Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Where would we be without Agatha Christie. Certainly we would have no idea how to get away with murder.

But you don't have to read a book by her this week, you just need to read something somehow connected to her, such as

Classic Christie: Pick up a beloved classic like And Then There Were None, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, or Murder on the Orient Express.
Short Story Collection: Dive into her masterful short stories, perfect for quick reads between longer books.
Beyond the Whodunit: Explore something different! You could read her fascinating autobiography to learn about the woman behind the mysteries.
A Taste of Adventure: Choose a book set in one of the countries she visited (like Egypt or Iraq), often tied to her archaeological expeditions with her second husband, Max Mallowan. Or, read a book directly related to archaeology itself, a subject she dearly loved and incorporated into many of her stories.

ATY Listopia https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

What are you reading this week and what is the link? Any good murder ideas?

I am planning to read In the Shadow of Agatha Christie: Classic Crime Fiction by Forgotten Female Writers: 1850-1917 by Leslie S. Klinger

I'm planning Death in a Desert Land and Murder Most Royal. The first has Christie herself in an investigation in Mesopotamia, and the second has the late Queen Elizabeth II as a detective.....

I'm not a big Agatha Christie fan. I've tried several of her books and enjoyed only one of them. So I'm planning to read Graham Greene's Orient Express for this one. If I start it and find I don't enjoy it, I'll switch to one of several archeology titles on my shelves.

I've really liked the Christie books I've read, so I could easily do that, but the book I really would like to get to is Agatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days. Or I might look into the true story behind one of her mysteries, there's apparently quite a few of hers that were based on true stories.

I have one book on my TBR that's a perfect fit for this prompt, The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont, and I'm very happy with that.

I might do one of her novels like Death in the Clouds or The Mystery of the Blue Train. If I'm not in the mood for that, I might do some kind of Doctor Who related book. It totally counts because there was a great Doctor Who episode that involved Agatha Christie. But I like Christie, so I'll probably just do one of those.

Both With a Vengeance and Five Found Dead are mysteries set on trains, and the latter is even set on the Orient Express! (I've read both, so I'll just use whatever Poirot is next in my first-time-reading of them, but for others!)

GailW wrote: "I am planning to read In the Shadow of Agatha Christie: Classic Crime Fiction by Forgotten Female Writers: 1850-1917 by Leslie S. Klinger"

I added this to my TBR.

I've been excited about Marple: Twelve New Mysteries since I heard about it months ago.

It is 12 new mysteries written by well-known mystery writers. Among them are Leigh Bardugo, Elly Griffiths, Lucy Foley, Naomi Alderman, Alyssa Cole, Jean Kwok, Val McDermid, Karen M. McManus, Dreda Say mitchell, Kate Mosse, Ruth Ware, and Natalie Haynes.

I have never read anything by Agatha Christie. Her type of books just don't have an appeal to me, but since you said we can read a book tied to one of the locations she uses, I saw that Egypt was mentioned so that's perfect.

Already had plans to read some books set in Egypt for next year so I've got a nice mix to play with. I already have 3 Egypt-related books on my ATY 52 challenge, so I'll see about finding a 4th this way I don't double-dip.

From the title alone, Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect seems like it would be a fun fit. However, I'd also need to read the first in the series - fortunately there's the series prompt to fit that into.

(Oooh, and I see those two prompts immediately follow each other on the list, which kind of pleases me.)

GailW wrote: "I am planning to read In the Shadow of Agatha Christie: Classic Crime Fiction by Forgotten Female Writers: 1850-1917 by Leslie S. Klinger"

I read that last year and found it really interesting! Obviously not every author was my taste, but there were several that I want to follow up on.

Charlsa wrote: "GailW wrote: "I am planning to read In the Shadow of Agatha Christie: Classic Crime Fiction by Forgotten Female Writers: 1850-1917 by Leslie S. Klinger" .... I added th..."

Great! If at some point during the year you want to do a buddy read on this let me know. I don't have it slated time wise yet.

Jackie wrote: "GailW wrote: "I am planning to read In the Shadow of Agatha Christie: Classic Crime Fiction by Forgotten Female Writers: 1850-1917 ... I read tha..."

Oh, good to know! I've had this on hand for a few years and keep putting it to the back. This prompt was perfect for it, I thought.

I have no interest in reading anything by Agatha Christie, so I've decided to go with the YA mystery/thriller The Agathas in which Alice and Iris use Christie's works to help them solve a mystery.

I am going with her avocation with her husband, archaeology.

You could read this one where Agatha Christie is a character

Laura Z wrote: "I have no interest in reading anything by Agatha Christie, so I've decided to go with the YA mystery/thriller The Agathas in which Alice and Iris use Christie's works to help them s..."

That sounds fun.

GailW wrote: "Charlsa wrote: "GailW wrote: "I am planning to read In the Shadow of Agatha Christie: Classic Crime Fiction by Forgotten Female Writers: 1850-1917 by [author: Leslie S. Klinger|433..."

I'd love to do a buddy read on it. I don't have it slated anywhere, so just let me know when you want to read it.

I've never read Agatha Christie... maybe it's time? Where should I start? 😬 Would love suggestions!

Jenna ✨DNF Queen✨Here, Sometimes... wrote: "I've never read Agatha Christie... maybe it's time? Where should I start? 😬 Would love suggestions!"

A top 5 that I would recommend:
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Death on the Nile
Evil Under the Sun
And Then There Were None
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

There are others that are also excellent, but these I think are good introductions to her style. She has several short story collections and those are also great for sampling her work.

My book group just picked The Murder of Roger Ackroyd for next year, so guess that's what I'm reading

I'm going to read When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors for this prompt.

Misty wrote: "I'm going to read When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors for this prompt."

How does this connect with the Agatha Christie prompt? Just curious as it is not apparent to me.

Bea wrote: "How does this connect with the Agatha Christie prompt? Just curious as it is not apparent to me."

Agatha Christie was, unfortunately, a big racist. I don't want to "celebrate" her. I don't care if people read her stuff. She's dead. She won't be getting any royalties! I have even read a couple of her books. She was a good writer. But, I figured since she was such a racist, I would "celebrate" her by reading an anti-racist book.

Misty wrote: "Bea wrote: "How does this connect with the Agatha Christie prompt? Just curious as it is not apparent to me."

Agatha Christie was, unfortunately, a big racist. I don't want to "celebrate" her. I d..."

Thank you for sharing your reason. I did not know that fact about Agatha Christie, but I am not surprised as my own mother demonstrated that horrible take on life as she got older.

I chose a related topic (archaeology) rather than one of her books.

Bea wrote: "I chose a related topic (archaeology) rather than one of her books."

Nice! Archaeology is fascinating!

I've just finished a book that would be a perfect fit here: Death at the Sanatorium
The main character is trying to solve a series of crimes in Iceland and he gets inspiration from his vast collection of Agatha Christie novels.

@Misty - I love your method of celebrating AC by reading something polar opposite to her. Bravo!

Martha☀ wrote: "I've just finished a book that would be a perfect fit here:Death at the Sanatorium
The main character is trying to solve a series of cr..."

Excellent - I've been reading my way through Ragnar Jónasson's books, so I think I will substitute this for one of my original choices that fitted well, but I wasn't too keen on.

LeahS wrote: "Martha☀ wrote: "I've just finished a book that would be a perfect fit here:Death at the Sanatorium
The main character is trying to solv..."

Having just finished Death at the Sanatorium, I will choose the next in that series: The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer by Ragnar Jónasson. I assume the links to AC will persist.

The Peril at End House by Agatha Christie. A perfect choice would have been The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict, but I already read it in 2025.