Ariadne Oliver has a bad feeling about the murder she's planning.
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Of course, Mrs. Oliver is only killing for charity. As a famous mystery writerAriadne Oliver has a bad feeling about the murder she's planning.
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Of course, Mrs. Oliver is only killing for charity. As a famous mystery writer, she's been asked to plan a fake murder and organize the hunt for clues. But there's just something indefinably wrong with the situation. And when she thinks about it for a second? Hey! I know a guy...
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In typical Mrs. Oliver fashion, she informs Poirot that he needs to immediately pack his bags and head her way whether he wants to or not. And in typical Poirot fashion, his curiosity gets the better of him and he shows up in time to meet everyone involved before all the murdering starts.
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Ok, so as much as I love good old Hastings, Ariadne Oliver is my absolute favorite Poirot sidekick. I think it's because it's almost like a funny version of Agatha Christie interacting with her own character on the page.
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The mystery is pretty decent, too. Disguises, secret histories, blackmail, and scary foreigners! Good stuff.
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In case you were wondering: Dead Man's Folly was an expanded version of Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly, which was published posthumously as a short. There are differences between the two stories, but the reason Christie originally abandoned Greenshore Folly was that it was too long to be in a magazine. So? <--you say Well, the proceeds of the magazine story were supposed to go to her church for renovations. Instead, she ended up writing Greenshaw's Folly - a Miss Marple Short Story and giving the money for that one to the church. You're welcome for this useless bit of trivia.
Merged review:
Ariadne Oliver has a bad feeling about the murder she's planning.
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Of course, Mrs. Oliver is only killing for charity. As a famous mystery writer, she's been asked to plan a fake murder and organize the hunt for clues. But there's just something indefinably wrong with the situation. And when she thinks about it for a second? Hey! I know a guy...
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In typical Mrs. Oliver fashion, she informs Poirot that he needs to immediately pack his bags and head her way whether he wants to or not. And in typical Poirot fashion, his curiosity gets the better of him and he shows up in time to meet everyone involved before all the murdering starts.
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Ok, so as much as I love good old Hastings, Ariadne Oliver is my absolute favorite Poirot sidekick. I think it's because it's almost like a funny version of Agatha Christie interacting with her own character on the page.
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The mystery is pretty decent, too. Disguises, secret histories, blackmail, and scary foreigners! Good stuff.
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In case you were wondering: Dead Man's Folly was an expanded version of Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly, which was published posthumously as a short. There are differences between the two stories, but the reason Christie originally abandoned Greenshore Folly was that it was too long to be in a magazine. So? <--you say Well, the proceeds of the magazine story were supposed to go to her church for renovations. Instead, she ended up writing Greenshaw's Folly - a Miss Marple Short Story and giving the money for that one to the church. You're welcome for this useless bit of trivia....more
Even by fairytale standards, this thing is weird. But fun! The skinny gist is that a haughty waiting maid takes over the life of a princess and threatenEven by fairytale standards, this thing is weird. But fun! The skinny gist is that a haughty waiting maid takes over the life of a princess and threatens to kill her if she tells. And here's how it happens. <--in this version
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A beautiful princess is much loved by her mother, the widowed Queen of Wherever. And she's betrothed to Prince Handsome&Rich who lives a few kingdoms over. As her wedding day approaches, her mom packs her off to get married and gives her a waiting maid to make the journey easier. There's also a fairy who thinks the princess is swell, and gives her a talking horse named Falada, and a lock of her fairy hair to keep her safe. So far, so good.
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But once they're out of sight of the kingdom, the maid gets shitty. The princess gets thirsty and asks the maid to get down off her horse and fetch her some water from a brook, and the maid is all like, Bitch, get your own damn water. So the princess gets down all shaky and (for some reason) is too scared to pull out her golden cup, and gets a drink of water like a peasant. GASP! And when she did this the fairy hair tucked away in ther boobs chanted Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it, Sadly, sadly, would she rue it. This translates into if your momma only knew, girl.
