An Affair to Remember: Sparkling Cyanide | 1944

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"Rosemary, that's for remembrance." - Sparkling Cyanide, p. 37

We have heartily enjoyed spending the month of July reading along with our friends @maidensofmurder over on Instagram! Thank you so much again, Maidens, for this opportunity to enjoy Agatha Christie together!

The Sum of It:
Our story begins with a group of party guests somewhat guiltily remembering a dinner they all attended nearly a year before...one that ended rather deadly...

Rosemary Barton and her older husband, George, had invited a group of pals for a night out on the town. Everyone seemed to be having a great time getting their drinking and dancing on, until Rosemary took a sip of her champagne and promptly dropped dead. The whisper going around was that Rosemary was depressed after a bout of the flu, and so she probably decided a nice evening out with her friends and loved ones was the perfect time to kill herself. Husband George and Sister Iris, obvi pretty torn up, accept the suicide theory, especially when Iris finds a letter Rosemary wrote to her on-the-side Mystery Boyfriend, showing that old Rosemary would not be too happy about the idea of said boyfriend breaking things off.

HOWEVER, things take a turn when George receives an anonymous letter suggesting that Rosemary didn't commit suicide, and that one of their dinner guests actually killed her! What better way to get to the bottom of his wife's death than to throw ANOTHER dinner party at the same restaurant with the same dinner guests and set a trap to catch the killer! Things go horribly wrong yet again when at awkward dinner number two, GEORGE drops dead in the exact same manner as Rosemary! #shockedface #didntseethatcoming. Did he know too much? Was he on the right track of the killer? Was he actually the intended victim the first time around!?

Colonel Race is brought on to the scene to try and puzzle out who keeps killing Bartons. Throw into the mix a lot of rigamarole with inheriting large sums of money, a politically power-hungry couple with some serious secrets, a baddie cousin in the Argentine, and a secretary in love with her boss, and you have one delicious #MYSTERY.

The YOA Treatment:
Overall, we enjoyed this book. It's always a bit of a bummer to read an Agatha book without Poirot or Miss Marple, but Colonel Race does a very decent, albeit rather forgettable, job of solving the crime with the help of Iris's boyfriend, Anthony Browne. Both of us were actually (FOR ONCE!) able to spot the culprit early on due to some pretty hefty page time dedicated to a certain character's feelings. Emily was on the right track from the start with motive, although Audrey had a little harder time working it all out.

One interesting note in this book is the way it builds on Agatha's status as a MAJOR ROMANTIC.  So many of the characters are found to be in different stages of falling in love: love at first sight, realizing you loved someone all along, infatuation, pining quietly, etc. Romance often plays some part in Agatha's novels, but this one particularly showcases it in nearly every character. It's understandable why Agatha took time off in her career from writing crime novels to write a short series of romance novels under the name Mary Westmacott.

We discuss more of our #SPOILERS Sparking Cyanide thoughts and feelings over on the @maidensofmurder account, so if you've read this one, be sure to head over and join in!

-A. & E.

Agatha's First Drafts

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The YOA Treatment:
Although we have a bit of a love/hate relationship with short stories (#trueconfessions), we have enjoyed getting to know more about Agatha Christie's writing process by seeing how her sprightly, easy-to-read style and enthralling plots fit into both short story and novel form.  Many times we have seen Agatha almost doing a trial run of plot ideas in a short format, which she then fleshes out into a full-length novel. Some notable examples are "Triangle at Rhodes"/Evil Under the Sun, "The Case of the Caretaker"/Endless Night, and, most pertinent to this month, "Yellow Iris"/Sparkling Cyanide (also known as Remembered Death).

