Three Blind Mice and Other Stories by Agatha Christie

A novelization of Christie's long-running play with stories starring Poirot and Miss Marple. A wonderful amalgam of some of Christie's best short work.

Stories include the titular tale in which a young couple is starting up a hotel but their first guests arrive on the heels of a snowstorm. And one of them is a killer.

Miss Marple is the star of "Strange Jest" in which a young couple tries to decipher clues to a fortune left by a jocular uncle, "Tape-Measure Murder" which gives away the cause of death, and "The Case of the Perfect Maid" where she anticipates a crime. She also solves "The Case of the Caretaker" which is a manuscript given to her by her favorite doctor about a young man whose wife is murdered soon after they marry.

Hercule Poirot steps in to solve the mystery of "The Third Floor Flat" in which a double date leads to finding a dead body when one of the girls loses the key to her apartment and "The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly" wherein a young boy is kidnapped from under the noses of any number of policemen. He also gets a third story in "Four and Twenty Blackbirds" when the eating habits of 'Old Father Time' help to solve his murder.

The last story pulls misters Satterthwaite and Quinn who are less well known but still help solve the murder of a man even though both the man's wife and her lover confess in "The Love Detectives."

Four stars

This book came out in 1950

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own

The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie

Jerry Burton has come to the supposedly quiet village of Lymstock to recover from a plane crash. Also with him is is sister Joanna. But it seems that this formerly sleepy village has been shaken up by a number of anonymous letters. And then one of the recipients commits suicide. She is the mother of one twenty-year old woman, Megan, who doesn't seem to have any goals in life and then two young sons with her current husband. 

All of the characters in this book are painted so vividly including the Burtons' landlady, Miss Emily Barton who is short on funds and the last of five sisters who grew up under their mother's thumb. Also pictured is Mrs. Caleb Dane Calthorp, the reverend's wife who is odd but wise. And then Owen and Aimee Griffith, the shy local doctor and his gossipy wife. 

The series Marple put Jane in more of the mystery than she was in the book but it captured the spirit of this book quite well.

Four stars

This book came out in July 1942

Follows The Body in the Library

Followed by A Murder is Announced

Hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

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

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

A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie

Though Miss Marple doesn't appear until over half way through the book, this is one of her stories. The book starts out with a rich description of the office of Rex Fortescue. His secretaries are described in great and painting-like detail. The bumble-headed secretary who probably isn't going to last long. The disapproving head of the secretarial pool. The condescending, cool blonde who is Rex's private secretary and (wrongly) assumed mistress.

Rex comes into the office as per usual. Has his tea, specially brewed by the blonde as per usual. But then, there are some unusual sounds. The secretary rushes into the office to find Rex in some sort of fit. She doesn't know what to do and panics. All of the other secretaries panic. Chaos ensues until two doctors and an ambulance arrive on scene. Poor Mr. Fortescue. He's been acting so strange lately and refusing to see the doctors his family has been setting up appointments with. And now he's dead. But the coroner recognizes the symptoms immediately. Hard luck for the murderer (yes, they assume that almost from the beginning) that he happens to realized that taxine (sp?) is involved. 

But who would have wanted to kill Rex? He had two sons, one involved in the business and one considered prodigal. The one thought he was running their fortune into the ground though the latter seems to have nothing to gain. His daughter's lover has been run off when Rex threatens to disinherit her and Rex's much-younger second wife is having a rather indiscreet fling.

Before the end of the book, there are two more murders. Including one that brings Miss Marple into the picture looking for justice.

Dame Christie at her best and a wonderful book to listen to.

Four stars

This book came out November 9th, 1953

Follows They Do It with Mirrors

Followed by 4:50 from Paddington

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

They Do It With Mirrors by Agatha Christie

Oh, I do like this book. But then, Agatha Christie and Miss Marple rarely disappoint. An old school chum is worried about her sister, Carrie Louise, and wants Miss Marple to go check out the situation. Carrie Louise is currently running a boarding school for juvenile delinquents with her third husband. The money comes from her first husband with whom she had one biological and one adopted daughter. The biological daughter, the third husband, the now-deceased adopted daughter's daughter and her husband, and one of Carrie Louise's stepsons from her second marriage are all living out the house. But this is not a happy family. No. The stepson is trying to inveigle the granddaughter away from her sullen American husband, Wally. Mildred (the biological daughter) has always felt second best, first to her adopted sister and now the the sister's child. Of course, there are all those at-risk youths running around and now Carrie Louise's stepson by her first marriage has shown up with concerns, but he won't tell anyone but the third husband (Lewis) what those concerns are. Then one night, one of the delinquents takes a shot at Lewis but, while he survives, the stepson from the first marriage is dead. 

Who killed him? Why? Is someone really poisoning Carrie Louise? 

It's a tangled web that only Miss Marple can solve (though with a touch of stereotyping). 