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This happens one more time with the princess asking for to maid to get down and fetch her water, and the maid telling her to fuck off. But the second time, the lock of fairy hair that she's been carrying in her bosom falls out and floats down the river. You know, boobs are great for tucking thing into, but you gotta be careful when you lean down. True story:(view spoiler)[ Not too long ago, I was changing out some light switches in my house, and my flashlight died. So I pulled my shirt off, turned on my phone's flashlight, and stuck it in my bra. I managed to rewire my toggels to rocker switches with the help of redneck ingenuity and old lady tits. Sometimes it helps to think outside the box, ladies. (hide spoiler)]
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Back to the goose girl. The maid saw that chunk of hair floating down the river while it was chanting, Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it, Sadly, sadly, would she blub, blub, blub..., and she pounced! Gimmie your clothes! Gimmie your horse! Hahahahaha! Now I'm you and if you don't keep your mouth shut...
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So. They ride into town and the maid tells everyone that she's the princess. Hellooooo. I'm here to marry your prince. Find some degrading work for my waiting maid and chop off the head of this here horse I'm riding on while you're at it. I mean, you would think that would raise some alarm bells, wouldn't you? Like, hey. I think our prince might be marrying a psycho. But that's not how this story goes. They chop off Falada's head and tack it up on the gates and send the real princess off to tend the geese with a boy named Curdken.
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Curdken. Anyway, he's hanging out with this unnamed princess and notices that as she passes out of the gate, she talks to the horse head that's still hanging off the wall. Falada, Falada, there thou hangest! And the horse answers back. Bride, bride, there thou gangest! Alas! alas! if thy mother knew it, Sadly, sadly, would she rue it. Again. I would think this would be a red flag that not all is right in the world. But this kid shrugs it off like this was just one. more. thing. in an average day.
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Now, I don't get this part. Curdken sees her getting ready to comb her hair, and he gets all excited and tries to touch it. But the princess is like oh, hell no! and hits him with a magic chant. <--she did this without the fairy hair in her tits, btw. Is she magic? Or is this just a princess thing? We may never know. But here's the chant: Blow, breezes, blow! Let Curdken’s hat go! Blow, breezes, blow! Let him after it go! O’er hills, dales, and rocks, Away be is whirl’d, Till the silvery locks Are all comb’d and curl’d!
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Ok. So this happens a few times, and this Curdken gets sick of chasing his hat, and goes to the king to complain that he can't take working with this goose girl anymore. The king makes Curdken tell him what all is the matter, and the kid reports that she and this severed horse head have conversations at the gate, and that she won't let him touch her hair. <--is this a metaphor, or were they just that into hair?
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Doesn't matter, I suppose. The point is that the king decides to follow the goose girl around the next day, and realizes something is up. He corners her, and after a fair amount of waffling on her part, gets her to tell him what happened. Oh, no! I can't say! It's worth my life if I tell anyone! What? Girl, speak up! Why she's so convinced this other girl is going to be able to kill her is never properly explained. It seems to me that she should have just piped up immediately when they entered the gates. I mean, she had a talking horse that could have (until the waiting maid had her decapitated) confirmed her story. And yet. The king has already seen her talk to Falada's head at the gate, seen said head answer her back, watched her do her princess magic on Culken's hat, and gazed upon her apparently overwhelmingly beautiful locks of golden hair. He's primed to believe her. And he does. Well.
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The prince is let in on the secret and is thrilled to find that this gorgeous, meek, patient woman with a head full of fucking a-mazing hair is his true bride. I was like, that's what he took away from this? Best case scenario, he's going to need to enroll his new wife in some assertiveness training courses, or he's going to find her slopping pigs next.
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Now it's time for the big reveal. The king then dresses the princess up in a beautiful gown and takes her to a feast. He sits her on one side of the prince, while the false bride (as she is now referred to) sits on the other side of him. The king proceeds to tell the story of the goose girl. He then casually asks the false bride what she would do to someone who had committed identity theft.
