Appointment With Agatha discussion

We have less than a year left of Christie mysteries, so I wanted to open the discussion about the fate of the group once the project is finished.

Options:

1. Start over at the beginning
2. Pick a different detective/series to read from the beginning
3. Pick a year or a theme or a detective and don't necessarily read all of them, but select books in some sort of predetermined cycle (a year, two years, etc).

Let us discuss among ourselves. We obviously aren't in any hurry.

Some possible new directions:

The other "Queens of Crime"

1. Dorothy Sayers & Lord Peter Wimsey (12 primary works)
2. Ngaio Marsh & Roderick Alleyn (32 primary works)
3. Margery Allingham & Albert Campion (21 primary works)
4. Josephine Tey (6 Inspector Grant & 2 stand-alone works)

Additional possibilities:

1. A year of British Library Crime Classics
2. Some number of themed Perry Mason reads (I got this idea from a blogger who is doing a Perry Mason menagerie - Perry Mason mysteries with an animal/bird/etc in the title). I thought of A Perry Mason family affair, where we read titles that have familial words in the title (daughter, husband, aunt, spouse, wife, etc. There are 12 of them)
3. A year of American Mystery Classics (this is Otto Penzler's imprint).

Other ideas are welcome below - assuming that we want to continue.

I've read most of the works of the Queens of Crime, some more than once, so I'm not really interested in that.

I do like the Perry Mason and the British Library Crime Classics(which I've read many, but they're always bringing out new titles).

There's also Ellis Peters, who wrote two mystery series.

Rosemarie wrote: "There's also Ellis Peters, who wrote two mystery series."

I love Brother Cadfael. That's a really good suggestion.

My opinion is that since it's an Agatha Christie group ,we should only read her .
Some suggestions are -
Start chronologically from the beginning,many of her fans like rereading her books too and for some it would be fresh reads .
or
As u said ,choose a detective,so let's do only Poirot books
or
We suggest through polls most favorite reads of Christie and read only her popular books .

I'm up for any of the suggestions really. I'm not sure about Perry Mason but I'm wanted to read some of the other 'Queens of Crime' as you put it. Cadfael is a favourite of mine too. Really hope the group doesn't peter out!!

I’d be interested in other authors/series. Not necessarily a 5+ year marathon though. 😜

I would enjoy reading works from the other Queens of Crime but would not turn away British Library Crime Classics and the Cadfael series.

Since this is an Agatha Christie book I think we should continue re-reading her books especially for new members who want a readalong. But perhaps we could have a side read of another author at the same time. That way, people can choose whether they want to read Christie or the other author or both.

i like the idea of doing a queen of crime - we can always keep running agatha reads on the side

I know side reads were done before on this site. Not sure how successful it was. Christine will know.

Teresa wrote: "I know side reads were done before on this site. Not sure how successful it was. Christine will know."

The side reads never really worked. I think a lot of people get over commitment and can manage one read per group, but struggle with multiple.

I am also not sure how much participation a second read of the Christie mysteries would generate, since the most active participants will have already read them once within the last five years.

I was going to suggest Brother Cadfael / Ellis Peters

There is also Georges Simenon. He wrote 75 Inspector Maigret novels

There are 25 Arsene Lupin detective novels by Maurice Leblanc

I would also like it if you began Agatha again, because I am lagging woefully behind you all, lol!

Cleo wrote: "I would also like it if you began Agatha again, because I am lagging woefully behind you all, lol!"

Which one are you on now?

Christine PNW wrote: "

Which one are you on now?"

N or M? with Tommy & Tuppence!

I like the idea of using an existing curated list that we can publish for 12 or 24 months.

I think we can do this using a selection from BLCC or American Mystery Classics, although choosing the books in advance will take some effort.

I'd also be happy with a chronological list of Sayers, Tey, Highsmith, Marsh with a cut off at 1965

We could use the Library of America collections of 'Women Crime Writers of the 40s and 50s' to add names to the list
https://www.loa.org/books/430-women-c...

If we want to add some more British writers, we could make a list of CWA Dagger Winners from 1955 to 1964.
https://thecwa.co.uk/past-winners/pag...

I like this idea of Mike's that we read Sayers, Tey, Highsmith and or Marsh!!! I'm long wanted to read some of these but never get round to them. I'd be more inclined to if it was a group read. I've read one or two Tey's but that's it.
Some great ideas coming up here.

Such great suggestions from everyone! I like the idea of a curated list shared in advance. It's one of the reasons I've so enjoyed the Agatha project. I'd enjoy focusing on women writers of crime fiction and I like Mike's idea of cutting published year off ~1965.

