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Murder at the Matinee Monday
May. 22nd, 2017 10:14 amWhat I've Finished Reading
So I knew there was going to be some vintage bigotry in Enter Sir John, but it's mostly fairly subtle in the first half of the book. Thus I was completely unprepared for the nature of the HIDEOUS SECRET that Martella Baring heroically risked her own life to conceal, and which drove the real murderer to start smashing people's heads with a poker in the first place.
( SPOILERS for the entire plot of Enter Sir John! )
So it was an interesting book to read, but it’s not hugely surprising that it’s fallen out of print. I'm sure the introduction will be worth reading if it ever gets the British Library Crime Classics treatment, though.
What I'm Reading Now
Lord Edgeware Dies begins with an actress attempting to hire Poirot to help her get rid of her husband, the eponymous Lord Edgeware. No, not kill him - though really it would be more convenient if he did die - but just convince him to divorce her so she can get on with her life. Will she turn out to be the killer, or would that be too obvious a twist? So obvious it just might work? Christie's good at making you think she won't do things and then doing them. Anyway, it's perfectly breezy fun with Poirot and Hastings. As usual, Poirot's presence attracts a lot of gruff or anxious people with something not quite right about them - always the first sign of a murder brewing.
What I Plan to Read Next
Orient Express, maybe Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett, maybe something else!
So I knew there was going to be some vintage bigotry in Enter Sir John, but it's mostly fairly subtle in the first half of the book. Thus I was completely unprepared for the nature of the HIDEOUS SECRET that Martella Baring heroically risked her own life to conceal, and which drove the real murderer to start smashing people's heads with a poker in the first place.
( SPOILERS for the entire plot of Enter Sir John! )
So it was an interesting book to read, but it’s not hugely surprising that it’s fallen out of print. I'm sure the introduction will be worth reading if it ever gets the British Library Crime Classics treatment, though.
What I'm Reading Now
Lord Edgeware Dies begins with an actress attempting to hire Poirot to help her get rid of her husband, the eponymous Lord Edgeware. No, not kill him - though really it would be more convenient if he did die - but just convince him to divorce her so she can get on with her life. Will she turn out to be the killer, or would that be too obvious a twist? So obvious it just might work? Christie's good at making you think she won't do things and then doing them. Anyway, it's perfectly breezy fun with Poirot and Hastings. As usual, Poirot's presence attracts a lot of gruff or anxious people with something not quite right about them - always the first sign of a murder brewing.
What I Plan to Read Next
Orient Express, maybe Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett, maybe something else!
