Book Review: 4:50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie

Elspeth McGillicuddy sees a murder being committed on a train as it draws up to one she is on. However, when no body is found, the police are inclined to disbelieve her story, as only her imagination. But it just so happens that Elspeth is a friend of Miss Marple’s, and the latter is inclined to believe her friend. Now she has not only to solve the murder, but to prove that one happened in the first place…

This was an enjoyable mystery, but I’d guess it’s not one of Christie’s best (though it’s only the second I’ve read). Although it’s a billed as a Miss Marple book, she plays only an incidental role, being apparently too old to get involved in any proper detective work. Lucy Eylesbarrow, hired by Miss Marple to help out, is however, a good character who I liked a lot. The other characters who were involved in the mystery, were pretty well-drawn-out too, and I liked some of them. The tension was built up well, when it seems as though the murderer could be one of several people; I didn’t want it to be any of them, so it was pretty tense waiting to find out who it would be.

In the end, though, I didn’t find the solution entirely satisfying – in that it seemed to come purely from Miss Marple’s intuition, and I didn’t see how she could really have worked it out. I don’t often guess mystery solutions in advance, but I like to be able to see afterwards how it could have been solved. So all in all, this was not a huge success, but I am sure I will be reading more by Agatha Christie in the future. The two books I have read so far have both been Miss Marple books, so perhaps I will try one of her other series next.

Book Review: The Bookseller's Tale by Ann Swinfen

Summary

The Bookseller's Tale is the first in a series of mysteries set in 14th-century Oxford. The book takes place a few years after the population has been decimated by the Black Death, the effects of which are still widely felt. Nicholas Elyot, the main character, is a bookseller who lost his wife to the plague. One day he finds the body of a student in the River Cherwell, and discovers that his death was not due to natural causes. The town authorities don't seem to have any interest in investigating the murder, but Nicholas and his friend Jordain Brinkylsworth, a member of the university, feel they owe it to the victim to find out.

 

Thoughts 

One of the big things I liked about this book was the historical detail - we find out quite a bit about medieval Oxford, the university, and particularly about Nicholas' work as a bookseller, which I found really interesting. Some readers might not enjoy these details as they mean there is a little less focus on the mystery, but I think they seemed to fit naturally into the story. I also enjoyed the scenes of domestic life, and how the effects of the Black Death were explored; for example, the characters feel that since "the Death", people are more immune to suffering and thus less willing to help others. I'm not sure whether this would have been the case but it's not something I'd thought about before, so it's interesting to consider.

 

As for the mystery, I thought it was good. Perhaps not surprisingly, books play a significant role, and it was one of those mysteries where there are various clues which don't make sense and have to be pieced together. There were a few twists along the way, which I didn't see coming (though perhaps others might).

 

The one thing I thought could have been improved on the characterisation. The main characters were all likeable enough, but they seemed a bit flat and forgettable; none of them exactly leapt off the page. Still, there were enough interesting things about this to keep me reading, and I'm hoping the characters might develop more in later books.
 

All in all, I thought this was a good read, and I'm looking forward to continuing with the series. (There are four books at present, and hopefully more to come.) I might also check out some of the author's other books, as most of them also sound interesting. If you enjoy mysteries, and/or have an interest in history or the Middle Ages, then I'd definitely suggest checking this out.

 

At time of posting, this is currently discounted to 99p/$1.29 on Kindle.

Top Ten Tuesday: Mystery Recommendations

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Today's theme is Ten Book Recommendations for ______. Since I've been reading a lot of mystery/detective books lately, I thought it would be a good idea to make a list of mystery recommendations. Then I realised I already made a similar list last September ... however, I've read quite a few new ones since then and I think this list is different enough for it to be worthwhile. So, here are ten books I recommend to people who like mysteries (especially of the classic or historical variety.

A Man of Some Repute by Elizabeth Edmondson (mini review)

This is one I've read recently. Set in a small town in 1950s England, featuring a mysterious death which occurred seven years earlier.

One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters

This is the second in Ellis Peters' Cadfael series, and one of the best that I've read so far, although I'd recommend the series as a whole.

Arsenic for Tea by Robin Stevens

The second in Robin Stevens' series featuring schoolgirl detectives in 1930s England. I enjoyed this a lot more than the first book in the series and it can be read as a standalone. The characterisation in this book is really well done, and probably stands out more than the mystery (which is also good, but not spectacular).

Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers (review)

The first in Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey series, which I've been slowly enjoying my way through. This is one of the shorter books in the series (some are quite long) so it's definitely a good place to start, though for the most part it isn't necessary to read the books in order.

A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie

Shockingly, this is the only Agatha Christie book I've read to date (I really need to get on that!). It was very good though. Do I need to say any more?

The Draycott Murder Mystery by Molly Thynne

A lesser-known murder mystery from the 1920s, which has recently been republished by Dean Street Press. This was a good mystery and despite it being a standalone novel rather than a series, I found that the characters were very compelling too.

Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay

Set in a women's college in 1930s Oxford; in fact it was published the same year as Dorothy Sayers' Gaudy Night, with the same setting. This is a much more lighthearted book though, with a fair bit of humour as well as good characters and a strong mystery aspect.

The Good Knight by Sarah Woodbury

The first in a mystery series set in medieval Wales. This was a Kindle freebie and I didn't really know what to expect, but I enjoyed it a surprising amount, despite some flaws.

The Matters at Mansfield by Carrie Bebris

Set several years on from Pride & Prejudice, Darcy and Elizabeth have taken up mystery-solving as a hobby. This is actually one of the better Jane Austen sequels I've read, the dialogue felt reasonably authentic (at least it's not jarringly modern) and the mystery is a good story in its own right. This book also features characters from Mansfield Park.

The Thieves of Ostia by Caroline Lawrence

Featuring four young detectives in Ancient Rome, this is the first in a series of seventeen books (which was one of my favourite series in years gone by). It now has a spin-off series, The Roman Quests, which is very good. (Possibly even better than the original series.)

Mini-Reviews #5: The Selchester Mysteries

I've recently enjoyed three books from the Selchester Mysteries series by Elizabeth Edmondson, so I thought I'd combine my reviews into one post. These are a series of mysteries set in 1950s England, featuring a castle, a cast of eccentric characters, a few puzzling murders, and some Cold War intrigue. I found them very enjoyable.

  

 

A Man of Some Repute

 

This was a good book, although not outstanding. The mystery aspect was very intriguing, and well done, and there was at least one twist that took me by surprise. The writing was good enough; there were no bits that stood out particularly, but it wasn't bad.

It took me a while to get invested in the characters; I think because the author had two many points of view, and would often move slightly away from the main characters to have a little bit from the viewpoint of another, more minor character. I guess this was partly to show how characters were seen by other people, but I wish she had stuck to just Hugo and Freya, so that we could get to know them quicker. However, by the end of the story I realised that I actually had become quite attached to the characters and location, and wanted more! This was probably just as well, as the story ends on rather a cliffhanger (although the main mystery is resolved, it's clear that there's a lot more to find out).

 

A Youthful Indiscretion

 

This was a quick read, only 60 pages long. I enjoyed it, although it definitely felt like it was just a bridge between two books rather than a story in its own right. It follows on from the cliffhanger at the end of A Man of Some Repute, but also introduces several new plot elements, such as a new colleague for Hugo, that are seemingly unrelated to this and not really developed in this book. Presumably they will be important later.

The ending was not very satisfying; the main plot thread is only partially resolved, and there are still many questions to be answered.

A Question of Inheritance

 

This book carries on pretty much where the last one left off. It takes a pretty long time to get to the main mystery, with lots of details of the characters' lives, and events which later turn out to be important. I found it harder to keep track of the plot in this book; I'm not sure if this is because it was more complex or just because there are a number of things which don't seem very important at the time but become significant later, and I wasn't paying enough attention to remember them. However, I still enjoyed the book a lot. Fortunately, this one doesn't end on a cliffhanger, although there are still some (rather important) loose ends that need tying up. The next book in the series will presumably do that.

 

Sadly, the author died before finishing the next book in the series, A Matter of Loyalty, but it has been completed by her son and is being released in October. This is the last one, so hopefully it will clear up all the remaining plotlines. I'm hoping it will be just as good as the previous books in the series, although I'll be sad to leave these characters behind.

Both A Man of Some Repute and A Question of Inheritance are currently 99p on Kindle (at time of posting), so if you are interested in this series now is probably a good time to look into it :)

Book Review: Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers

 

This is the first in Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey mystery series, but the second that I have read. Gaudy Night was really good but, since many people consider it the best in the series, I was worried that this book wouldn't live up to it; especially as GN focuses mostly on Harriet Vane, who doesn't appear in this book, and I wasn't sure I would enjoy this as much with only Peter. I needn't have worried though; although this isn't quite as good, it's definitely still very enjoyable.

