The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

Reviewed by Kate of What Kate's Reading
Rating: 4/5

Is anyone still on this site these days? Just in case:

There comes periods every now and again where all I want to do is read Agatha Christie novels. There's no real reason for it, other than maybe the comfort of decent, quick reads. I've said it before: when Agatha Christie's good, she's very, very good, and when she's bad she's still ok.

After a long, trying, and utterly stressful week, I came home to my three day weekend with no further ambitions than not leaving the house for about 72 hours, baking some butternut squash rolls, and reading a lot. I'm trying - again! - to get into Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and thought this would be a prime opportunity to get to a point-of-no-return reading of it, and since I'm on for Anna Karenina 2009 maybe I could get into that a little bit too.

This went out the window when I saw my copy of The ABC Murders on my dresser, where it's been sitting for, oh, a year or more. (Inertia: why fight it?) Even at that point I instead racked my house for my copy of And Then There Were None, hands down my favorite Agatha Christie, before accepting that it must be in the Indiana household, not this one, and settled in to peruse The ABC Murders for the trillionth time.

A homicidal maniac sends Hercule Poirot a mocking letter, bragging to look out for Andover on a certain day. The day comes, and an old woman named Alice Ascher is murdered at her shop in Andover with an ABC train guide left on the counter. But it's not over...another mocking letter, and the murder of Betty Bernard in Brixhill, and then Sir Carmichael Clarke in Churston. There appears to be no motive and no reason, except the reason of an intelligent madman, killing alphabetically for the sheer purpose of mocking Poirot's inability to catch him.

The ABC Murders differs for me in many ways: for one, the story is primarily narrated by Poirot's friend Captain Hastings in first person, a clear homage to Sherlock's Watson as Hastings is the friend, companion, and occasional master of the obvious. Further, the plot develops away from a seemingly common plot of Christie's: instead of the crime committed, the witnesses interviewed for 100+ pages, and the solution presented, the murders happen throughout The ABC Murders - not one, but multiples, and the plot thickens and develops as each crime is committed. Sometimes it even seems like the bits in between the murders are just filler - we're waiting for the next murder, thank you very much.

Another bit of Agatha Christie that I always find intriguing, no matter the quality of the book, is the almost anthropological quality to reading them in the twenty-first century. Christie almost always writes of the upper-middle and upper class in England, and so much of her writing is incredibly class-conscious - and written in a way that tells you that the stratified society of England in the early century was entirely embedded into a collective conscience and taken for granted as true. There's not so much about her novels that should be considered "historical fiction" (as I tend to reserve that for books written by modern authors about a previous era), but in terms of reading between the lines there's much that can be gleaned about the time period in which Christie writes - in the case of The ABC Murders, the mid-1930s. There's a slight undercurrent of xenophobia throughout the book, and for awhile I even thought that we would be dealing with the after-effects of World War I, as a character suffered from what clearly sounded like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (but was later dismissed as epilepsy: so close, yet so far away. It's probably worth pointing out that PTSD was only formally recognized in 1980 though writings of Herodotus include PTSD-like stories.) Anyone who talks to me about 20th century history will usually get my regular spiel about how we cannot underestimate the psychological effects of WWI on the world, and I think that if we read The ABC Murders in a different light - without the epilepsy - there could be a case made for seeing WWI-induced PTSD in a main character.

The ABC Murders still has an almost levity to it that some of Christie's greatest works do not have; it's a different type of murder mystery in very many ways. But it's still a favorite of mine. Does it rank up there with the "very, very good" ones? I'd give it a "very good" instead, and it's certainly nowhere near the "ok" ones. But nothing, to me, has topped And Then There Were None or Murder on the Orient Express.

I really need to find my copy of And Then There Were None.

As a side note...The Agatha Christie Reading Challenge Carnival is doing monthly round-ups of AC posts in the blogosphere. If you're a dedicated or occasional Christie reader, you might want to check this out.

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

It's 1946, and as Juliet Ashton sits at her desk in her Chelsea flat, she is stumped. A writer of witty newspaper columns during the war, she can't think of what to write next. Out of the blue, she receives a letter from one Dawsey Adams of Guernsey - by chance he's acquired a book Juliet once owned - and, emboldened by their mutual love of books, they begin a correspondence. Dawsey is a member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, and it's not long before the rest of the members write to Juliet - including the gawky Isola, who makes home-made potions, Eben, the fisherman who loves Shakespeare, and Will Thisbee, rag-and-bone man and chef of the famous potato peel pie. As letters fly back and forth, Juliet comes to know the extraordinary personalities of the Society and their lives under the German occupation of the island. Entranced by their stories, Juliet decides to visit the island to meet them properly - and unwittingly turns her life upside down.