Emily recently read "Yellow Iris" in The Regatta Mystery collection and obvi the inspiration is clear, from the settings to the style of murder to the characters... with one notable exception: NO POIROT IN CYANIDE! Another familiar mystery solver, Colonel Race, who is a friend of Poirot's, gets to be on the case in Sparkling Cyanide, while good ol' Hercule solves the mystery in "Yellow Iris." We aren't sure exactly why Agatha ditched Poirot for the novel version of this whodunnit, but we do know that she found him infuriating and regularly wished she wasn't stuck with him, so maybe she wrote Sparkling Cyanide during one of their tiffs!

We have so enjoyed reading Sparkling Cyanide this month with the Maidens of Murder! Be sure to head over to their Instagram (@maidensofmurder) tomorrow to for a discussion of the book! We'll also be posting our recap here on the blog over the weekend.

Happy reading!

-A. & E.

A Smattering of Sleuths: Three Blind Mice and Other Stories | 1950

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"Snow was piled five feet high, drifting up against the doors and windows. Outside it was still snowing. The world was white, silent, and—in some subtle way—menacing." - Three Blind Mice and Other Stories, p. 24

The Sum of It:
Our read this week is another collection of short stories featuring nearly all of Agatha's sleuths! The book begins with one of Agatha's most notable stories, Three Blind Mice (more on that later!), and then follows Miss Marple up to her old crime-solving tricks in St. Mary Mead in Strange Jest, Tape Measure Murder, The Case of the Perfect Maid, and The Case of the Caretaker. Poirot makes an appearance with The Third Floor Flat, The Adventure of Johnny Waverly, and Four and Twenty Blackbirds. Finally, Mr. Quin and Mr. Satterthwaite work together in The Love Detectives. The collection as a whole is a fun, satisfying read. Like Emily's review of The Regatta Mystery, this is a great collection to read when you want something quick to read while commuting or to read over a period of time when you can't devote a lot of time to an Agatha book. Overall, these stories are quite clever and give a good taste of the personality of each of Agatha's best-known sleuths.

One story in particular deserves a little more attention: Three Blind Mice. Newlyweds Molly and Giles are trying their hand at bed and breakfast-ing by turning their home into a guest house. They happen to open for business right as a massive snowstorm blows through. As their eclectic group of guests begin to arrive, Molly and Giles receive a sobering phone call from the police: a woman has been murdered in London, and her murderer has left an ominous clue of the lyrics to the nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice and the location of a possible second murder: Molly and Giles' guest house! A policeman arrives to investigate via skis (because of excessive snow), but that doesn't stop someone in the house from #MURDERING anyway!

The YOA Treatment:
Three Blind Mice was originally written by Agatha Christie as a radio drama for Queen Mary's 80th birthday (apparently, it was the Queen's particular birthday request! We don't blame her at all!) Agatha then adapted the radio play into the short story in this collection, and then later into a play -- The Mousetrap. Those of you familiar with Agatha have no doubt heard of the record-breaking production The Mousetrap. This play holds the record for the longest running play of all time, and has been seen in London's West End continuously for over 60 years! The play was one of her works that Agatha was most proud of. Part of its success likely stems from Agatha's desire to keep the ending's twist a secret. The short story of Three Blind Mice in this collection was published in the US only and Agatha insisted it not be published in the UK so Mousetrap attendees would be surprised by its solution. Very clever, Agatha! Very clever, indeed.

-A.

Agatha's Sleuths T-Shirt Giveaway!

Hello friends!

Guess what! It's #giveaway time again! This time we are giving away one of our new Agatha's Sleuths t-shirts! 

HOW TO ENTER:

1.) We are doing this giveaway as part of our collaboration with our Agatha pals over at Maidens of Murder, so head on over to Instagram and make sure you're following us (@theyearofagatha) and the Maidens (@maidensofmurder).

2.) Find and like our giveaway post on our Instagram and tag two friends in the comment section to be entered to win!

3.) For an extra entry, also like and tag two friends in the comment section of the post for this giveaway on @maidensofmurder! 

The contest ends at 11:59pm EST on Thursday, July 28th, and we will pick a random winner on Friday, July 29th!

