ACCC: January, 2021

January: 1924     The Man in the Brown Suit  (read by Emilia Fox)

Side read: Blood on the Tracks: Railway Mysteries (anthology edited by Martin Edwards)

Non-winners: Somebody at the Door by Raymond Postgate

Singing in the Shrouds by Ngaio Marsh

The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White

Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith

The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart

Death of an Airman by Christopher St. John Sprigg

Flying Finish by Dick Francis

I am not doing a side read this month. I can't get the winner on Audible. I have read Flying Finish multiple times, including just a few weeks ago, and I can't decide if I am interested enough in the other three titles to want to spend a credit on them -- well actually two since for sure the Highsmith is not talking to me right now.

 

Main Read Comments

 

I just sat there rolling my eyeballs (much easier to do when you are listening ) every time Anne Beddingfeld did something patently stupid and ill advised. "Anne, it's a trick; don't open the door, don't go to out at midnight to meet some unknown person" and she does it anyhow. And not just once over the course of the story but multiple times!

I liked the way Christie alternated between Anne's narration and the excerpts from Pedler's journal. We learn so much about Pedler from what he tells us and from what he obviously is not telling us. On the other hand, the romance didn't do much for me; the happily ever after did not add to the story at all; it was needless diversion.

All in all, as much as I enjoyed the story, it was only three stars. It is obvious that Christie is still trying to find her niche as an author.