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She does not smell the trap. Completely oblivious to her discovery, she actually says that the pretender should be hauled off and put into a cask that's got spikes driven into it, then tied to horses and dragged through the city till they are dead. Wow. Just...wow. I mean, I feel the better part of wisdom for a con woman would have been to take a soft approach to fraudsters. Say that they should look into the person's past to see if there was any trauma. Perhaps a medical compulsion? Maybe offer to get them some counseling? Personally, I wouldn't have gone straight to spiking criminals if I were in her position. And yet. THE KING PRONOUNCES JUDGMENT! Why, yes. It is death by rolling in a barrel full of pointy nails.
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On a cheerier note, the fairy restores Falada the decapitated horse head back to life, and the prince and princess live happily ever after. The End.
Now, when I looked online, there were different names and slightly different chants and slight variations on the story. But this was the one I listened to and I thought it was cool and wacky. The audio edition I listened to was produced by Dreamscape Media & read by George Newbern....more
The plot was actually rather good, which surprised me as some of the golden age detective fiction can go a littlA very English murder, indeed!
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The plot was actually rather good, which surprised me as some of the golden age detective fiction can go a little off the rails toward the end. This one kept (what I thought was) the right amount of campy spirit needed to make it a cozy mystery, but inserted the right amount of true crime vibe to make the murders seem plausible. And the red herrings were well-done, too! Just enough to throw you off the scent, but still credible when looked back on after you're done.
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The skinny gist is that a dying viscount invites his son, his first cousin (with a bodyguard in tow), and several old family friends to his home for one final Christmas. There is also a historian in residence, working on...history stuff. I don't know, don't judge me. But he's Jewish and a Holocaust survivor, and Hare is actually sensitive to this, which doesn't always come through in books of this era. The ever-faithful butler and his daughter round out the holiday murder mystery.
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The house party, now snowed in, is on edge due to the underlying fractures between the guests. And then one of them drops dead. Of cyanide poisoning.
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As the bodies pile up, more secrets come to light, and the cracks in everyone's alibis start to show. The bodyguard takes on the role of policeman, and the historian takes on the role of foreign-man armchair detective. Between the two of them, can they keep the rest of the party safe until the snow melts? And more importantly, figure out whodunnit?
When the grown Fortescue siblings inherit a house, the two sisters (Cecily and Margaret), their brother (Peter), thHeyer goes full Scooby-Doo!
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When the grown Fortescue siblings inherit a house, the two sisters (Cecily and Margaret), their brother (Peter), their elderly aunt (Mrs. Bosanquet), and Cecily's husband (Charles) all pile in together with their faithful servants Mr. & Mrs. Bowers for a vacation. Even though it's haunted.
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And of course they don't believe the local legends, so it's a surprise when a terrifying apparition known only as The Monk starts showing up to terrorize them.
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This book has everything you need on a rainy day. Mystery, romance, ghosts, misunderstandings, humor, secret panels - even skeletons in the closets. Well, maybe not in the closets, but you get the picture.
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Even the unmasking of the villain at the end took me back to my childhood, watching the OG Scooby show. You know, before those meddling kids ruined it. I think most readers will have long before guessed who it is, but as the police pull the disguise off, the main characters do the GASP! thing to perfection. This was a silly mystery, not a serious thriller, but I had fun listening to it.
Clarissa Mao is onboard. And for me, one of the highlights of this book even though she doesn't play any big role in the overaJames has a plan.
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Clarissa Mao is onboard. And for me, one of the highlights of this book even though she doesn't play any big role in the overall plot.
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Babylon's Ashes deals with the mess Marco Inaros wrought after his terrorist attack pelted Earth with big-ass rocks and destroyed the ecosystem. Yay! The Belters win!
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Except, of course, nobody wins with something like that, and the unintended consequences of the loss of resources and production from Earth are going to have a domino effect across the galaxy...and beyond. The idea that stopping people from going through the gate will save the Belt from becoming obsolete comes with its own set of problems, and as Marco's narcissism and megalomania begin to shine through, one of his inner circle is going to have to decide whether to follow the leader or follow her conscience.
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Speaking of conscience, Philip's character arc is one of the most interesting in the book. He's so damn unlikable and I think that's part of why he intrigues me so much. You want to shake him and hug him at the same time.
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Crisjen Avasarala. She is the main character. I don't care what anyone says.