A moving tale of post-war friendship, love and books, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is gloriously honest, sweet and funny - a book to fall in love with.

This little book is the subject of quite a lot of attention at the moment, and I am going to join the chorus and say that it definitely deserves it!

I must confess that the first few times I saw this mentioned on blogs I completely skipped over it simply because, to me, the title suggested something very different from what it is actually is.

Julia Lambert has spent most of WWII writing witty newspaper columns under the name Izzy Bickerstaff, doing her part in keeping the spirits of Londoners up during the dark days of the Blitz. Now that the war is over, Julia wants to do something different. She doesn't want to be Izzy anymore but she doesn't know what she does want to write.

One day she receives a letter from one Dawsey Adams, who lives in Guernsey. He has found a book by Charles Lamb that used to be owned by Julia and he has written to her in the hope that she may be able to assist him in finding more books by that author. In his letter, Dawsey mentions that he is a member of the Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society, and Julia's interest is captured. What is the Society? Where did the name come from and how did it start?

What starts as a simple correspondence about an author grows into a series of letters between not only Dawsey and Julia, but also several of the other islanders (some are members of the Society but others are not) and Julia, and soon she begins to feel as though these people are her friends. They also begin to tell her of how life was on the island during the German occupation which no other part of the British Isles experienced.

Soon Julia finds herself wanting to go to Guernsey to meet the people she has come to know. It doesn't take long before she is caught up in island life, and her life is further woven into the lives of her friends than she could ever have imagined she would be at the beginning of the book.

The characters are fun with lots of quirkiness, but there is a depth that is captured as well - the losses that they suffered, the separation from the children that were sent to the UK for their on safety, the hunger, the fear left from living under oppression.

The whole book is told in the format of letters, telegrams and notes between the characters.
when I started I really wasn't sure if that format would work for me, or if it would become a bit annoying by the end of the book, but the author(s) really did well at making the story flow within the limitations that this format necessarily gives to the structure of the novel .

I have been trying to think of a book to compare to this one, but I am really struggling. It is funny and charming, poignant, informative and there are probably numerous other descriptions I could use, but at its heart it is a really lovely story. The fact that I too wanted to go to Guernsey after finishing the book means that the characters not only captured Julia's heart, but also mine as a reader!

Just a couple of other thoughts on the cover and author. The covers for the Australian book is just so plain that if I had not heard of this book already I would never have even picked it up. It is interesting that in other places around the world, the author is given is Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, but here it is just Mary Ann Shaffer. There is a note in the back that explains that after submitting the original manuscript, Mary Ann Shaffer became ill, and so her niece Annie Barrows completed the book. Unfortunately Mary Ann Shaffer died before seeing her book published, which is both a shame for her, and for us as readers because her book is a lovely read and it would have been interesting to see if she could have followed it up with another great read.

I totally recommend this book to anyone, and ending up giving it the highest possible grade - 5/5 for this one!

My Lady of Cleves by Margaret Campbell Barnes

The Absorbing Story of Henry VIII's Fourth Queen, Her Secret Love, Her Power-Hungry Husband, and the Country That Ruled Them All

"At long last Anne of Cleves gets her day as a noble and highminded heroine in the lists of historical fiction!"
- CHICAGO TRIBUNE

My Lady of Cleves reveals the mesmerizing story of Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII's fourth wife, one of the rare women who matched wits successfully with the fiery king and lived to tell the tale.

Written by world-renowned historical novelist Margaret Campbell Barnes, My Lady of Cleves gives readers an intimate portrait of the warm, unpretentious princess who never expected to become Queen of England. Knowing the king's ravenous desire for a son, and aware of the disastrous consequences of not bearing an heir, Anne of Cleves bravely took on the duty of weathering the Tudor King's temper, whims, arrogance, and irresponsible passions - and won the hearts of his subjects in the process.

A treat for readers of Tudor fiction and those fascinated by the complex relationships of Henry VIII and his wives, My Lady of Cleves leads readers into a world of high drama and courtly elegance.

"Turns a brilliant light on one of the lustiest and one of the most dramatic periods of English history."
- PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

Having read Brief Gaudy Hour earlier this year, I was really pleased when I was offered an ARC copy of My Lady of Cleves. There is so much written about the various Tudors, but it was an added bonus that this book was about one of the lesser written about Tudor wives - Anne of Cleves.

I have to say that from the moment I read the inscription, I was hooked in this book. It was originally published in 1946 and the dedication reads:

To The courage and endurance of all women who lost the men they loved in the fight for freedom.

