Review: Poirot Investigates

I don't think this about all of Christie's Poirot episodes, but this collection reminded me very much of Sherlock Holmes. It might be the short story format, it might be the use of Hastings as narrator, or it might be Hastings's Watson-style toadying. It's probably also Poirot's insistence on the simplicity of the solution, based on logic and reasoning. In novel-length works Poirot's style is usually to gather all of the suspects and offer a dramatic revelation of the culprit. In these short stories Poirot engages in setting traps and capturing criminals red-handed. Again, this is much more like Holmes than Poirot. In each of these cases Poirot is the only one with any focus. All of the other characters, including Hastings, are led astray by incorrect assumptions. I had the same reaction to Poirot short stories as I did to Miss Marple stories- they're a bit of fun, but I prefer the novel-length works.

Agatha Christie, Poirot Investigates (William Morrow, 2011, orig. 1924) ISBN: 0062074008 

Review: The Case of the Late Pig

Albert Campion is a gentleman inspector in the style of Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey. Here Campion finds himself investigating the death of a former classmate. Pig Peters was a nasty child who grew into a nasty adult. Few people are sorry to see him die, even if he does appear to die twice. Campion attends Peters's funeral after reading a notice in the newspaper. Months later he happens upon a second funeral, also purported to be that of Pig Peters. The second time around Campion views the body in the morgue. It is unmistakably Peters. Who was buried at the first funeral? How did one or two people meet their death? These are the questions Campion sets out to answer.

While reading this I was struck by the many similarities between Campion and Lord Peter Wimsey. Both are sons of minor gentry waiting to inherit. Both are dilettantes assisted by faithful valets. I found Campion's valet, Lugg, somewhat difficult to
comprehend. He is presented as a large, hulking, almost ogre-like man who dons aprons and makes tea. I was unable to figure out how and why he is with Campion. Presumably this is explained earlier in the series. Jumping into the middle of the series made it somewhat difficult to understand all of the characters' quirks.

This book is notable among recent mysteries I've read in that its ending is wholly satisfying. Generally when I read mysteries I enjoy the build-up and then find the ending to be a disappointment. With this book I had the opposite reaction. There were points where I got bored with the build-up, but the ending was full of suspense and intrigue.

Margery Allingham, The Case of the Late Pig (Felony & Mayhem, 2008, orig. 1937) ISBN: 1934609145

Review: Maisie Dobbs

This is a rags-to-riches and detective story wrapped into one. Maisie Dobbs is a plucky but poor young woman. When she enters servitude her employers become her benefactors, leading her to a career as a detective. Wen Maisie sets up her own agency an infidelity case leads her to something far more curious- a commune for former soldiers where residents seem to die under mysterious circumstances.

The specter of the First World War looms large in this book. Though set in 1929 memories and experiences of war infuse everyone and everything. Maisie is shaped by her experiences as a battlefield nurse, and we learn that wartime experiences have shaped her personal life as much as her professional life. Ten years after Versailles the wounds of war, both physical and emotional, have far from healed. As Maisie investigates the soldiers' commune, the war is at the center of the experience.

This is a well-done historical mystery, both engaging and well-written.

Jacqueline Winspear, Maisie Dobbs (Penguin, 2004) ISBN: 0142004332

Review: Whose Body?

Lord Peter Wimsey, sometimes sleuth, and constant man-about-town, began his sleuthing career here. Lord Peter is called in when an unassuming man finds an unidentified dead body in his bathtub. Police suspect that the body might be that of a missing businessman, but Lord Peter is not so sure. The body's attributes don't seem to match those of the missing. According to police the prime suspect is the owner of the bath. Again, Lord Peter is not convinced, and it becomes his job to clear the innocent man's name.

Lord Peter's aristocratic eccentricity is on full display in this novel, more so that in some of the later books in the series. There were definitely times when I started to get annoyed at the preponderance of "What Hos," and similar. Still, Lord Peter solves the mystery quite admirably.