MORE ABOUT THE SHIRT:

If you want to learn more about our t-shirt (and/or buy a couple for some of your Agatha Christie-loving friends!) head over to our Etsy page HERE.

We are so excited for you all to enter!

-A. & E.

When I'm Sixty Four (Hoo!): N or M? | 1941

Image from here

"'Tuppence and I, you see, aren't on those terms. We go into things -- together!' In his mind was that phrase, uttered years ago, at the close of an earlier war. A joint venture... That was what his life with Tuppence had been and would always be -- a Joint Venture..." 

- N or M?, p. 50

The Sum of It:

Agatha goes FULL ON WWII in this book, which reunites us with our favorite secret agent couple, Tommy and Tuppence. The war is well under way, and their grown twins are off doing their bit - Derek in the air and Deborah in the code breaking corps. Tommy and Tuppence want to get involved with the war effort too, but their advanced (we presume middle age) years have rendered them apparently useless to the entire war effort. Tuppence is knitting balaclavas and Tommy is begging for work in war offices. They're both pretty mopey about it, UNTIL Mr. Grant, who works in the Ministry of Requirements (v. Harry Potter) shows up and bluffs about an office job for Tommy. Once Tuppence is out of the room, he tells Tommy it's really a secret mission, like the old days, to try and root out the Fifth Column, aka Britishers who are working against England from inside! The only catch is, Tuppence isn't invited. Tuppence, sensing something afoot, figures out what is what and boy, does Tommy get a surprise when she turns up at his assigned location, a seaside guest house referenced by a dying agent, a place called Sans Souci. 

The dying agent also referenced two key operatives that Intelligence has been trying to catch, male and female agents known by the code names N and M. Tommy (along with Tuppence, once she invites herself) is assigned to try to track them down at Sans Souci, and so they both go about the business of befriending the odd assortment of guests in the hotel, as well as folks in the neighboring mansions. Everyone seems SO unassuming (well, maybe except for the German war refugee Carl von Deinim, but that just feels too obvious to T & T...) yet some among them must be evil secret agents, trying to destroy Great Britain and advance Herr Hitler's work! Both operating in disguise, they sneak and spy and suspect almost everyone before they finally get down to the real culprits. There are some great T & T capers that will keep you on the edge of your seat, and while you might guess one or the other of the culprits, you're sure to be surprised at the end!

The YOA Treatment:

So, we love a good Tommy and Tuppence caper (Emily especially) because there's a lot of excitement and "ack what's gonna happen next??" in these tales #pageturners. These are great spy stories, full of secret agents and hidden identities and double-blind fake outs. This book brings us a slightly older T & T, but their adorable personalities are still there, ready to take risks and get into scrapes for the sake of adventure. 

"You know," said the young man with enthusiasm, "I think you're splendid, simply splendid."

"Cut out the compliments," said Tuppence. "I'm admiring myself a good deal, so there's no need for you to chime in. What exactly is the big idea?"

Tony indicated the mass of crumpled material with a gesture. "That," he said, "is the remains of a parachute." 

"Aha," said Tuppence. Her eyes sparkled.

[P.s. the Tony referenced here is named Antony Marsdon. That name may sound familiar to those of you who've read And Then There Were None, as there was a character in that tale called Antony Marston! They do not seem to be the same person at all, so we have here a case of Agatha recycling a character name, #SorkinStyle!]

Agatha does an interesting job of writing about WWII also, as the second world war that the two characters have been through (as well as the second one she herself has seen), and allowing her characters' age and experience to provide a slightly different view of the war. At one point in discussing how fun their spy work was in the past and how it feels different this time around, the two have the following exchange: 

"It's only that -- this time -- it won't be fun. It's the same in other ways. This is the second War we've been in  -- and we feel quite different about this one." 

"I know -- we see the pity of it and the waste -- and the horror. All the things we were too young to think about before." 