Now whilst this dedication isn't really about the book itself, it resonated with me as it reminded me that when this book was written the world was a different place. WWII had just ended, and for many around the world were dealing with the loss of loved ones (including the author herself). In the UK, there was heavy rationing, and I could almost imagine being a reader at that time who managed to forget about the hardships of real life and get lost, for a few hours at least, in Tudor times, at the court of Henry VIII, as he searched for a new wife.

The book opens with Henry VII trying to decide which of the princesses of Europe would be the lucky girl to marry him. And what a catch! By this time in his life he was, shall we say, larger than he had been, he had health issues, and he was shopping for his fourth wife, albeit for political purposes mainly. Yes, he was a king, but it is fair to say that there was a known risk in marrying Henry.

When he sends his messengers to the duchy of Cleves, accompanying them is court painter Hans Holbein. His role is to paint miniatures of the two eligible princesses, and send them back to England so that Henry can choose which of them is the more attractive. Henry chooses Anne based on the portrait painted by Holbein, a man who plays a big role in Anne's life for a number of reasons.

For Anne, this journey to her new life as Queen of England is very strange. She is unaccustomed to the ways of the brash English, and she is aware that her family is very much depending on her to do her duty. On the journey, she gets to see the sea for the first time, and is terrified that she has to cross in a storm. In some ways it is an easier storm to face than that she faces at the court, where there is very little in the way of introduction to the ways of the Court, and plenty of criticisms of the way that she dresses, she acts, her lack of dancing skills etc.

The initial meeting between the betrothed couple is a disaster. Anne is naive to the ways of the Court, the petty jealousies, the jockeying for positions, and soon it becomes clear that Henry is displeased with his choice of bride.

For Anne, where being divorced could very well be a source of shame and unhappiness, she must learn a way to make her own life, her own happiness, and she shows her true strengths. We also get an insider's view at court as Anne witnesses the heady and tumultuous times as Katherine Howard rose to be Henry's wife, albeit for a very short time, and gradually coming to her own kind of special relationship with the ailing king.

Reading through the pages of this book, Anne is bought to life, and is portrayed as a capable woman, who loves strongly, who takes a bad situation and turns it in such a way as to emerge from the disaster that was her marriage to Henry with both her head and body intact, and a happy and fulfilled life.

The writing by this author stands the test of time, and did not feel aged in any way. There were nuances of humour and depth throughout the text. I liked the Hans Holbein storyline very much. It gave some reasons as to why the main players in the drama acted in some of the ways that they did, and gives this book a point of difference from some other books that, however briefly, told some of Anne of Cleves life story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and look forward to reading more from this author.

Special thanks to Sourcebooks for the ARC

Cruel as the Grave Sharon Kay Penman

Justin de Quincy is back again in the 2nd book of this medieval series. Justin is called upon by a friend to solve the murder of a 15-year old Welsh girl Melangell who was killed in the church graveyard. The accused are two brothers who seem to be hiding something are not helpful in solving the mystery of this young girl. The father also seems to be hiding something. Again Justin has his work cut out for him to find a killer and the reason why.

It is April 1193 and Justin is summoned back to court by Eleanor of Aquitaine while Richard the Lionheart sets in a German prison his younger brother John seizes Windsor Castle and the Queen ask Justin to undertake a dangerous mission by asking him to mediate a truce with John. Also, Justin discovers that Claudine de Loudun is with child and she wants to abort the child with special herbs, not sure what to do Justin confides in the Queen, which upsets Claudine. The Queen arranges for Claudine to leave and have the child and home found for the child.

I do not read many mystery's, but the clues that Justin was able to discover and how he unraveled those clues were interesting. Although, not a terrible read was not as good as the first book and I was not impressed with the discovery of the killer. Many of the same characters return in this book, which I enjoyed.

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

Reviewed by: Teddyree
Rating: 5/5


The Forgotten Garden is a complex tale of secrets and discovery that kept me enthralled, a 500 plus page book that I didn't want to end. Morton captures the locations and scenery beautifully and develops the characters so effectively I felt like I was actually there, not just an enthusiastic reader. The novel is packed with mystery and intrigue, lies going back through generations of the Mountrachet family. The story narrates from 3 different time periods; the Victorian era through to 2005 and from a number of locations. Brisbane, Maryborough, Cornwall and London; but rather than causing confusion these transitions heighten interest and add to the suspense. I loved the characters, the setting and the plot and thoroughly recommend "The Forgotten Garden" to anyone and everyone, Kate Morton is a new favourite for me.

The Lady in the Tower by Jean Plaidy

Reviewed by: Crystal from Dorolerium
Rating: 3.5/5

Although I didn't finish all my books before the end of the challenge (I still have one more to go, in fact), I have continued reading so I figured I'd post what I read until I personally finish the challenge.