Dorothy Sayers, Whose Body (Harper Collins, 2007, orig. 1923) ISBN: 0739405292

Review: Death of a Travelling Man

A surly man in a caravan and his equally surly female companion arrive and park themselves in Lochdubh. Hamish is annoyed and presumes that the new arrival is up to no good. The rest of Lochdubh's villagers seem to disagree. Many are charmed by the newcomer, Sean Gourlay. The vicar even allows Sean to park his caravan on the property. To add to Hamish's annoyance, he has been assigned an associate constable who prefers cleaning and chasing the daughter of the local restaurateur to any actual police work.

Then Gourlay winds up dead. The investigation reveals that he harbored some dark secrets about the locals. Hamish is desperately afraid that the killer is a Lochdubh resident. He begins desperately searching for an answer outside the village, but it begins to look more and more like Hamish might simply be ignoring an uncomfortable truth- that someone he knows and likes is the killer.

This is another entertaining episode in the Hamish Macbeth series. It is a fast and fun read, perhaps most notable for the entertaining character of Hamish's associate officer, a great fan of cleaning products, and definitely an original.

M.C. Beaton, Death of a Travelling Man (St. Martins, 1993) ISBN: 0312097832

Review: Death of a Glutton

A conference descends on Lochdubh's hotel, and shenanigans abound. The conference is a matchmaking weekend, a dating agency's attempt to match up its most difficult clients. Things seem promising to the potential lovebirds. All hope turns to despair when the agency's unpopular co-owner, Peta Gore, arrives and ruins everyone's good time. Peta is an enormous glutton, shoveling in all edibles within a hundred foot radius. She manages to disgust everyone. When Peta turns up dead, trussed like a roast pig with an apple in her rmouth, no one is particularly sorry. Still it falls to Hamish Macbeth to investigate.

I found this installment in the Hamish Macbeth series quite entertaining. Peta Gore is an amusing character, and I was excited to discover who had actually killed her. Beaton manages to maintain a comic tone while creating an killing off an entirely unsavory character. I would certainly recommend this one.

M.C. Beaton, Death of a Glutton (St. Martins, 1993) ISBN: 0312087616

Review: Death of a Dreamer

Hamish Macbeth's Scottish Highlands are visited by a delusional and slightly irritating artist. When said artist turns up dead the locals are not necessarily surprised, and it falls to Macbeth to work with a new and ambitious (and female!) detective to uncover the murderer, if there is one. Most of the locals think the death was a suicide, as the artist, Effie Garrand, has recently been rejected by the manly object of her delusional lust. Before the case is over Hamish finds himself in danger.

This was my first Hamish McBeth mystery. The plot was engaging, and I was interested in the characters. Given that I jumped into the middle of the series, there are a few things I'd like to understand better. It seems that Hamish has some issues with women. He has a seeming gaggle of former girlfriends, and refuses to marry any of them, though this is clearly making him miserable. I'm hoping to get fuller picture of this when I read more books in the series, which I am certainly planning to do.

M.C. Beaton, Death of a Dreamer (Warner, 2007) ISBN: 0446618136

Review: Diary of a Provincial Lady

This book is the satirical diary of a social climber trying to make an interesting life for herself in the English countryside. The provincial lady faces the problems of never enough money, unruly house and garden, never well-read enough, never attractive enough, and children never quite well-enough behaved. The provincial lady is constantly trying to be a model of attractive femininity, household management, and literary accomplishment. In all of these things the provincial lady claims to be coming up short, in part due to the multiple demands on upper-middle class women, and in part due to the very English tendency to underplay one's accomplishments. The provincial lady's world is populated by a host of amusing characters, snooty neighbors, oddball friends, and snarky servants. The book is certainly humorous, but perhaps longer than it needs to be. After the halfway point it starts to feel like more and more of the same. Repetitiveness is a double-edged sword. It certainly gives the reader a sense of the ponderousness of provincial life for many women, but it can start to sap the reader's energy too. This book is most effective when read in small increments, and is very much worth reading, particularly by those who enjoy early-20th century women's literature.