Even though the book was written in 1941, Agatha seemed to have a lot of concern and insight into what was at stake for the Allies when faced with Hitler's Germany. She even gives us a pretty chilling glimpse into some of the pro-Hitler opinions that were drifting around England throughout the war through a couple different characters. One of the main villains even offers this creepy propaganda speech: 

"Our Leader does not intend to conquer this country in the sense that you all think. He aims at creating a new Britain -- a Britain strong in its own power -- ruled over, not by Germans, but by Englishmen. And the best type of Englishmen -- Englishmen with brains and breeding and courage. A brave new world, as Shakespeare puts it...We want to do away with muddle and inefficiency, with bribery and corruption. With self-seeking and money-grubbing...You would be surprised if you knew how many there are in this country, as in others, who have sympathy with and belief in our aims. Among us all we will create a new Europe -- a Europe of peace and progress."

Agatha's own perspective on her second war is likely reflected by Tuppence, now a mother, as she comforts the German refugee staying with them at Sans Souci, after his frustrations at everyone being so awfully angry at him for simply being born in Germany: 

"Naturally we've got to call the other side names. They're doing just the same in Germany. Hundreds of Major Bletchleys -- foaming at the mouth. I hate the Germans myself. 'The Germans,' I say, and feel waves of loathing. But when I think of individual Germans, mothers sitting anxiously waiting for news of their sons, and boys leaving home to fight, and peasants getting in the harvests, and little shopkeepers and some of the nice kindly German people I know, I feel quite different. I know then they are just human beings and that we're all feeling alike. That's the real thing. The other is just the War mask that you put on. It's part of War -- probably a necessary part -- but it's ephemeral." 

It's really interesting to read these words so many years later, and in light of the ongoing tumult, so much of which is based on an ephemeral concept of 'other', all across the world and even here within the United States. Though as with many Tommy and Tuppence stories this is overall a cheery read, it also provides a little food for thought as well. 

- A. & E. 

Which Agatha Book Should You Read First? | A Little Quiz!

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Happy weekend, friends!

We are making our way through N or M? this week, but wanted to share a fun little quiz we made on Buzzfeed to help you decide which Agatha Christie book to read first if you're still new to Christie-land OR give you an idea if you're in the valley of decision about which book to read next!

Follow this link HERE to take our quiz!

Happy quizzing and reading!

-A. & E.

Don't You Know That You're Toxic? | Agatha & Poison

This is an actual photo of Agatha in her WWI nurse outfit from the Agatha Christie Archive! We found it in this really interesting article from The Telegraph about how WWI influenced Agatha and her writing. Give it a read!

It's no secret (certainly not from those of you who've read a few books) that poison is one of Agatha's favorite weapons. She gets pretty creative with it at times, sometimes it's a mysterious tribal potion on the tip of a tiny tiny dart, sometimes it's mixed in with some coffee, and sometimes it's dissolved in a nice champagne cocktail #SparklingCyanide. As a part of our month with the #MaidensofMurder, we wanted to do a post looking into Agatha's interest and expertise in poisons as a murder weapon #ladieschoice #accordingtomostfictionaldetectives

The article we referenced in the photo caption notes that Agatha's work as a WWI nurse was pretty grim stuff, despite her own "stiff upper lip" attitude anytime she writes about it. She experienced quite a bit of grisly wounds and surgeries as she was caring for the soldiers who came through her hospital. As the article points out, despite this firsthand experience, she seems to prefer writing about the "clean method of poisoning." In fact, Agatha's first murder was a poisoning, in The Mysterious Affair at Styles. She got the idea to write a detective story while she was working in the dispensary at her town's wartime hospital. In her own words:

"It was while I was working in the dispensary that I first conceived the idea of writing a detective story. The idea had remained in my mind since [my sister] Madge's earlier challenge--and my present work seemed to offer a favourable opportunity...I began considering what kind of  detective story I could write. Since I was surrounded by poisons, perhaps it was natural that death by poisoning should be the method I selected."

