The Key

 

By Patricia Wentworth (read by Diana Bishop) c. 1946

A Miss Silver mystery

An "Agatha Christie Centenary Celebration" Side-Read

Meeting Miss Silver

I must say that this country house murder with a bit of international intrigue was much better than the Agatha Christie that it was paired with -- but I am still not sure if I am going to join Miss Silver fan club. I actually found her to be a bit annoying; maybe it was the knitting needles that did it.

The Big Four

 

By Agatha Christie (read by Hugh Fraser) published in 1927

An "Agatha Christie Centenary Celebration" Read

 

 

 

Was this the Perils of Pauline or an Agatha Christie novel?

I had thought that  The Death of Roger Ackroyd was a turning point in her writing. Apparently, I was wrong.  Sadly, with The Big Four, she has gone back to the melodramatic ways of her first few books. The book reads like a series of short stories one would see published in a magazine, making this one of the worst we have read so far. Yes, an author is entitled to a few lemons but to have it so close on the heels of Roger Ackroyd is disappointing.

As I made my way through the book, twice, there was a constant refrain in my head: B-movie, Perils of Pauline, B-movie, Perils of Pauline. I don't object to the world domination conspiracy theory theme that drives the story. I can live with the combination of detective story and spy thriller. I do, however,  object to how poorly it is written -- clownish, clumsy, choppy, trite, entirely lacking in the subtlety of Roger Ackroyd. Hundreds of these stories are written every year. Ian Fleming,  John LeCarre, et al. built careers on such world domination tales. What did they have that AC lacked?  I can't tell you what it is, I just know it isn't there.

I can hear my lit professors. You must give examples, you must give examples. To which I reply, I am done wasting my time on this book. I'm not being graded on this, so let someone else give examples. I'm moving on.

DCD score: 4/10 (rules broken)  Van Dine score: 6/20 (rules broken)

I'll explain this scoring in a separate post, eventually.

Bookish Quote of the Day

 

 

A bit of good trash now and then is good for the severest reader. It provides the necessary roughage in the literary diet.

 

Phyllis McGinley, author

 

 

 

 

The Crow Trap

 

By Ann Cleeves (read by Anne Dover)

 

 

I liked it. Glad I read it.

Having read a couple of Ann Cleeves' Shetland mysteries and having seen an episode or two of the BBC DCI Vera Stanhope series (starring Brenda Blethvyn), I happily grabbed The Crow Trap out of a recent Audible sale pile -- and I am so glad I did. The idea for the story is not new; this is not the first time the conflicting interests within a community have been the basis of a good murder mystery. This is not the first time that the interests of business-owners and the environment have clashed or that the pain of familial dysfunction has wrought havoc. So many driving forces within one story and yet Cleeves weaves them together with skill,  drawing us along inexorably to the reveal. I never guessed 'who done it' -- but then again, I've never been good at these puzzles.

This is DCI Vera Stanhope's debut.  Almost half the story goes by before we even meet her. When she finally appears, readers are shocked. She is homely;  neither her demeanor nor her dress is in the least professional. She is annoying. Nonetheless, she slowly but surely unravels the knot and finds the killer.

Three and three-quarters stars for the writing and for the twists and turns.

Landfall: A Channel Story

 

By Nevil Shute (read by Chris Rowe) published 1940

Nevil Shute wrote a number of books set during World War Two,  which are collectively referred to as the Channel Stories since they mostly have to do with RAF pilots and with the naval bases along the English Channel.  Shute's war stories are not so much about the war as they are about the young people who are fighting the war, defending their country, turning their lives upside down for the war effort, falling in love, learning to live with the decision they made or actions they needed to take.

At the opening of WWII, "Jerry" Chambers was a pilot doing surveillance flights over the Channel, looking for subs and other ships. On one run, he finds a German sub, and he is very sure that it is a German sub, and sinks it. However, a British sub that was known to be transiting his surveillance area is late in arriving and Chambers is accused of sinking it.

Another 4 star yarn from Nevil Shute.

In the Wet

By Nevil Shute (read by Gary Waldhorn) Published

The parson's cautionary tale within a tale

 

Nevil Shute has never been afraid to take on the mystical in his writing. Parson Roger Hargreaves is a circuit preacher in Queensland, AU in the early 1950s. This is his story and what a wild complicated story it is. Stevie the town drunk is dying from a painful unnamed disease and they are giving him morphine and then opium to control the pain. The parson is at his bedside, trying to do his pastoral duty but he is currently dealing with a recurrence of malaria and is in as much of a stupor as is the dying man. Their thoughts and dreams merge in the never-never as Roger dreams of Britain 35 years in the future. Hang on for the ride.

Warning: if the casual use of the "n" word and the depiction of the racism that was prevalent in society in the 1950s are a turn off for you, then you should look elsewhere for your next read.

Four and half stars for a well-written and well-delivered yarn and for the author's willingness to take on the social and racist mores of the time.

 

2021 Reading List: March

 BY THE NUMBERS

YTD:  50 Books Read, 520 Hours Spent

Goal: 100 books and 1500 hours

MTD: 16 Books Read.   169 Hours Spent. 

 

March turned out to be a very interesting month. I did a lot more re-reads this month, needing things I could listen to without out having to pay attention to every single word -- and wanting the comfort of old favorites.. 

BEST OF THE MONTH

 

1. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd -- Re-read
2. Who Killed Roger Ackroyd? -- NEW30
3. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd -- Re-read
4. Motherless Brooklyn -- NEW31
5. Great Courses: The Fall and Rise of China -- NEW32  HISTORY
   
6. Watchers of Time -- NEW33
7. Frederica --  Re-read
8. Charm City -- NEW34
9. How the Penguins Saved Veronica  -- NEW35
10. Midwinter Murder -- NEW36
11. The Presidents' Club -- Re-read (20 for 2021) HISTORY
    
12. Friday's Child -- Re-read
13. High Stakes -- Re-read
14. Hot Money -- Re-read
15. In the Frame -- Re-read
16. The Big Four -- NEW37

 

 

WORST OF THE MONTH 

Death by Narrator

The Great Courses: The Fall and Rise of China

Taught by Richard Baum, UCLA

 

 

I loved this series of lectures. Professor Baum knew his subject -- I say "knew" because, sadly, he passed away in 2012. I really would have loved hearing his take on US-China relations during the Trump years and would have loved having him around to share his wisdom with President Biden on how to heal the breach.

Baum was a skilled lecturer; he knew how to break the subject down into small, digestible units. In my estimation, the telling really took off when Baum started to add personal anecdotes about his visits to China, etc. to the lectures, and he started visiting China not long after the country opened to tourism is the early 70s.

I give it 4.5 stars. I've listened to a lot of The Great Courses and this is among the best.

In the Frame

 

Dick Francis (read by Ralph Cosham)

 

 

 

A tip for travelers: Never brag about your prized possessions to strangers.

It is only the chance encounter in a race course bar that sets artist Charles Todd on the trail of his cousin's wife's murderer, killed as she returns home to a burglary in progress. There were too many similarities between what Todd's cousin had told him about their recent trip to Australia and the story Maisie told him in the bar.

Another 4 star Dick Francis.