E.M. Delafield, Diary of a Provincial Lady (Academy Chicago Publishers, orig. 1930) ISBN: 0897330536

Review: God on the Rocks

This is the story of eight-year-old Margaret Marsh. Daughter of overly-religious sectarian parents, Margaret finds little affection at home. Margaret's main caretaker is a bawdy servant, taken in by her father as a sort of religious project. Lydia is the most challenging of converts, she is also the only member of the household who shows Margaret much affection. Margaret's mother is overworked and overtired, and chaffing at the boundaries of her religious life. Margaret's father is everyone's holier-than-thou nightmare.

During the summer an indiscretion on the part of Margaret's father sets in motion a series of events that will end in tragedy. The plot of this book is quite straightforward. It is the elaborate details, rather than the plot, that give this book its brilliance. Gardam does not stray away from the absurd. She reminds me much of Barbara Comyns. This is a well-executed book, well-worth the time to read.

Jane Gardam, God on the Rocks (Europa, 2010) ISBN: 1933372761

Review: The Nine Tailors

This books is the epitome of the English countryside murder mystery. There's a mysterious dead body, an old parish church, a bumbling rector, and lots of foul weather. When Lord Peter Wimsey's car breaks down in Fenchurch St. Paul he is taken in by the rector. When an unidentified body turns up in the churchyard, Lord Peter is on the case.

In Fenchurch St. Paul Sayers weaves a gripping and atmospheric mystery. At the heart of the mystery are the ancient church bells. They are tended by a close-knit and somewhat suspicious coterie of bell-ringers, who display an almost-slavish devotion to their ringing. More broadly, the book is fully infused with bell-ringing culture. The bells give their name to the the book; each has a name and together they are called 'The Nine Tailors.' In all honesty, there was more about bell-ringing than I needed to know. Still, this is a gripping mystery.

Dorothy Sayers, The Nine Tailors (Mariner, 1966, orig. 1934) ISBN:0156658992

Review: A Far Cry from Kensington

Set in the mid-twentieth century London publishing world, this is a quirky and enjoyable read. The book is structured as a flashback, as Mrs. Hawkins looks back on her youth, working for a minor Kensington publisher. She looks back from the comforts of her retirement in Italy. As a young war widow Mrs. Hawkins lived on a small salary reviewing manuscripts for her employer. Her duties led her to an ongoing feud with an untalented hack writer, who believes firmly in his own merit, but whose clunky prose Mrs. Hawkins dismisses. After brandishing him with a somewhat amusing moniker, she becomes the target of his revenge. Their ongoing feud reveals to Mrs. Hawkins a seedy underbelly of the publishing industry, one that she may unknowingly expose. The ending is both bizarre and entertaining, and the characters are originals.

Muriel Spark, A Far Cry from Kensington (New Directions, 2000, orig. 1988) ISBN: 0811214575

Review: The Thirteenth Tale

I could review this book in one sentence: This is one messed-up family, but its a family that makes for an enchanting story.

This is a book that reads like a fairy tale. Bookshop assistant and minor biographer Margaret Lea is summoned by dying writer Vida Winter to write the latter's life story. Winter has lived and secretive and reclusive life, and Margaret will be the first to get a look at her past. What she finds when she arrived is a story of abuse, abandonment, and twins helplessly devoted to one another. In the course of writing Winter's life story, Margaret will be forced to confront a tragedy in her own past.

I was fully enthralled and engrossed in this book. Once I started I read at every spare moment until I was finished. This is a novel full of gothic atmosphere and mystery. I must say that I found Vida Winter's story far more engaging than Margaret's. Margaret struck me as a fairly annoying individual. Luckily she is mostly a foil for the story of Vida, her family, and her childhood home.