She goes on to explain how terrifying working in the dispensary was at first, and how cautious and nervous she and her fellow amateurs were, but also points out what she learned during that time:

"After working in a hospital with several doctors one realizes how medicine, like everything else in this world, is very much a matter of fashion: that, and the personal idiosyncrasy of every medical practitioner."

This understanding of the idiosyncrasies of medicine and the physicians who prescribe it inspired some of Agatha's craftiest murderers. We certainly know one creepy doctor gave her some material, which she also describes in the autobiography:

"One day, seeking perhaps to impress me, he took from his pocket a dark-coloured lump and showed it to me, saying, "Know what this is?" "No," I said. "It's curare," he said. "Know about curare?" 

I said I had read about it. 

"Interesting stuff," he said, "very interesting. Taken by the mouth it does you no harm at all. Enter the bloodstream, it paralyzes and kills you. It's what they use for arrow poison. Do you know why I carry it in my pocket?"

"No," I said, "I haven't the slightest idea." It seemed to me an extremely foolish thing to do, but I didn't add that.

"Well you know," he said thoughtfully, "it makes me feel powerful." [#terrifiedeyesemoji]

She goes on to talk about how she had often wondered about him after she finished working with him, saying "He struck me, in spite of his cherubic appearance, as possibly rather a dangerous man [#noshit]. His memory remained with me so long that it was still there waiting when I first conceived the idea of my book The Pale Horse--and that must have been, I suppose, nearly fifty years later."

Here's hoping that guy never murdered anybody. But thanks to him, and to Agatha's wartime pharmacy experience, her imagination created a lot of our favorite mysteries, including Sparkling Cyanide, this month's #MaidensofMurder read! Our month of maidening continues next week with a post about the short story that led to Sparkling Cyanide, leading up to our review of the book itself!

- A. & E.

Sunbathers Beware: Evil Under the Sun | 1940

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"It was, Hercule Poirot thought, like watching the needle of a compass. Patrick Redfern was deflected, his feet changed their direction. The needle, do what it will, must obey the law of magnetism and turn to the north. Patrick Redfern's feet brought him to Arlena Stuart."
-Evil Under the Sun, p. 15-16

The Sum of It:
Papa Poirot is on vacation again! But, like usual, he isn't even totally off the detective clock because wherever Poirot is, murder cannot be far behind. Poirot is enjoying a summer holiday on the English coast at a little island resort called The Jolly Roger Hotel (which Agatha goes to great pains to describe as fabulous but it sounds very #Daytona to us...). As always, he is surrounded by a smorgasbord of fellow vacationers, some of whom are quite boisterous and have wild theories about how sunbathing will LITERALLY put hair on your chest (Mrs. Gardner, we're lookin at you) or are constantly bragging about how rich they are (shut it, Mr. Blatt) or are famous and refined fashion designers with exotic perfume (yes ma'am, Rosamund Darnley). The most sensational guest at The Jolly Roger is Arlena Stuart: a gorgeous actress with a reputation for being a home wrecker and a pretty dull husband. Drama starts heating up big time when Arlena and young, handsome, and very married Patrick Redfern get their not-so-subtle flirt on. No stranger to hot mess #lovetriangles, Poirot steers clear of the drama (aside from eavesdropping on their alone time), hoping nothing deadly becomes of all this sexual tension. But sure enough, Patrick Redfern soon stumbles upon his summer fling #MURDERED on a secluded island beach, apparently strangled as she lay sunbathing!