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I will say the ending of Babylon's Ashes felt like an ending. Almost like you could stop here if you wanted to? It's tidy. Or as tidy as I think you get with something like this. Anyone else? Just me? Highly Recommended....more
If you don't already know, these graphic audio adaptations turn your favorite book (or comic book, in this case) into a play, complete with music and sound effects. They're a lot of fun in general, but this one is particularly well done. Loved it! Recommended....more
I used to think that the "for Dummies" books were dumbed down. Not so. All it means is that they are assumiA great place for anyone who knows nothing.
I used to think that the "for Dummies" books were dumbed down. Not so. All it means is that they are assuming you don't know anything and give you a pretty in-depth overview. That's not to say Amrutur Srinvasan is claiming to explain Hinduism's spiritualism in-depth, but he does cover far more than I was expecting and in such an interesting way. He does give the disclaimer that he is painting with broad strokes and that what he's telling us is not each individual human being's personal experience with Hinduism.
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Now, there were parts of the book that were "lists" that would normally be for a reader's reference, and the narrator just read those out, and those parts were (of course) dull. But overall, this was an excellent experience for me.
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I'm not a seeker in the sense that I'm searching for something to enlighten my soul or some higher purpose. I'm just interested in religion in the general sense. And I've noticed there are a lot of misconceptions about all of the major religions by people who don't practice them. Oddly enough, they all seem to be the same when you boil them down to the core. Be kind, have integrity, the family unit is sacrosanct, a bit of sexism thrown in because that was just how it was done back in the day. The only difference comes down to the care and feeding of whatever God or gods were worshipped. And even then? It's pretty much a straight respect the God/gods or bad things will happen mantra across the board.
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One thing I thought was great was that Hindus don't care if you're a Hindu. They do not come a knockin' on doors to save your soul. Me not having to soldier crawl in front of windows so the {insert religious people here} won't see I'm home and just ignoring their door-to-door sales pitch is a point in their favor.
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I also learned that there are tons and tons of denominations of Hindu. Like every other major religion, Hindus have splintered off and formed different sects. Except! According to this, they don't exactly look at their version as being right and everyone else's as wrong. They're just...different, and that's ok. In fact, other religions are ok, too. He even said they were good with atheists. The point being, as long as you aren't an evil asshole, you're on our own path to enlightenment and that's just fine with them.
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He talked about castes and how that's not "officially" a thing, but still a thing. The sexism thing came up, too. But since Hindus are supposed to ponder and think and rethink, there is the idea that they can change their beliefs over time and reinterpret how they do things without it going against a written-in-stone religious text. Which bodes well for the coming generations of Hindus, since even those written-in-stone religions soften and change with the times.
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He did a "common misconceptions" Q&A toward the end of the book that was very helpful and eye-opening. Things you maybe would feel either silly asking or wonder if it would be rude to ask a practicing Hindu. Although I've found the sort of people who actually do get offended by someone asking genuine questions are few and far between, and quite honestly, those people are going to be offended by something you've done while trying not to be offensive. It's a no-win situation either way. So, just don't worry about it and ask questions because you'll never learn anything if you don't.
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This was an interesting, insightful, and incredibly broad overview of an ancient religion still practiced by millions of people today. I would 100% encourage you to check this out if you're interested in dipping your toes in the water. Recommended....more
A shady solicitor decides to kill his client and friend when it becomes apparent that he's going to get caught with his hand in the cookie jar. His olA shady solicitor decides to kill his client and friend when it becomes apparent that he's going to get caught with his hand in the cookie jar. His old friend wants to get some of his securities out, and unfortunately, there is nothing left due to his mishandling of the funds.
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At their regular game of bridge with friends, he drugs the old man's whiskey. Then, when his friend leaves for his home on a skiff on the Thames, he hops in his own boat and sets off to make it look like the man fell off his boat and drowned. And he would have gotten away with it, if it hadn't been for that pesky Inspector French.
This was "ok". Very short and somewhat forgettable. I read this as part of the short story detective anthology Bodies from the Library....more
All Troot wants to do is drive his children and wife to the seaside for a vacation in his lovely car. To make Sergeant Troot serves some punch.
