not talking about “Crime Doesn’t Pay! here” The concept that sex sells applies to books as well as anything else. This is all well and good; in fact, it leans right into the world of pulp fiction where the best of hard-boiled detectives … Continue reading THE CASE OF THE BODACIOUS BOOK COVERS
Ah Sweet Mystery! 