Of course nearly the entire resort population had a death wish on Arlena: there was no love lost between Arlena and her husband Kenneth Marshall and stepdaughter, Linda, Patrick Redfern's timid wife Christine wasn't too thrilled about the hold Arlena had on her husband, and Rosamund Darnley would be very interested in becoming Mrs. Marshall #2…except Kenneth Marshall had no intention of ever divorcing his wife. Evil Under the Sun is a terrific example of straightforwardly enjoyable Agatha Christie: plenty of fun characters, juicy drama, and a solution that isn't necessarily her most clever, yet we dare say keeps you guessing until the last minute! We also highly recommend this as a beach read. Not only will you feel right at home with the waves crashing and sun shining as Agatha describes the pleasures of #beachlife, but this book goes by nice and fast if you have a few hours of uninterrupted time.

The YOA Treatment:
As with many of her books, infidelity plays a big part of Evil Under the Sun not only as a characteristic of arguably the two least likable characters, but also as a possible murder motive. Agatha Christie was sadly well acquainted with the heartache that comes from an adulterous marriage. Agatha's first husband, Archie, left her for another woman early in her writing career and it sent her into an understandable spiral of sadness. As described in her autobiography, Archie was generally super selfish and pretty straightforward about being in love with someone else and even kind of blamed Agatha for making him unhappy because she had to go take care of her sick mother (GOOD GRIEF, ARCHIE).

While Agatha went on to remarry and move past her first husband #TeamMax (who maybe also was a little unfaithful but we don't know that for sure and if it happened it didn't break her heart like Archie did so we're still #TeamMax), you can sense the feeling she puts into writing characters who have a cheating spouse. Christine Redfern's heartache feels very real in Evil Under the Sun as she watches her husband swooning over Arlena, and basically all the other characters have various reasons for disliking Arlena's homewrecking-self, and judging Patrick (although pretty much everyone blames Arlena for being a siren and gives Patrick the #Ulysses-style excuse of being helpless under her gaze #noexcusesforbeingadickguys #lookinatyouArchie). There's even a priest in this book who just goes with "that woman is straight up evil" for her siren-like ways.

Even though Agatha kind of sadly gives cheaters the benefit of the doubt in her autobiography (one of the only times we wanted to be like #LEANIN, girl, don't blame yourself for this!), she uses the behavior as a theme in many of her books, and in this one we hope she got a little satisfaction from giving a cheater their just desserts (disclaimer: no one is saying murder is appropriate retaliation, just sayin').

-A. & E.

We Become Guest #MaidensofMurder | Sparkling Cocktail Recipe (Cyanide Not Included!)

Hello dear readers!

We are SO very excited and honored to be guest Maidens this month with our Instagram friends over at @maidensofmurder! The Maidens have been reading several Agatha Christie books each month, and we are joining them for their July read of Sparkling Cyanide. In honor of this read, we are going to be featuring a Sparkling Cyanide-themed post each Thursday this month and will have our recap of this read on the blog in a few weeks, as well as a discussion of the book over on Instagram.

Though Agatha herself preferred to sip a bit of cream over cocktails, a nice bubbly drink seems like the perfect place to hide a little poison (if you're an Agatha murderer, that is) so in honor of this weapon of choice from our featured July read, we give you a little cocktail recipe to sip as you (hopefully!) read along with the Maidens this month!

(image from Style Me Pretty)

Blackberry Thyme Champagne Cocktail
(recipe from Style Me Pretty Living)

Ingredients:
FOR THE BLACKBERRY SYRUP:
1/3 cup blackberries, plus 8 more for garnish
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
FOR THE COCKTAIL:
1 bottle Prosecco or champagne
FOR THE GARNISH:
4 sprigs of fresh thyme

Instructions:
1. In a small saucepan, bring the blackberries, water, and sugar to a boil. Turn to low and let simmer for 10 minutes. Strain blackberries and let syrup cool.

2. Add 2 tbsp. of syrup to the bottom of 4 glasses. Top with champagne and add in a sprig of thyme and 2 blackberries.

3. Make sure none of your friends are murderers then hand out drinks ;)

Happy sipping and reading!

-A. & E.