Most importantly, I'd like the group to continue. It's been a lot of fun!

Could we alternate between a Christie or one of the other Queens of crime each month? Or have two lists that we could choose between each month? Both if you choose to. I just moderated a discussion of The Queens of Crime at my RL book club last night. I would be very interested in reading Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh and Margery Allingham with a group after reading that book.

There are many Christie books I would like to re-read but I would not want to start over again right away, nor do I want to re-read every one. There's just so many other great books to read!

I'm with Maggie's idea, start a new series or author and have it run alongside the Agatha Christie books from the top. Members can join in either or both conversations even if they had previously read the Christie book. Might be fun to see how much I remember from each book.

Wanda wrote: "Could we alternate between a Christie or one of the other Queens of crime each month? Or have two lists that we could choose between each month? Both if you choose to. I just moderated a discussion..."

This idea seems to be good as it includes opinions of many. Alternating between Christie and other authors .So it will keep the soul of the group alive too and new authors too. As admin said that side reads are not popular ,so this is a better way

Oh alternating one month Christie, next month another author, is really good. I see now that I missed that idea on my first read through of this thread so thanks to Mansi for calling it to attention. I like it a lot. It would take the pressure off to keep up with 2 books per month.

Jessica wrote: "Oh alternating one month Christie, next month another author, is really good. I see now that I missed that idea on my first read through of this thread so thanks to Mansi for calling it to attentio..."

I agree!

I'd be interested in reading any of the other Queens of Crime, and alternating months with a re-read of Agatha Christie is a good idea.

Which of the Queens would you be interested in reading? I would love to read Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham, Josephine Tey and Ngaio Marsh. Who are you wanting to try/reread?

I started a poll so everyone can weigh in! Find it here.

I'm leaving it open for 30 days.

How many months are left for our original read athon to end ? I think it will end on 'Curtain' .

Our last title is Sleeping Murder in March 2026. Curtain is our February novel.

What has been finally decided @Christine ?

Mansi wrote: "What has been finally decided @Christine ?"

I haven't made any decisions, because we're still a ways away, but let me think on it and I'll get back to you in the next week or so!

Hey guys ! Christie's birthday is coming this month .How do you celebrate it (if you do)?

Can somebody tell me where Christie related quizzes are played .I would like to participate. I have seen all on the official Agatha Christie page .
We can even play here if anyone is quizmaster .

Now that it's December, and we only have 3 more books before we're finished, it's time to get serious about planning for the future!

Rereading the thread, it looks to me like the most popular idea was to do 6 Christies a year and 6 non-Christies, with an emphasis on other "Queens of Crime," so I think that's what I would like to propose.

We are booked through March, when we finish the final Christie (and final Marple) Sleeping Murder.

I would like to set a 2 year plan, which would take us through December, 2027. We will need 21 books to do this. My proposal is 10 Christies and 11 non-Christies.

For the Christie selections, I would like to stay away from what I would consider the "big 5" of her books and pick books that fly a bit under the radar. The ones I want to stay away from are: Orient Express, And Then There Were None, Death on the Nile, Roger Ackroyd and Mysterious Affair at Styles. Everyone has probably read these and while they are good, she has a lot of other really good ones that don't get as much attention.

Moving on to the other authors:

Dorothy Sayers has a sub-series of the Harriet Vane mysteries within her Peter Wimsey novels. Harriet Vane is a bit of a Sayers stand-in and Gaudy Night is a Desert Island book for me, so I'd love to read it here. I think that this would be a good place to start & while these 3 books do need to be read in order, it won't disrupt enjoyment of the remainder of the Peter Wimseys if you read these 3 out of order. The books are Strong Poison, Have His Carcase & Gaudy Night.

That leaves 8 other mysteries. At least at this point, I'd like to keep it to women crime writers, but not necessarily restrict it to only Sayers, Allingham, Marsh & Tey.

If this sounds good, let's start talking specific Christie titles below, as well as nominations for our non-Christie options!

Thanks Christine for restarting this discussion.

Would there be any interest in including some of Agatha Christie's works that we have not read as a group, such as her short story collections, The Mousetrap, and Mary Westmacott novels?

Christine PNW wrote: "Now that it's December, and we only have 3 more books before we're finished, it's time to get serious about planning for the future!

Rereading the thread, it looks to me like the most popular idea..."

Perhaps we could include a few books from the Rachel Murdock Mysteries by Dolores Hitchens?

Some E.C.R. Lorac / Carol Carnac books would also be a good fit.

