Ruth’s Comments (group member since Jun 12, 2010)

Ruth’s comments from the Agatha Christie Challenge group.

Loved "Mysterious Affair at Styles"! "Death in the Clouds" was enjoyable, but just one of many locked-room mysteries. I think it would hold more impact in the day when flying was such a rarified experience.

We're with you, Esther!

Good luck, Esther! I read at about that rate. I enjoyed the challenge.

Oooooh! I really enjoyed The Seven Dials Mystery.

Ibis3 wrote: "Recently finished Murder at the Vicarage (the first Miss Marple). I'm now listening to The Sittaford Mystery on audio."

I loved listening to the many audiobooks available for the Christie books. I would never have completed the challenge if not for audiobooks!

Helle wrote: "I read some Agatha Christie books years ago, enjoying them very much, but for some reason stopped reading them.
Theb, about a year ago I got a great deal at a book fair: a box full of Agatha Chris..."

The Secret of Chimneys is a great story! Despite her popular Poirot, Marple and other recurring characters, I think the ones without are sometimes more fun because you can't guess as much and therefore the plot is more mysterious.

Cindy wrote: "I am new to this group. I have never read her books so I thought it might be a good thing to start doing. So I am starting with the Poirot ones with the first one being "Mysterious Affair at Styles..."

Welcome to the group! The Christie website is a great place to start. Hercule Poirot is her most popular detective, but there are many who don't like his personality. I hope you like him as much as I do, but if not, I recommend The Man in the Brown Suit which has no recurring characters in it, but I think it's great!

Ibis3 wrote: "Finished Partners in Crime. I'm now going to search out the DVD of the BBC series at the library. More short stories ahead with The Mysterious Mr. Quin."

I love Tommy & Tuppence. They always struck me as "fabulous," though not Nick and Nora Charles fabulous.

The Mysterious Mr. Quin was a fascinating collection of stories. I hope you enjoy them!

I just finished The Unexpected Guest. One of the better plays, it ends similarly to her short stories, with a bit of a loose end that you are left to assume the actual ending. I'm not sure what's up next; I think it's another play.

Jjo wrote: "I just read The Man in the Brown Suit. So the drama! I thought it was fun and funny and melodramatic."

Yes! The Man In The Brown Suit is a fantastic story! One of my favorites, truly! There's a decent made-for-TV movie form 1989 starring Stephanie Zimbalist as Anne Beddingfeld. At least the screenwriters and/or director didn't feel the necessity to add in Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot in this one!

Let us know if you read any others. Is this your first Agatha Christie?

Kelley wrote: "Ruth wrote: "I thought the last series of Agatha Christie mysteries was sort of a mixed bag. I thoroughly enjoyed "The Pale Horse" although that might be because I haven't actually read it yet. "Ha..."

I did finally get to The Pale Horse and I also viewed the made-for-BBC movie "The Pale Horse" which was available through Netflix. This version from 1997 is closer in adaptation to the original, though it does make some significant changes.

I'm currently trying to catch up on the short story collections I may have missed throughout. I tried to read in published order, but that hasn't been entirely possible.

I'm ok with that, though. the short stories are so fun, because Christie used them as little exercises to keep her writing skills fresh and she would experiment with plot devices to see if they worked as well on paper as they did in her brain.

Some of them are also less "concrete" is the best word I can come up with. She'll allow a loose ending in her short stories unlike most of her novels.

The current collection I'm working on is The Listerdale Mystery And Eleven Other Stories.

Deb wrote: "I just started reading The Mystery of the Blue Train-
featuring of course Hercule Poirot."

Apparently, Christie wasn't a fan of this story, but I thought it was great!

Jjo wrote: "I just started this whole thing, so I recently read both The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Secret Adversary. I thought that Poirot was hilarious. I can't wait to read more."

That's what I think of Poirot! He's such a comical figure, yet so deadly serious in the end. He plays his part to a tee!

I'm rereading Nemesis which is a later Miss Marple. It's just wonderful! Whereas some people get annoyed by Hercule Poirot's personality, Miss Jane is always a delightfully pleasant, if somewhat negative person. She expects the worst in people and is never disappointed.

Abigail wrote: "Ok. That's good to know. I loved 4.50 from Paddington! I just saw it last week. I also like The Moving Finger. But I do want to get into the actual books. So thanks for the heads up."

Those both ARE actually Miss Marple stories, and I really like them both, but also note that Miss Marple is hardly present in The Moving Finger, though she does solve the mystery. It's sort of strange, but I think ingenious of Ms. Christie.

Abigail wrote: "I'm a newbie. I have seen a handful of Miss Marple stories on PBS (which I love), but I never read any until now. I finished my first one, At Bertrams Hotel, a couple of months ago. This week I ..."

Welcome, Abigail!

So often the BBC/Masterpiece MYSTERY! versions are so different, you lose very little in the reading. My favorite Miss Marple stories are The Body in the Library and 4:50 From Paddington.

The production you saw with Timothy Dalton and Geraldine McEwan was The Sittaford Mystery which wasn't even originally a Miss Marple story! The producers of MYSTERY! have done this MANY times with stories written with female detectives who were NOT Miss Marple, they just throw her in for good measure. Thank goodness, they've never stooped to having Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot on the same case! I enjoy the television productions, but within their own right; I try to never compare the book to the show.

I'm reading Third Girl. It's so interesting the passage of time reflected in the perceptions of Poirot and Arriadne Oliver; we're into the 1960s and all that implies.

I'm reading A Pocket Full of Rye. Miss Marple just entered the scene and we're already more than halfway through the story and 3 bodies down! :)

Ibis3 wrote: "Ruth wrote: "Whose Body? - I've never read that, though I love LPW! I don't know why I haven't read more Sayers. She's so wonderful!"

Back in my late teens early twenties I read a few of them out ..."

I've read some LPW with success, "Have His Carcass," for example, but I always felt they were more cerebral and densely written with about the same amount of emotional payoff. Laziness would be the main reason for me, probably. ;)

I haven't tried any of the audiobooks for LPW. I'll keep your opinion of the performer in mind. I really have enjoyed most of the audiobooks for Christie.