He is an Englishman: One, Two, Buckle My Shoe | 1940

Photo from here

"Hercule Poirot remained sipping his chocolate and going over the facts as he had just outlined. He felt satisfied that they were as he had stated them. Within that circle of persons was the hand that had actually done the deed -- no matter whose the inspiration had been. Then his eyebrows shot up as he realized that the list was incomplete. He had left out one name." - One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, p. 89

The Sum of It:
So this one begins in everyone's favorite locale, the dentist's office. Dr. Morel is complaining to his sister that his assistant is out because her aunt had a stroke (#howdareshe) and that he thinks she's lying about it just to go hook up with her boyfriend of whom Dr. Morel does not approve. On this day, Poirot has his regular 6-month dentist appointment and interacts with some other patrons of the establishment as he waits for and then leaves his appointment, including a super scowly but attractive young man (Mr. Raikes), a military man with fabulous mustaches #Poirotmancrush #probably (Colonel Abercrombie), and a shabby, artsy looking lady with fugly buckled shoes (Ms. Mabelle Sainsbury Seale). As Poirot is leaving, this lady knocks one of the buckles off her shoe on a car door and Poirot picks it up for her (while judging her for her totally not chic footwear).

Just a few hours after Poirot goes home, our old pal Inspector Japp comes a'calling for him because Dr. Morel has been shot dead in his office (suicide, maybe?)! The reason Scotland Yard is involved rather than just the local bobbies is that a v. important British banking man, Alistair Blunt, had an appointment shortly before Dr. M was offed, and they're afraid it might have been an attempt on his life. Mr. Blunt, being a bigtime financier and conservative has, depending on who you ask, protected England from the volatile political forces sweeping through other countries by keeping the nation on firm financial footing OR acted as a fuddy-duddy impediment to progress with his old-school conservative financial ideas #feeltheBern.

Anyhow, Poirot is totally convinced Dr. M was murdered, while Japp (typically) takes everything at face value and assumes it is suicide. Poirot digs a bit further because he just doesn't buy it, and something feels weird. A few days later, one of the other folks who visited Dr. Morel's office that day turns up dead at his hotel of apparent novocaine/adrenaline poisoning, and Japp again decides for sure Dr. M killed himself because he realized he had poisoned his patient. Poirot still doesn't buy it. A few days later, Ms. Sainsbury Seale (of the shoe buckles) disappears, causing everyone (probably except Poirot b/c he's ten steps ahead) to wonder if her disappearance is linked to the deaths of the dentist and the other dude, Mr. Amberiotis #THEPLOTTHICKENS. Mr. Blunt, the financier, is v. concerned about the case because everyone is trying to figure out if it actually has to do with people trying to off him, and eventually asks Poirot to do a little investigating, particularly into Sainsbury Seale's disappearance. One of the other patients that day was a former secret agent, and Poirot chats with him frequently about the case, sussing out all the themes of potential political intrigue from the facts of the case. The little web tightens, and secret agents get involved, before eventually Poirot tracks down the real clues and sorts them out from some very red herrings.

The YOA Treatment:
In the US (at least originally), this book was called The Patriotic Murders (which honestly is a better name than One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, IMHO, which sounds kind of juvenile). The Patriotic Murders title also fits with the themes present in the book, which of course are #MURDER and also #PATRIOTISM, as one of the main characters is basically a Gilbert & Sullivan musical always banging on about duty to England. Presumably the title One, Two, Buckle My Shoe was inspired by the shoe buckles on Ms. Sainsbury Seale's fugly shoes, and Agatha carried it through the book, naming various chapters after lines in that little nursery rhyme (if you've seen the Suchet version they take it EVEN FURTHER by allowing creepy children to sing the bloody rhyme throughout the film, making it way creepier than necessary). This one is a pretty straight-up whodunnit for Poirot, who even gets tripped up himself by the clever twists and turns of intrigue as the plot winds along.