The mystery itself was interesting; it begins with the rather bizarre circumstance of a man discovering a dead body in his bath, with no idea who it is or how it got there. Naturally this is rather intriguing to Lord Peter, who decides to investigate, working with a friend in the police. There are quite a few twists and turns along the way to the conclusion (which I guessed just after Lord Peter had solved it, but before he revealed the solution), which is certainly original. Some aspects were a little gruesome but this wasn't overdone.

Another aspect of the book that I really liked was the characters, who I look forward to getting to know better in later books; it was good to see more of Peter himself in this book, along with his devoted servant/sidekick Bunter, and his mother, the Dowager Duchess of Denver, who are all great characters. It was also just a fairly entertaining read all round. I especially enjoyed the occasional references to detective novels; there are a few times when characters say things like "if we were in a detective novel this would happen, but obviously this is real life," which I found quite entertaining.

There are a few offensive comments made by characters in the book, particularly with regards to Jewish people, which has caused some controversy; although the impression I got was that these reflected the views of the characters saying them (and of many people at the time the book was written), and are not necessarily those of the author. Other than that, I can't think of many things I didn't like about this book.

Overall, this was a great book, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Book Review: Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers

This is the first of Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey books that I've read. Although Peter is the series' main character, it takes him a while to appear in this book - the main character is Harriet Vane, a friend of his who has been involved in some of his previous cases, who is called back to her (fictional) old Oxford college, Shrewsbury, to investigate a series of unusual occurrences, including anonymous letters sent to residents of the college and other unsavoury happenings.

I enjoyed the mystery itself; it was unusual (in not being a murder mystery, or a straightforward crime), and I definitely didn't see the ending coming - looking back, there were some clues, so it might have been possible to have had a guess at the culprit, but I obviously wasn't paying enough attention.

I also liked the characters a lot and the development of Harriet's and Peter's relationship was really well done - although this book does rely on some backstory in the previous novels I was able to pick up enough of what had happened to understand what was going on, although I may have missed some details - it would probably be better to have read the previous books in which Harriet appears in first (which I do intend to do). The secondary characters I felt were also very well drawn; although I did find it hard at times to keep track of who was who - since most of the characters are just referred to as Miss X, it was hard to remember who they all were. But most of them were interesting and felt real.

From a historical viewpoint, it was interesting to get a glimpse of what university life was like for women at that time and what has (and hasn't) changed. By this time the idea of women going to university was accepted by most people (in England they started going in the late 1800s, and were first allowed to get degrees in 1920), but the students and staff at the college still have to face sexism and disapproval from a significant number of people, and preserving the reputation of the college is very important - because if the college is made to look bad then it reflects on women's education in general. This is of course important in the story as it is why the events going on are so dangerous for the college, and why they ask Harriet to investigate, not wanting to attract outside attention by applying to professional detectives or the police.

One thing I did find, is that this was a book that you have to pay attention to - it's quite dense, and some of the characters (especially Peter and Harriet) tend to have a habit of speaking in metaphors and saying one thing when they mean another. So you have to pay attention to work out what they actually are saying. There also occasionally say things in Latin (fortunately there is a helpful translation guide here).

 

All in all, reading this book was a very enjoyable experience, although it was more a book for reading slowly and taking time over rather than a suspenseful quick read. It's definitely a book I will be reading again; there are certainly a lot of subtleties and allusions that I missed the first time, and I suspect it is one of those books that you have to read several times to fully appreciate. I will of course also be checking out the rest of the series (most of which are much shorter than this one).

 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Ten All-Time Favourite Mystery Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's theme is Ten Favourite X Genre Books. I've decided to go with mysteries - a genre I neglected for quite a long time but have recently been reading quite a lot of.

(Books are listed in no particular order. Where I've read several books in a series, I've just listed my favourite of the ones I've read, as I've been reading some of them out of order.)

 

(Covers link to Goodreads.)