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All Troot wants to do is drive his children and wife to the seaside for a vacation in his lovely car. To make some extra pocket change, he's agreed to help the wealthy family down the road with their party and ends up topping off the drinks at the punch bowl. Be back by 9, honey! But then - MURDER!
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The best thing about this one was the hangdog vibes that waft off of Sergeant Troot when he realizes he might end up missing his vacation. And yes...he wants justice. But damn it! He wants to wrap this thing up and take his babies to the beach!
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This one pushed me into looking up the (previously unknown to me) author and grabbing the first Inspector Cockrill book, Heads You Lose, from Audible. <--free at the time!
This was planned as a magazine story but was one of several unpublished stories left by Christianna Brand (1907- 1988). I read this as part of the short story detective anthology Bodies from the Library, where it finally got its first publication....more
This is the adapted version of Agatha Christie's Dead Man's Folly, so I won't do another review of the story. I will saEnjoyable dramatization!
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This is the adapted version of Agatha Christie's Dead Man's Folly, so I won't do another review of the story. I will say that John Moffatt & Julia McKenzie do an excellent job as Hercule Poirot and Ariadne Oliver, and the rest of the cast is great, as well.
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If you don't know, dramatized versions of books are shortened into (basically) plays, and include music and sound effects. You aren't getting the full book, but you will get the same story. Because of that, I'd recommend this to people who have already read and loved the book and would like to experience it in a new and different way, and not those who want to experience the "real" Agatha Christie. I would also recommend it to people who are on the fence as to whether or not this is their type of story, and want to give it a shortened test run....more
A fun locked room mystery from the creator of Winnie the Pooh.
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It felt like Milne was writing a mystery spoof at times that poked good-hearted fA fun locked room mystery from the creator of Winnie the Pooh.
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It felt like Milne was writing a mystery spoof at times that poked good-hearted fun at the genre, and it added a layer of fun to the tale. I didn't realize that Milne had written anything other than children's stories until I came across his tasty short story Bread Upon the Waters in the detective anthology Bodies from the Library.
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Amateur actor and patron to the arts, Mark Ablett, is hosting a lavish house party when he announces that he has just received a letter from his wastrel brother in Australia, that he will be arriving the next day. His brother, Robert, arrives, ruffling a few feathers before he is shown into the house. Fast forward a few hours, and a gunshot is heard in the locked study. When the door is finally opened, Robert is found dead, shot through the head. And no Mark in sight. His cousin/assistant is convinced that Mark shot his brother in self-defence and then ran away, but one of the houseguests isn't so sure that things add up that way. dun, dun, dunnnnn.
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In this one, you have an amateur detective in the character of Tony Gillingham, a likable young man who enjoys trying on different hats when it comes to his career. He decides to try his hand at solving this mystery, and wrangles in another houseguest (Bill Beverley) to play Watson to his Holmes. As it is with most of these kinds of stories, the solution to the whodunnit and the villain of the piece's reasons were a tad over the top.
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Really loved the blustery voice of the narrator, William Sutherland, but as someone who has a hard time hearing things occasionally, he had a tendency to mumble into his mustache (or that's what I was imagining, anyway), so I wouldn't recommend this audiobook to someone with hearing problems.
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Overall, a nice way to spend a rainy afternoon. Recommended....more
A bit of romance with the mystery. When a young woman who is down on her luck decides to throw caution to the wind and take a vacation to Monte Carlo, A bit of romance with the mystery. When a young woman who is down on her luck decides to throw caution to the wind and take a vacation to Monte Carlo, she finds more adventure than she bargained for. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.
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On the flip side, a wealthy young man falls for this plucky lady, he pretends to be as poor as she is to win her heart. And in the midst of all this romancing, our mad couple ends up in the middle of some wild spy goings on when the young lady's purse gets mixed up with another.
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I thought this was cute as hell. It had the zippy feel of a young Tommy and Tuppence story and left me with a smile on my face. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I ended up seeking out other stories by the author, and ended up finding The Wintringham Mystery, which turned out to be another great detective story with a bit of romance splashed in it.
