Partners In Crime: “Mrs. Thomas Beresford shifted her position on the divan and looked gloomily out of the window of the flat.”
Detective: Tommy and Tuppence Beresford
Published: 1929 (Christie’s 12th published book)
Length: 277 pages
Setting: The International Detective Agency, 118 Haleham St. W.C.
The Seven Dials Mystery: “That amiable youth, Jimmy Thesiger, came racing down the big staircase at Chimneys two steps at a time.”
Detective: Superintendent Battle, Lady Eileen Brent (Bundle)
Published: January 24, 1929 (10th published book)
Length: 282 pages
Setting: Chimneys, London
The Big Four: “I have met people who enjoy a channel crossing; men who can sit calmly in their deck chairs and, on arrival, wait until the boat is moored, then gather their belongings together without fuss and disembark.”
Detective: Hercule Poirot
Published: January 1927
Length: 282 pages
Setting: London, Southampton, Devon, Surrey, Paris, Hatton Chase (fictional), Worcestershire, Belgium, South Tyrol (Italy)
Returning from Argentina after an 18-month absence, Hasting finds his old friend, Detective Hercule Poirot ready to depart for South American himself. He has been summoned by a client, Abe Ryland, who is a powerful man and in urgent need of his services. But when Poirot finds a dishevelled, emaciated man in his bedroom with no clue as to how he got there, his departure is delayed. As the man mutters Poirot’s name, while writing the number 4, Hastings speculates on a crime syndicate named The Big Four, whereupon the man reveals the possible players:
The Man in the Queue: “It was between seven and eight o’clock on a March evening and all over London the bars were being drawn back from pit and gallery doors.”
Ah, finally I managed to find some time to read a Josephine Tey novel!! I’ve been seeing so many reviews of her novels on other book blogs and hearing so many good things about her writing that I was keen to experience it myself. Initially, I’d planned to start with her lauded Daughter of Time but instead decided to begin with her first novel, The Man in the Queue.
The Thirty-Nine Steps: “I returned from the City about three o’clock on that May afternoon, pretty well disgusted with life.”
Richard Hannay is bored. Dead bored. Returning from mining exploits in South Africa to idyllic England, he expected to be charmed by life in the busy and dynamic city of London. Perplexed at how to inject a dose of adventure back into his life, one evening he discovers a man on his doorstep in Portland Place, a man who relates a fantastic tale of espionage, murder and the possible political destabilization of not only England, but Europe as well.
Detective: Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard
Published: 1925 (6th published book)
Length: 314 pages
Setting: Bulawayo Zimbabwe, London, Chimneys
Written at: during a trip to South Africa, etc.
Well, what an extraordinary silly book!! I must say I’ve been somewhat taken aback by the early works of Agatha Christie. Being so used to Poirot and Miss Marple, I thought those types of mysteries comprised the majority of her works, but obviously during her earlier career she set sail on a different course and the focus on her two famous sleuths came later. Who knew?
Heroine: Ann Beddingfeld
Published: 1924 (5th published book)
Length: 381 pages
Setting: Marlow, London, Southampton, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Bulawayo, island in the Zambezi
Written at: during a trip to South Africa, etc.
The Man in the Brown Suit was Agatha Christie’s fifth novel published by Bodley Head, her contract of six books almost satisfied. With it, she deviated from a pure detective novel, bleeding into the genre of a thriller which pleased some critics and dismayed others. Some bawled for the return of Hercule Poirot while others admired her entertaining execution. Personally, I thought the story was delightful, a page turner from beginning to end.
Fresh from my first three Christie reads of A Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Secret Adversary and Murder on the Links, I then delved into a compilation of Poirot short stories called, Poirot investigates. These stories comprise Christie’s fourth published book, published in March 1924.
I must say, after my disappointment with Murder on the Links, Christie has returned to her fine form. Most of the short mysteries have a tight plot (probably necessary for a short story) and a well-crafted riddle. While Poirot’s little grey cells are in fine form, Hastings is his annoying self but at a level that is acceptable and even amusing in certain circumstances. The stories run as follows:
Murder on the Links: “It was 2 p.m. on the afternoon of May 7th, 1915.”
Detective: Hercule Poirot
Published: 1923 (Christie’s 3rd published book)
Length: 272 pages
Setting: Merlinville-sur-Mer, France (fictional)
This is Agatha Christie’s third published novel after The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Secret Adversary, and her second one featuring the astute Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. Quite honestly, this novel falls far short of her initial two attempts, her adept plotting of a mystery surprisingly lacking as the murder and motive is revealed in a rather bumbling fashion. But for now, let’s look at the plot.
The Secret Adversary: “It was 2 p.m. on the afternoon of May 7th, 1915.”
Detectives: Tommy Beresford & Prudence “Tuppence” Cowley
Published: 1922 (Christie’s 2nd published book)
Length: 308 pages
Setting: London; Bournemouth; Holyhead, Wales; Kent
Tommy Beresford and Tuppence Cowley are childhood chums who meet up after the war. Tuppence, the daughter of a clergyman, wishes to spread her independent wings and Tommy, demobilized after the war, is looking for a new direction in life. As neither is flush with money, they put their entrepreneurial brains together and decide to launch The Young Adventurers, Ltd. Overhearing them, a man named Whittington follows Tuppence and claims he’s interested in her services. Immediately wary, Tuppence gives her name as Jane Finn, the assumed name which she’d heard earlier from Tommy. The appellation causes Whittington to react nearly apoplectically and the following investigation sends them on a whirlwind of adventure from which they are unsure if they’ll return alive!
The Ritz London ~ source Wikimedia Commons