Diane Setterfield, The Thirteenth Tale (Atria, 2006) ISBN: 0743298020

Review: Clocks

This novel begins with one of Christie's creepiest murder scenes. A young woman arrives at her employer's house to find an unidentified dead man and a room full of stopped clocks. The rest of the book is spend unraveling the mystery of the dead man's identity and his presence in the home. To complicate matters the homeowner is blind, so visual identification is impossible. Before the mystery is solved a young secretary is also murdered, likely in connection with the mystery man.

I found the clues offered in this book to be far less subtle than in some of Christie's other mysteries. Indeed, the list of characters at the book's outset gives away a great deal. Ultimately I found the solution to the mystery to be rather odd. Suffice to say that it is very much a product of its time. This is not one of Christie's more haunting efforts, but the reading of it was entertaining nonetheless.

Agatha Christie, The Clocks (Pocket, 1981, orig. 1962) ISBN: 0671428799

Review: Miss Pym Disposes

This is a rather odd sort of mystery, as for most of the book there is no mystery at all. Miss Pym, a pop psychologist, spends a week in residence at a girls' school. Much of her time is spent getting to know the students, and noticing how bucolic and normal everything seems to be. Then, one girl is terribly slighted by the headmistress, and it becomes clear to the reader that something terrible is about to happen.

That something terrible happens near the end of the book. What appears to be an accident might be something more sinister, at least it seems so to Miss Pym. This is really a backwards sort of book. Most of the book is spent studying the characters, before there is any hint of nefarious activity.

What I found most interesting about this book was that it provided a look into a competitive girls' boarding school. Without giving too much away, I was never able to figure out why the headmistress made the decision that she did. The slight on which the whole mystery turns was essentially inexplicable.

Josephine Tey, Miss Pym Disposes (Touchstone, 1998) ISBN: 0684847515

Typically British Challenge: Wrap-Up

I have officially finished my Typically British Challenge. I figured I would have no problems finishing this one, and I was right. I went in at the highest level- 8 books, and have read those, and more, in just half the year. For this challenge I read:

The Other Mothers' Club by Samantha Baker
Even the Dogs by Jon McGregor
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonsen
The Long Song by Andrea Levy
The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie
A Desirable Residence by Madeleine Wickham
The Beth Book by Sara Grand
Born under a Million Shadows by Andrea Busfield
Another Life Altogether by Elaine Beale

That's not counting several other British books I have in my reviews queue. Overall, this was a very enjoyable challenge. The Long Song and Major Pettigrew's Last Stand were absolutely wonderful books- definitely the winners of this challenge.

Review: The Other Mothers' Club

This chick lit novel focuses on young women navigating the rocky terrain of stepmotherhood. At the center is Eve, a magazine editor who has fallen in love with a widower. Her new boyfriend comes complete with three children and a family home replete with relics of the deceased and seemingly saintly first wife, Caroline. Through her best friend Eve discovers that plenty of other women share her situation, her fears, and her problems. Five of them form a support group, and the book chronicles their meetings and individual histories.

Generally, this is a well-written book, though the plot is quite predictable. It is unlikely that any reader will be surprised by the book's ending. I was quite sympathetic to Eve's plight, especially as I thought she was poorly treated, both by her best friend and her boyfriend, Ian. While Ian's devotion to his children is admirable, there is a crucial point in the story where his complete abrogation of responsibility to Eve was appalling. Likewise, Eve's best friend Clare is so bitter that she sometimes seems to be a caricature. Ultimately I'd classify this as summer beach reading. It's not deep, but it is well-written, and definitely one of the better books of its genre.

Samantha Baker, The Other Mothers' Club (Avon, 2010) ISBN: 0061840351

Review: The Moving Finger

Poison pen letters spread throughout an English village, upsetting recipients, and leading to a suicide. The village is full of quirky characters, any one of whom might be responsible for the anonymous missives. Ultimately the mystery will be solved by one of the villagers' acquaintances, none other than Miss Jane Marple.