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I read this as part of the short story detective anthology Bodies from the Library. I've also found these free on the Bodies from the Library internet archive site....more
No good deed goes unpunished. Or at least, this is the moral our narrator seems to be telling us.
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Marius has his nephew Julain under his thumb. 15No good deed goes unpunished. Or at least, this is the moral our narrator seems to be telling us.
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Marius has his nephew Julain under his thumb. 150,000 £'s worth of thumb. Old Uncle Marius likes keeping his young relative nearby to listen to him prattle on but Julian would much rather be out and about on the town. And yet, old Uncle Marius is only 60. And a healthy 60 to boot! Poor Julian will be an old man himself before he can enjoy any of his inheritance.
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The solution to the problem seems to be that Uncle Marius has to go. But if you're the heir to your uncle's fortune, how the heck do you kill him without it coming right back to you?
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Well, Uncle Marius himself may give the solution. It seems he fancies himself an armchair detective. Yammering on about the plot of whatever crime novel he is currently reading or "solving" the cases he reads about in the paper for Scotland Yard. He's Holmes and Julian is his captive Watson.
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Julian (rather easily) convinces Marius that they should write a detective novel together. Therein his uncle becomes the perfect sounding board as Julian tries out ideas for murdering him. and it isn't long before he hits on a plan. (view spoiler)[Julian needs to commit ONE random murder. Then he'll just need to encourage his busybody uncle to sniff around and poke his nose into it. Let him think he's come up with the solution to the murder, encourage him to call the police and set up an appointment to tell them whodunnit, and then before his uncle can go to the police - bop him on the head and kill him! The police will think he was killed because he knew about the first murder, and not because he was an irritating old fart that had worn out the nerves of his soon-to-be wealthy young nephew.
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You might think that Julian would feel guilty about killing off an innocent person just to give himself an alibi for a second murder. But if you thought that, you would be wrong. After all, serendipity presented him with the perfect first victim. An elderly neighbor with a mysterious past and gobs of money lives right down the road from his uncle. To make matters even better, he had tons of feuding heirs and was constantly threatening to change his will. It was as though it was meant to be. All he had to do was somehow ingratiate himself to Sir George in order to be considered a friend. Someone who could be seen milling about without raising suspicion. Luck further smiled on Julian when he happened upon Sir George after having fallen and twisted his ankle while on a walk. After carrying him home, and promising to come back and play chess with him while he rested, it wasn't long before he and this gentleman were quite chummy. And then he killed him. He may not have been the most careful killer, what with the fingerprints and footprints, but since he wouldn't be a suspect, it wouldn't really matter.
Now it was just down to getting Uncle Marius to sleuthing out the killer. He had almost decided on the vicar or was it the elder brother? Everything was going Julian's way. It would soon be time for Marius to make a phone call to the police, and then...! Unfortunately, the police were already on their way to Uncle Marius' house. It turns out a new will had just been found. Sir George had left all of his money to Julain as thanks for playing chess with an old man. (hide spoiler)] I wish Milne had written more detective stories! I didn't know the author of Winnie the Pooh had a flare for crime, but if this story was anything to go by, he most certainly did.
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I read this as part of the short story detective anthology Bodies from the Library. I've also found these free on the Bodies from the Library internet archive site....more
How did Fred Johnson end up on the side of the OPA? More importantly, why?
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I've been hearing Anderson Station referred to in regard to Fred "The How did Fred Johnson end up on the side of the OPA? More importantly, why?
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I've been hearing Anderson Station referred to in regard to Fred "The Butcher of" for several books now, so it was nice to finally get the story of what happened there. A bit shorter than I was expecting, but it was still all I needed to know about the incident that set Fred on a new path. I do wish it had included a few more details about what happened immediately after this stops, but maybe that will come later on in the series. Or not. I'm satisfied enough with what we get here if it comes to that.
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The skinny gist is that Fred is on the fast track to military stardom on Earth until he does a really good job at putting down a terrorist attack on Anderson Station. Some things don't add up. Until they do. And then he gets kidnapped.
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It's a good story, and any fan of The Expanse books will enjoy it. Recommended....more