The Bard's Daughter by Sarah Woodbury

 

The Matters at Mansfield, or, The Crawford Affair by Carrie Bebris

 

Monks-Hood by Ellis Peters

 

Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers

 

A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie

 

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey

 

The Innocence of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton

 

Dead Man's Cove by Lauren St. John

 

The Roman Mysteries series by Caroline Lawrence

 

The Silver Pigs by Lindsay Davis

 

Honourable mention: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley; I didn't enjoy this as much as the other books listed but it was still quite enjoyable.

Feel free to leave a comment, and link to your TTT post if you've participated!

Book Review: The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

 

This was my Classics Club Spin book, which I was a few days late in finishing.

I’m not quite sure what to say about this book. I didn’t have very strong feelings about it either way – I enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it, and it’s such a well-known story that I’m sure everything I could say about it has been said before many times.

I found the story itself to be very compelling; there were certainly enough twists and turns to keep the story interesting. I didn’t guess the solution until fairly near the end (and then only partially). The writing style was very straightforward, conveying just enough information to tell the story and build atmosphere, without giving any unnecessary details; which is in keeping with Watson’s character who is the narrator of the story. This is different to many other books that I have read, which I found quite refreshing. It’s pretty short too (despite the amount of time it took me to read it).

I don’t think there was anything in particular that I disliked about it, I think it just wasn’t as much to my taste as some other books. I definitely enjoyed it more than The Sign of Four, which is the only other Sherlock Holmes book that I’ve read to date, although I plan to read the rest of them sometime, maybe soon (I have an edition of the complete short stories sitting on my shelf).

So overall, I thought this was good and I would probably recommend it, especially if you are a fan of mystery/detective novels.

Book Reviews: The Uninvited Guest and The Bard's Daughter by Sarah Woodbury

I read the first book in Sarah Woodbury's Gareth and Gwen Medieval Mysteries series, The Good Knight, last summer; I was a little apprehensive about it because I got it as a free Kindle download (it's still free now, if you want to check it out) but I was pleasantly surprised: I actually really enjoyed it! It took me a while to get around to reading some more of the series, but I'm glad I did, and I'm now looking forward to reading book three sometime in the (hopefully) near future. These are my reviews of book two, The Uninvited Guest, and the series prequel, The Bard's Daughter.

The Uninvited Guest

Summary (from front of book): It is the winter of 1143 and all is not well in the court of Owain, King of  Gwynedd in North Wales. His future in-laws are untrustworthy, the Norman lords on his eastern border are restless, and among his wedding guests lurks a cold-blooded killer. Gareth and Gwen have marriage plans of their own, but their love will have to wait while the pair race to separate truth from lies, friends from foes, and unravel the mystery before King Owain—and his new bride—fall victim to their uninvited guest.

I enjoyed this book; not as much as the first book in the series, but still it was good. The main attraction of this series is the characters - I love Gwen and Gareth and Hywel - and the stories in both this and the first book were quite interesting and exciting, although they tend to be more adventure-type stories than mysteries - lots of time spent trying to chase and/or get away from the bad guys rather than following clues and trying to deduce the culprit  (although there is some of that too, but the mysteries mostly seem to get solved mainly by accident). Another issue I had with this book, probably more than with the first, is with the writing - the dialogue sometimes feels a bit too modern and it is a bit awkward in places. I'm also not sure about how quickly Gwen is accepted as a detective by most of the people around her - I'm not sure most people in the Middle Ages would have been happy about a woman doing that sort of thing. But on the other hand, I do really enjoy this series and just try not to let those things bother me, because it is worth it for all the good bits. I'm definitely planning to continue with the series, although I have so many books to read currently that I'm not sure when I'll actually get round to reading the next one.

Overall rating: 7.5 out of 10

The Bard's Daughter

Summary: When Gwen's father is accused of murder, she can't believe that he is guilty. But since all the evidence seems to point to him, everyone else seems to take it for granted that he was the murderer, and so it is up to Gwen to prove his innocence by finding the true culprit, before time runs out.

Despite its short length, I think I enjoyed this book more than either of the two books I have read in the main series, although I did miss Gareth and Hywel being in it. But this book seemed to focus more on the actual mystery than the other two books, which was nice, and I liked Gwen's story and her development throughout the book - it was nice to get to know her better.

I feel like this would probably be better read before the main series, although it was written later than the first two books - not that reading the other books first diminished my enjoyment of this one, but I felt when reading The Good Knight that I was missing some things which had happened previously which were talked about but not fully developed. It certainly isn't necessary to read this first, but I would recommend doing so.

Overall rating: 8 out of 10