I enjoyed this one, and would even place it up there near the top of my list of Poirot books we've read this year, because the plot was intriguing, and it was really interesting how Agatha incorporated some of the political arguments of the day into the mystery. There were also some pretty interesting parallels to today's totally bananas political environment, including this, which must have been relevant in 1940 but could also basically be an opinion piece on the 2016 elections (and #Brexit, sorry European/British friends, at least you don't have Trump?):

"Sweep away the old order! The Tories, the Conservatives, the Diehards, the hardheaded suspicious Business Men, that's the idea. Perhaps these people are right -- I don't know -- but I know one thing -- you've got to have something to put in place of the old order -- something that will work -- not just something that sounds all right."

This was a great book to read in an election year, because the political themes add a fascinating element to the really solid mystery of the story. Without providing too many spoilers, it's difficult to say how, exactly, those play into the story and the solving of the mystery, but I recommend this one to anyone who likes a little politics & government with their fiction.

- E.

Friday Night Murder: A Murder is Announced | 1950

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He said reverently: "She's just the finest detective God ever made. Natural genius cultivated in a suitable soil." 

-Sir Henry Clithering, A Murder is Announced, p. 58

The Sum of It:
Our latest read just happens to be one of my very favorites: A Murder is Announced. Not only does it feature Miss Jane Marple (who I dare say may be my favorite Agatha detective to read! #stillalsolovepoirot #dontworry), but the premise and solution are some of my very favorites.

This postwar story takes place in the small village of Chipping Cleghorn (these town names just get better and better!) on the morning of Friday, October 29th. Everyone is casually opening up their morning papers and reading every bit of it (as one should read the paper), including the section where people are selling their furniture and whatnot, and lo and behold there is a murder announcement:

"A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6:30 p.m. Friends please accept this, the only intimation"

Uh, weird, right? Friends of the mistress of Little Paddocks, one Miss Letitia Blacklock, are a little puzzled by the announcement, but are also 100% planning to show up at 6:30 to see what happens. Stranger still, Miss Blacklock and her household of "scatty" (*frequently used Agatha descriptor*) companion Dora, two cousins Julia and Patrick, lodger Philippa, and dramatic maid Mitzi, are equally puzzled after reading the newspaper, with no-one owning up to placing the announcement. Evening arrives and the neighbors start arriving, pretending like nothing is up and all nonchalantly commenting on how Miss Blacklock has turned on the central heating and has some lovely flowers on display (#chrysanthemums). But the evening turns deadly when the lights suddenly go out, a man demands everyone in the darkened to "stick em up!", shots are fired, and when the dust clears, the group's stranger attacker is found dead in the hallway, presumably having killed himself when the robbery went wrong.

Inspector Craddock appears on the scene to interview each of the bizarre evening's attendees and ends up with conflicting reports, many revealed secrets, and more questions than answers. Who was the rando who ended up dead? Was he trying to kill Miss Blacklock? If he didn't kill himself…then who did? But never fear, Miss Marple enters the mix via her old pal Sir Henry Clithering and makes quick work of this Chipping Cleghorn conundrum.

The YOA Treatment:
It's a bit difficult to talk about what exactly I LOVE about this particular Agatha Christie novel because it would require #spoilers (don't worry - I shan't really give away anything!) What I'm getting at is that the story's solution is built upon a succession of such terrifically placed clues, some of which are typographical (#hint) and therefore so delightfully clever! When I finished reading this book for the first time, I had to go back nearly page by page so search out the breadcrumbs Agatha had left me along the way that I had just completely breezed by.

This was another one of Agatha's personal favorite books, and in the same way of And Then There Were None and Orient Express you can tell the added effort she made with both the story and her characters. You still have the fairly formulaic roles (the gruff army Colonel, the sulking young people, a bumbling companion, etc.) and yet their personalities shine through more than many Agatha books.

All in all, I would highly recommend A Murder is Announced and keeping an eye on your local newspaper - you never know what kind of announcements you'll find!

-A.