Rather than a “locked room” mystery wherein the victim is found dead in a room where no one could have gotten in or out, Christie traps everyone together on a snowbound train. The victim, the suspects, and the detective are all stuck in the “locked room.” The new movie version, directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh is problematic but it was much better than the trailers led me to believe.
It’s no easy feat to write a “new” Agatha Christie book with the beloved Hercule Poirot. One can almost hear him making a snide comment about it himself. Purists are hoping for failure. Fans are hoping they won’t be disappointed. And on the face of it, Sophie Hannah isn’t necessarily an obvious choice. She’s known…
So, who caught the premiere of DEAD MAN’S FOLLY with David Suchet last night? It was great fun and am so glad to see Poirot once again. As part of the Summer of Christie, and gearing up for Sophie Hannah’s MONOGRAM MURDERS, several of us are blogging about some of Christie’s best work. What follows are the…
The second title in the Summer of Christie is Dead Man’s Folly, a fête-filled mystery for Poirot. Mrs Oliver, an acquaintance of his (who also happens to be a mystery writer) asks Poirot to join her for the weekend at a country house. She has been asked to organize a scavenger hunt-style murder mystery for the…
Today I’d like to highlight a few books that I’ve read recently and can recommend as Christmas gifts for the reader on your list. SHADOW WOMAN: THE EXTRAORDINARY CAREER OF PAULINE BENTON by Grant Hayter-Menzies This is a warm, vivid biography of an unusual circumstance. Born to a wealthy and enlightened family in the late…