I like crime writers - women OR men, cause i'm not sexist - Arthur W. Upfield's Boney mysteries are good. Yes, alternating one month Christie, next month another author, is really good, but would like both Queens and Kings of Crime.

and yes keep going with Agatha, people will come who never read any and i'm not sure i've read them all x

Jazzy wrote: "I like crime writers - women OR men, cause i'm not sexist - Arthur W. Upfield's Boney mysteries are good. Yes, alternating one month Christie, next month another author, is really good, but would l..."

I'm not saying we will never read a mystery by a man, just for right now, let's stick with women crime writers. It's a very wide field as it is, and it's going to be hard enough to pick 11 mysteries out of the entire universe of possibilities.

Also, Jazzy, I know that you have a fairly blunt communication style, but I don't appreciate being called sexist. Please knock that shit off.

Mike wrote: "Perhaps we could include a few books from the Rachel Murdock Mysteries by Dolores Hitchens?

Some E.C.R. Lorac / Carol Carnac books would also be a good fit.

I have enjoyed both of those authors!

Oh rats! I was going to suggest George Simenon. But otherwise, I’d vote for Sayers.

I've never read any of these mentioned here other than Tey so I'm up for any of them. I've always wanted to read Sayers.

Cleo wrote: "Oh rats! I was going to suggest George Simenon. But otherwise, I’d vote for Sayers."

I love Simenon and I would actually love to do an entire year on him, so let's put a pin in that, Cleo!

Christine PNW wrote: "Jazzy wrote: "I like crime writers - women OR men, cause i'm not sexist - Arthur W. Upfield's Boney mysteries are good. Yes, alternating one month Christie, next month another author, is really goo..."

Are you autistic too? I never said you were sexist it had nothing to do with YOU. But I do have a son who often says how he is so tired of of people being sexist towards him because he is not a woman.

Lol! I have to agree that she didn’t directly call you sexist. I do this sort of stuff all the time and get myself into trouble, by not realizing the sensitivity of others. But I’m always well-meaning, as I’m sure Jazzy is. Best thing is to shake hands, laugh about it and move on.

And on another note, this is my first attempt at diplomacy. 😂

yes let's do! Blessed are the cheesemakers - I mean peacemakers and all that.

I like cheese, so Cheesemaker or Peacemaker works! 😂 🧀😇

Agatha Christie has written 66 books. They can keep going around with one every month indefinitely and another author/book added each month as well. There will always be a new Christie fan.

People can choose which one to read (or re-read).

I think that would be a great idea.

I’ve been reading through Christie chronologically. I started later than the group and have been going slower but I’d love to join in reading other authors as I continue my Christie-turtle-crawl. 🐢

Reviving the discussion:

The current plan is to continue with the group after we finish out Agatha (we read her final mystery, Sleeping Murder, in March, 2026) is to alternate a Christie title with a non-Christie title.

I'd like to get a schedule established through December 2027, to give readers a chance to look ahead a bit! We will need 10 Christies and 11 non-Christies to get us through December, 2027.

2026:

April:
May: (Agatha)
June:
July: (Agatha)
August:
September: (Agatha)
October:
November (Agatha)
December:

2027:

January: (Agatha)
February:
March: (Agatha)
April:
May: (Agatha)
June:
July (Agatha)
August:
September: (Agatha)
October:
November (Agatha)
December:

I would like to select Christie mysteries that are good, but aren't her most well-known five or so. Let's eliminate Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, And Then There Were None, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and The Mysterious Affair at Styles from consideration, since they are the best known of the bunch - if someone has read a Christie, it is probably one of those!

In addition to Christie, let's select 11 other authors that we want to read, and once we get the authors identified, we can choose the book from their booklist. I was going to limit it to women authors only, but since we're working with a two year cycle, let's go ahead & open it up. The ONLY criteria is that book we ultimately select must have been published prior to 1976.

In addition, we are lucky that both of our Decembers fall on non-Christie authors, so we can pick two Christmas mysteries to read for those months. I'll be posting a longish list of the Christmas mysteries that I have previously read and enjoyed and we can choose from those, or, if I miss any, feel free to toss out some suggestions.

As soon as GR lets me, I will start a new thread for selecting our non-Christie authors.

In terms of rereads of Christie titles, I would like to propose Peril at End House, because I feel like that one is an underrated Christie with a solid mystery.

I suggest to wait until 1st week of January ,as the official Agatha Christie page is going to reveal it's 12 Christie's for 2026 ,one book each month ,so that we can at least match our alternate reads with them ,it will be easier for readers not to overburden with 2 Christie's in one month.

One book I suggest for 2026 is Murder on the links .