This was my first Miss Marple mystery, and I was surprised at how small a presence Miss Marple actually was in the story. She didn't appear until more than halfway through the book, and then remained in the background, sort of like the furniture. Yes, she does ultimately solve the mystery, but she's hardly a character of much consequence. It appears that The Moving Finger is one of the earlier Miss Marple mysteries, and perhaps the character was not yet well-developed. As this was my first Miss Marple I don't really have another novel for comparison.

The story is told by an injured pilot, who has moved to the countryside to recover. As he meets the various villagers, especially the women, there's an added element of romance, but as with all of Christie's work, the mystery remains the heart of the book. This is not one of Christie's more remarkable works, but it is certainly solid, and kept me riveted to the end.

Agatha Christie, The Moving Finger (Black Dog and Leventhal, 2007) ISBN: 1579126944

Review: A Desirable Residence

I had previously only read Wickham as Sophie Kinsella, and I've enjoyed most of those books. I've previously found Kinsella/Wickham to be humorous and capable of telling a fun and fast-moving story. I found those things to be true of this book. The story centers on a house in a suburban English town, rented by its owners to a glamorous London couple. It's very important to recognize what this book is, and what it is not. This is chick lit, a light and fun read. One should not expect deep layers of meaning, or transcendent messages about the nature of humanity. What this is is a fast read that will keep the reader in light entertainment for a few hours. I wouldn't want my reading list to consist entirely of books like this, but every now and then such books are a nice diversion.

Review: The Beth Book

This novel is really a manifesto, decrying the terrible injustices suffered by late-Victorian women. The book follows the life of Beth Caldwell, a woman of intelligence and literary talent, who is denied education and opportunity. All of the Caldwell family resources are invested in Beth's brother, Jim, and her life is full of injustice. After losing her father in childhood, Beth and her family move from Ireland to Yorkshire, where the family falls into poverty. Still, all resources are funneled into Beth's arrogant and feckless brother. There is little love in young Beth's life: her father is dead, her mother finds Beth aggravating. To escape Beth marries early, a man who turns out to be a lout. Beth's husband relishes using all of the privileges that law and custom afford him over women, and his despicable character is quickly uncovered. Originally published in 1897, this books is meant to be a fictionalized account of Grand's life, and she shares the Irish and Yorkshire origins of her heroine, as well as the unhappy marriage, and the limits of Victorian womanhood. The truly terrible strictures that bound late-nineteenth century women are evident throughout this book. Grand is certainly not the only one to write of these issues, and she is hardly the most subtle. Grand clearly writes from anger and exasperation, but her prose retains literary merit.

Sarah Grand, The Beth Book (Dial, 1981) ISBN: 0803705522, 528 pages

Review: The Long Song

The horrors of chattel slavery are described in stark relief in Levy's fictional life story of a nineteenth-century Jamaican woman. Miss July, born into slavery, lives through some of Jamaica's most tumultuous events: warfare, emancipation, and the difficult transition to free labor. Miss July has endured more tragedy than most modern readers can comprehend: pulled away from her mother as a child, only to see her mother executed in the wake of a slave rebellion, Miss July's own child is given away. Ultimately Miss July finds herself in love with a dangerous white man. This book brings the horrors and brutality of slavery into full relief. It also shows how slave ownership corrupts slave owners, as we see two Britons become slave masters. This book is an accomplished family epic. It is a novel deep with emotion, and one that recreates a thoroughly believable nineteenth-century Jamaica. This is a world of tremendous violence and exploitation, yet one in which we still see tremendous human tenderness. I thoroughly enjoyed Levy's earlier novel, Small Island, and was not disappointed by my second foray into her work.

Andrea Levy, The Long Song (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2010) ISBN: 0374192170