I was glad to get a new to me perspective on Anne Boleyn. Everything I had read recently, even the book I, Elizabeth was kind of negative about Anne. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I consider her to be a really sympathetic character and I’ve always felt like everything that happened to her was a real shame. It amazes me when I realize how little so many people know about this woman who vastly changed the course of history. Her impact on what happened in England is ginormous – could any of us imagine an England without Elizabeth I in its history? How different would things have been if this one woman had simply had a male child survive?

I was pretty happy with the book, there were only a few minor inaccuracies that bothered me. Some things just don’t make any sense at all – there’s no evidence to support that Elizabeth Howard Boleyn (Anne’s mother) died when Anne was a young child. In fact, she outlived both Anne and George due to their misfortune. So I don’t understand when an author takes the liberty of having a step mother from the time Anne is 9 or whatever in the book. It really just didn’t make any sense, knowing the truth of the situation.

Other things, however, make a little more sense, even if I don’t like them. I’m not a huge fan of propagating the idea that Anne had any kind of birth defect, in this case a sixth fingernail and a strange mole on her neck. Knowing how defects like this were viewed during this period of history, I’ve always found it difficult to believe that if it were true, Henry would have ever married her. I think the more likely explanation for these stories was a desire to say that she was in fact a witch and enchanted Henry, so of course she had these defects that would have either marked her as such or planted the idea in his head. My guess is she was perfectly normal and people just wanted to believe so badly that something was wrong with her, so they went with it.

I think I will always feel like Anne Boleyn’s story is a tragic one and something that will always fascinate me. I can never read enough about her, even when people are painting her as an awful person with nothing but ambition. I loved how throughout the book she emphasized that she didn’t love Henry, but she felt like he had stolen her one love from her so she might as well aim as high as she could. Although that’s definitely ambition to an extent, I think I can sympathize because undoubtedly in that time, knowing you would be unlikely to be married to someone you loved, you might as well take the king if you can get him. I genuinely feel that to an extent, she didn’t have a choice. Her only option would have been to get married to someone else or actually claim she had a precontract with Henry Percy or Thomas Wyatt, and even those things wouldn’t guarantee that you’d stop Henry VIII.

When you look at it from the perspective that I generally do, that Henry was a little insane himself and would stop at nothing to get what he wanted, Anne really had no other choice. What is to say that if there had been an impediment to her marriage with Henry he wouldn’t have just eliminated it by imprisoning and killing whoever that other man was? I think it’s well within the things he would have done to get what he wanted. So really, Anne was doomed from the start and things were likely set in motion the moment he laid eyes on her. Sure, she could have done things along the way to possibly give herself an out that didn’t involve beheading, but I really feel like she was not in control of the situation and was at the mercy of much more powerful men.

Read this book if: You like Anne Boleyn and want to see a sympathetic take on her life. She is not vilified in this novel at all and I think it’s rather refreshing. Even if you don’t like Anne Boleyn, or don’t know who she is, read the book to see if you get a new perspective on her. I can guarantee it’s different from the one you’ll see in The Other Boleyn Girl.

The Bell Witch

Not sure if this meets, Historical Fiction but wanted to share.

I happened to be flipping through channels one evening and came across a movie titled "The American Haunting" in the beginning of the credits "Based on a true story". Not one to watch horror flicks (don't care for the gore) I was interested in the idea the events may be true. The movie was not that great, but I became very interested in the Bell witch, and found this book.

The story begins present time when a manuscript is discovered that has never been open, the recipient turned it over to the Brent Monahan who converts the manuscript to book form. The manuscript is written by a school teacher who witnessed some of the events and later matter the daughter of John Bell. The story then begins in central Tennessee in 1811 John Bell has been taken in front of the church members by a citizen, Kate who tells him that his family will suffer.
John took no heed Kate's statements.

The family begins to hear faint noises of tapping, rats chewing wood but are unable to locate the sources of the sounds. The noises begin to get more intense and soon his daughter Elizabeth is dragged from her bed and slapped, but no one there. The family believes somehow Kate is behind this strange happenings. The family begins to loose sleep and are unable to prove what is happening. The begin to open their home to close friends to assist in finding the source of what is going on, which they are unable to do.

As time goes on they begin to hear voices, and start calling this ghost "Kate's Witch". The witch begins to communicate with the members of the family and say she is there until John Bell dies, which will be very soon. The witch tends to disturb Elizabeth more then other members of the family. Many friends and outsiders come to home to uncover this mystery, but have no luck.

I was really into the beginning of the story, but then it begins to drag. It was not written for entertainment, but more of the events that took place in the home. Eventually the last few chapters become interesting and the storyteller uncovers the mystery of the bell witch that left me in total shock.

Very interesting, not a thriller or bestseller but worth the read. If you enjoy mystery and actual events then I recommend the read.