Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie

Gwenda Halliday Reed is newly married and just bought a new home. She is delighted until strange things start happening. When she wants to put new steps down to the sea, there are already some under a bush. She imagines a particular sort of wallpaper in a room and, when an old cabinet is pried open, the exact pattern is papered inside. Then, when she attends a play in London, a particular line causes her to stand up, scream, and run out of the theater. Luckily, she is attending the play with Raymond West, his wife, and his aunt, the indomitable Miss Marple. 

Miss Marple is the one to suggest that, perhaps, what Gwenda is experiencing may be memories of her childhood. Gwena disbelieves that as she grew up in New Zealand but then finds out she did, indeed, live in England, in that house with her father and stepmother. Does that mean that the woman she remembers dead in the hallway of that house was true as well? And someone quoted from the exact play that Gwenda saw in London?

Gwenda and Giles start digging into the mystery. Miss Marple has gone home but she is uneasy. Sometimes digging into the past brings up more than skeletons and someone who may have only meant to murder once, might murder again to keep it covered up.

An enjoyable story. Perhaps, not quite fairly clued but a fitting end to the Marple series.

Four stars

This book came out October 1976

Follows Nemesis

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Jessica Arden

This book started out so interestingly. Paige Harrington has a mysterious app, Ghosted, appear on her phone. Thinking it is a dating app, she swipes right on a guy she recognizes, Austin, who is a bartender she knows. Then he literally falls at her feet, flung off a balcony after having been strangled with Mardi Gras beads. It's a nice, tight story.

Then, the story starts to get convoluted. Paige's favorite professor now store owner is framed for the murder, her long-lost love shows up again to act as her mentor, a secret society is thrown in as well as are the ghost of her great-grandmother and her great-grandmother's best friend. Oh. And now her hedgehog is talking to her. Information starts to be repeated more and more often and the story gets a bit fractured.

An interesting start to a series but I'm going to proceed cautiously with reading more books in the series. If there is a love triangle introduced (which sort of seemed like it might be happening), I'm definitely out.

Three stars

This book came out September 21st, 2021

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Pub Quiz by Eric Saunders

Definitely by this book in paperback. This would be so much more useful if the answers were only a page or two past the questions but the links that are supposed to take you back and forth were difficult to use. Much easier flipping in a real book.

With an outline of how to set up your quiz nights, this book prepares you to host for your friends or even for locals down at the bar. There are hopefully going to be some edits because some of the questions aren't phrased well but overall a nice collection of questions. Just make sure you read through each of your lists and make sure there are no repeats. 

Three stars

This book came out October 15th, 2021

ARC kindly provided by Arcturus Publishing and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie

It is coincidence that has Poirot and Hastings seated near Jane Wilkinson, Lady Edgware, while attending a show where an American actress, Carlotta, impersonates her. Jane Wilkinson is a well-known actress and is highly amused by the impersonation. At dinner that night, Hastings and Poirot again see Jane and she invites them up to talk to her. It seems she would like to divorce her husband in order to marry a duke but her husband is not amenable being a man who enjoys causing pain in others. Jane declares that, if she cannot get a divorce, she may take a taxi and murder the man. 

When that exact thing happens, Jane Wilkinson seems like a logical choice but she was attending dinner with twelve people who are above reproach. It takes some time for Hercule Poirot to figure out the solution but, of course, he eventually does.

Fairly clued, this book is one of Christie's best. Lots of red herrings but Poirot refuses to believe them while Hastings falls for them all. 

Four stars

This book came out 1933

Follows Peril at End House

Followed by Murder on the Orient Express

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reread as audiobook from Libby December 2022

The Twelve Jays of Christmas by Donna Andrews

If you've read Donna Andrews before, the beats of this book are going to feel very familiar including the victim and the murderer. It is a major holiday and Meg Langslow is busy. This time, Michael and the boys are skiing while she is left at home because of a severely sprained ankle. But that doesn't mean that life is any less busy. Rob and Delaney are almost back from vacation but Delaney's mother has arrived to confer with Meg's mom on how they can transform the upcoming nuptials from the small affair that Rob and Delaney want to something more grand. Meg is also hosting a visiting artist who is working on pictures for her grandfather's new book. Unfortunately, the artist, Castlemayne, is not only grumpy, he's a jerk. He's let birds out in the house that are now dive bombing people, he is smoking in the library, and the doorbell rings constantly from people trying to track him down. Mostly to pay his late bills. How do they know where he is? A new gossip blog that is spilling all of the town secrets.
Of course, Castlemayne is going to be the one who ends up dead. And there are plenty of people who might have wanted him that way including two ex-wives, a long-suffering assistant, and a reporter who wants the full scoop.

Three and a half stars

Meg Langslow #30

This book comes out October 19, 2021

Follows Murder Most Fowl

Followed by Round up the Usual Peacocks

ARC kindly provided by Macmillan and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

Reread as Audible book January 2025

A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie

Miss Marple is on a dream vacation in an idyllic setting. Along with her are the resort owners, a young and very-much-in-love couple, there are two couples visiting the resort who seem like great friends, and a smattering of people her own age including a very ugly major and the very rich Jason Rafiel. 

But there is an ugliness beneath the surface and it comes out when the ugly major dies. He told a lot of very bad stories but that didn't mean he should be murdered. Nor should the maid who noticed something strange. 

Christie is still at the height of her game here when it comes to creating characters. The mystery is not very fairly clued but it is an interesting ending either way. 

Four stars

This book came out November 16th, 1964

Follows Nemesis

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Don’t Pick Up All the Dog Hairs by Ronald Dwinnells

I've been reading a lot of leadership books lately and this one looked interesting. Plus, there was a dog on the cover. A really cute dog. 

The book is a series of short chapters, each revolving around a specific idea related to leadership. Most are fairly standard (don't pass the buck, learn how to prioritize, pick your friends strategically.)  Mr. Dwinnells does introduce the idea of FAME (failure, adversity, mistakes, and enemies) and how valuable each of those can be but it is really just a new package for learning to embrace falling down. And he does put entertaining spins on things like not dealing with people who pretend to be experts but aren't (shoemakers), making sure that you are decisive (not a squirrel), and I do like that he includes many studies like those in the chapter that clothes make the man (person) and he spends a lot of time on important topics like nipping things in the bud immediately (malicious pranks and sexual harassment.)

Four stars

This book came out September 21st, 2021

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley and Greenleaf Book Group

Opinions are my own