Three Act Tragedy

Hercule Poirot strikes again!

And, yet again, there's barely enough for you (the reader) to make more than a mere guess at who's the culprit.
But that's expected with a Hercule Poirot/Agatha Christie novel, and it doesn't take away from the fun here.

Hercule Poirot is one of 12 guests invited to a party. As luck would have it, one of the guests gets suddenly ill and dies. The host of the party thinks murder, no one else does. Life goes on... it's considered natural causes, the host moves away from the house and everyone returns to their daily life. Then, a while later, one more of the guests dies by a similar manner... at a party in which many of the same guests as the first party were present (this time, the deceased man was hosting the party). The police have clued in on the butler, AWOL since the morning after the death.

The host of the first party, 2 others that were at the first party (one of whom was at the 2nd) and eventually Hercule Poirot (indirectly asked by one of the 2 guests) get together to solve the 2 murders (and a 3rd one that happens later) and prevent more damage from happening.

A nice read.

Dumb Witness

Yep, another Hercule Poirot mystery (in case it can't be told, I love them).

Hercule gets a letter from a woman dated 2 months prior, asking for his help because things don't feel right. She had recently taken a fall, and grown suspicious of her nieces/nephew. That had also lead to a change in the will...

Hercule & Captain Hastings go to investigate, learning that she had passed away over a month ago. Her will had caused a lot of troubles... as she had given nothing to her family and everything to the lady that lived with her. The family was considering going to court over the will.

Hercule, as always, wants to know what happened once he gets involved. Was she killed? Everyone had a motive... they needed money.

There's the niece who married a Greek guy, and wanted money so that she could send her kids to a nice school in England. There was her husband, a doctor that had quickly burnt through all the money she had gotten from her parents.

There's the other niece, who always wants the best of everything and has run through most of the money she got. She's in love with a guy who needs money to start up his own practice.

There's the nephew, who was the first to ask her (the now dead woman) for money, and who (she suspected) had already stolen some money from her.

Others close by included the lady she lived with (who had nothing to gain from the 1st will), the servant & cook and the doctor that was treating her.

Hercule was quickly on the case. Who tried to kill her with the fall? Had her death been natural, or was their even more foul play? And as is always the worry... will there be more deaths?

I much preferred this to Five Little Pigs, even though again, there's very little to help you try & figure it out. Like Five Little Pigs, it's mostly just Q&A; very little of the action or the questioning of many people (only 6 or so here). Maybe my expectations are too high... hoping for another classic like The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd... something that I'm not likely to find.

Five Little Pigs

Another Agatha Christie mystery starring Hercule Poirot. (Only 2 more to go before I run out of books to read for the time being.)

A bit of a different attempt though... the daughter of a woman accused of murdering her husband (the daughter's father) comes to Poirot with a letter written by the mother proclaiming her innocence. She asks for Poirot's help. The kicker? The murder happened 16 years ago, and the mother was found guilty. She died in jail a year later. More than anything, the daughter wants to know what really happened, as she wants to get married and this is hanging over her head.

Hercule has to do some digging... there are 5 friends/family that were present at the time then. Do they remember it clearly? Is there enough left to change the verdict, even if the accused is dead?

I must admit, I'm not as big a fan of this book as I have been of most of hers. Not quite sure why. Part of it, I'm guessing, is because there is a lot less action in this book... most of it is people trying to remember 16 years back, and there's a bit of 'narrative' from all 5 of the survivors that kinda drags.

Color me unimpressed. And what's with the title... why pigs? The 'pig' thing seems abandoned after the 1st or 2nd chapter.

After The Funeral

Yep, another Agatha Christie book. Only 3 more left before my next library trip.

The head of a household dies, and the remaining family shows up for the funeral. After it's over, they sit & chat, at which point his sister Cora mentions "But he was murdered, wasn't he?". It's a suggestion that is quickly disregarded because Cora has a tendency to babble. But it can't be forgotten by everyone...

And just like that, it takes off. The next day, Cora is founded murdered in a gruesome death. A bit later, Cora's housekeeper is poisoned. And it builds up. Everyone seems to be a suspect... the nieces & their husbands, the nephew, the sister-in-laws, the butler... pretty much everyone there.