Four stars

This book came out in 1952

Follows Three Blind Mice and Other Stories

Followed by A Pocketful of Rye

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie

Miss Marple is on the case again, this time called in by Dolly Bantry. A body has been found in her library, that of a young, heavily made-up girl. The rumors about Colonel Bantry are already flying and Mrs. Bantry knows of only one woman who can help. 

The girl was an exhibition dancer at a posh resort, covering for a cousin who had severely sprained her ankle. She was also cozying up to an older man who had lost all of his family in an airplane accident, all except a daughter-in-law and a son-in-law. When the man told them that he was considering adopting the now-dead-girl, the son- and daughter-in-law were upset. But were they the ones who killed her? Jane's on the case.

This is Agatha Christie at the top of her game, using actual clues as red herrings while still dropping breadcrumbs for the reader. 

Four stars

Follows The Regatta Mystery

Followed by The Moving Finger

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Midwinter Murder by Agatha Christie

This is a perfectly lovely collection of various stories by Agatha Christie including a wide swathe of her detectives. There were a few stories that I didn't quite get the winter connection but... eh. From a wide swath of her series, her detectives include Tommy and Tuppence, Mr. Satterthwaite and Harley Quinn (two stories!), Mr. Parker Pyne, Hercule Poirot, and Jane Marple. It also includes the short story version of the longest running play of all time, "Three Blind Mice." 

If you've never read Christie, these are some of her best stories and give you a glimpse into many different series. If you have read Christie, these stories are old friends and remind you why she is often called the Queen of Mystery. 

Four stars

This anthology came out October 1st, 2020

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side by Agatha Christie

Though she is aging, Miss Marple doesn't feel like she really doesn't think she needs a keeper. But her nephew was worried about her after a recent illness. It means that Miss Marple now has Miss Knight to contend with. Miss Knight is the kind of nurse that thinks her clients are all senile, brimming over with enthusiasm and kindness, she doesn't actually listen to what Miss Marple has to say. Which is why Miss Marple tricks her into going shopping and then going out herself. Unfortunately, Miss Marple falls. Heather Badcock rushes to her rescue. Heather Badcock is similar to Miss Knight, kindness itself but the sort that runs over you like a train. That's why it's such a surprise that she ends up dead.

It's at a local party. Marina Gregg, the famous actress, and her husband have bought Gossington Manor. Colonel Bantry died and Dolly sold the house. It has changed hands a couple of times since then but she still comes back to St. Mary Mead to visit and she is also invited to the party as a former owner of the house. When Heather Badcock dies, it is immediately assumed that the poison was actually meant for Marina since she had given Heather her drink. But who would want her dead?

There is, as in many of Christie's early books, racism in this book. There is also a LOT of mention of Marina Gregg's baby who was born.

Three stars

This book came out in 1962

Follows 4:50 from Paddington

Followed by A Caribbean Mystery

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

A village vicar may be privy to some of the community's juiciest secrets. In this case, Reverend Leonard Clement at least seems to know everyone in town. He is a little bit older and believes himself to have a good grasp on humanity (at least better than his wife, Griselda, who is younger than him). He describes the goings on in St. Mary Mead which is generally a quiet village, still regrouping after the war. Into town has come a new artist, Lawrence Redding. He is very handsome and is painting several of the women in town which causes some of the gossip mongers to be all atwitter. One of those women is Lettice Protheroe, the daughter of the local Magistrate, Colonel Protheroe. He practically explodes. But that is no surprise as the Colonel is known to have quite the nasty temper. He  has sentenced many men to jail and is currently on the hunt to find out why the church's offering plate is short. It is a surprise that the man is killed in the vicar's study, shot with Lawrence Redding's gun. Redding immediately admits to the murder. So does the Colonel's wife, Anne, who the vicar found in a torrid embrace with Redding.

But Miss Marple, a spinster in town doesn't quite believe that that can be true and she sets out to find out what really happened.

The first Marple story and it's a humdinger. It sets up Jane Marple as a student of human nature who is able to take her observations of living in a small village and extrapolate the information to the world at large. 

Four stars

This book came out in October 1930

Followed by The Thirteen Problems

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie

Miss Marple is on vacation in London. Her nephew Raymond has provided her with two weeks at Bertram's Hotel. When she was a girl, Miss Marple had spent a week there and she wanted to see if it were the same. Curiously, it is. It is just the same. But there is something wrong here, if only she could put her finger on it. 

Also at the hotel is the well-known Bess Sedgwick. She's survived a plane crash, a car crash (or two), being thrown from a horse twice. She's been married several times and had one daughter. Feeling that her love of danger would be detrimental to the child, Bess left her daughter with the girl's father who subsequently died. The daughter, Elvira, was then raised by a guardian. She is now nineteen years old and also staying at Bertram's Hotel. While her guardian believes she is naive and innocent, readers find out that that may not actually be the case.

I kept thinking of the 2007 BBC version of this story . It did not completely align with this story so I kept getting the storylines confused. The original was better and made more sense.

Three and a half stars

This book came out in 1965

Follows A Caribbean Mystery

Followed by Nemesis

Borowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own