And the lawyer turns to... who else but Hercule Poirot to help him overcome his questions as to whether or not the head of the household (the lawyer's friend) died of natural causes or was murdered. And what is the connection between that death and the murder of Cora?

Another solid mystery by Agatha Christie. Well worth the read (as is every Hercule Poirot mystery).

The Big Four

It had been a while, so I decided to give Agatha Christie another run. I picked up a couple of books from the library, including The Big Four. Which, after reading, I've come to the conclusion I read before... probably during the high school years, when I first fell in love with her Hercule Poirot novels to the point of reading a ton of them. Oh well, good book (aren't they all?) so no real worries.

Hercule Poirot & Captain Hastings are visited by a seeming lunatic who mentions things about "the Big Four" before dying. And that plunges Poirot & Hastings into a crazy case as they try to find out what exactly is going on while constantly being on the run trying to figure out who can be trusted and who can't.

Not the best Agatha Christie book out there (still haven't found one that can beat The Murder of Roger Ackroyd), but still solid and a nice quick read.

Jinxes, And I Need A Book To Read

Do jinxes really exist?

Doubtful, but might as well try, no?
It's been a big issue on Jazz blogs late, as they continue to implode and we (fans) continue to try to drown out the jinxes (like Siler... maybe Luhm, don't remember) from the SL Trib mentioning that the Jazz would finish undefeated at home with no problem. Um... JINX alert!

Anyhow, at work, someone (no worries, I won't mention names Amanda) decided to put up APRIL (was there an exclamation point?) on the thing behind the front (employee service) desk. I mentioned that she should put up snow flakes (to try and jinx the snowfall)... instead, we got raindrops. And guess what? That's right... snow expected Friday. (After snowing today as well.) Can I blame her for jinxing the rain away? (I kid, I kid...)

Totally unrelated... I haven't been read anything but anatomy & physiology in the last bit, and that seems like it could continue (MCAT books expected in soon). I really need a good book. Haven't been in the library for a while, so I'm still waiting for a chance to overload on Agatha Christie books. John Grisham just released a book, it'll be a while before he gets a new one out. Michael Crichton (RIP dude) was working on a book... I wonder if it'll be released soon.

I need a book to read. I considered picking up Angels & Demons (love it!) or the likes, but I'd like to try something new (in the sense that I've never read it before). Of course, if all else fails, I could just go back to Moneyball or The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

Books

1. Do you prefer to read hardcover or paperback books?
I'm indifferent really... most of the books I get end up being paperback though.


2. Do you have a favorite place to read in your home?
Again, indifferent. Most of the time, I'm on my bed though.


3. Do you have a favorite place to read away from, or outside of, your home?
Not so much a favorite, but I do a lot reading on the bus.


4. Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?
Not normally.


5. Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
Nope, I don't do it. It just sounds wrong and stupid and destructive (not always bad, but in this case, it is).


6. How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
If I own it, I use a bookmark (actual or just something close by). If nothing's close by, I'll go find something. If it's a library book, I'm more likely to use dog-ears if I can't find anything.


7. Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?
Either or. I used to prefer fiction, though recently I've been reading a bit more nonfiction.


8. Hardcopy or audiobooks?
Hardcopy. Never tried audiobooks.


9. Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point?
If I really need to put it down, I do. Otherwise, I'll read to the end of a chapter (or the book) before putting it down.


10. If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away? Write it down to look it up later? Just try to infer what it means from the rest of the sentence, and keep going?
Just infer it from the sentence.


11. What are you currently reading?
Sadly, nothing but textbooks. Need to go get a couple Agatha Christie books though. Or maybe Who Killed Roger Ackroyd? or something. Maybe another Dave Berry book.


12. What is the last book you bought?
Other than a MCAT practice book? Um... it's been a while. Moneyball by Michael Lewis maybe?


13. What is your all time favorite book?
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Moneyball is a close second. Oh, and Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton. I like a ton of books...


14. Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can read more than one at a time?
Can I assume we're not including textbooks? I can read a couple at a time if I really want, but normally I try to get through one at a time.


15. Do you like re-reading books?
Most definitely!