Short Story Honesty & The Occult: Double Sin + The Golden Ball | 1961 & 1971

(image from here) (image from here) "Suddenly the child stirred. His eyes opened. He looked past his mother towards the open door. He tried to speak and she bent down to catch the half-breathed words. 'All right, I'm comin,' he whispered, then sank back. The mother felt suddenly terrified; she crossed the room to her father. Somewhere near them the other child was laughing. Joyful, contented, triumphant, the silvery laughter echoed through...

Double, double, toil and trouble: The Pale Horse | 1961

(image from here) "There are two methods, it seems to me, of approaching this strange business of the Pale Horse. In spite of the dictum of the White King, it is difficult to achieve simplicity. One cannot, that is to say, 'Begin at the beginning, go on to the end, and then stop.' For where is the beginning? To a historian, that is always the difficulty. At what point in history does one particular portion of history begin?  In this case,...

The Girl Who Cried Murder: Hallowe'en Party | 1969

(image from here) "I saw a murder once," said Joyce. "Don't be silly, Joyce," said Miss Whitaker, the schoolteacher. "I did," said Joyce. "Did you really?" asked Cathie, gazing at Joyce with wide eyes. "Really and truly saw a murder?" "Of course she didn't," said Mrs. Drake. "Don't say silly things, Joyce." "I did see a murder," said Joyce. "I did. I did. I did." -Hallowe'en Party, p. 14-15 The Sum of It: I present to you the first of...

How Do You Experience Agatha? | Exploring BOOKTRACK!

Happy Thursday, friends! As we have been making our way through our Year of Agatha project, we have enjoyed experiencing Agatha Christie’s works in various formats. We primarily read hard copy versions of her books, but have dabbled in Kindle and audiobooks as well - we particularly enjoy listening to narration by Hugh Fraser (you might know him as tv’s Hastings alongside David Suchet’s Poirot in the television adaptations of many of Agatha...

Pre-Fame Poirot: The Underdog and Other Stories | 1951

(image from here) "Lord," said Japp, stretching himself backward, "I believe I could manage another egg, and perhaps a rasher or two of bacon. What do you say, Captain?" "I'm with you," I returned heartily. "What about you, Poirot?" Poirot shook his head. "One must not so replenish the stomach that the brain refuses to function," he remarked. -The Underdog & Other Stories, p. 108 The Sum of It: I'm back on the short stories train...

The Girl on the Train: 4.50 from Paddington | 1957

Image from here "True to the precepts handed down to her by her mother and grandmother—to wit: that a true lady can neither be shocked nor surprised—Miss Marple merely raised her eyebrows and shook her head,” - 4.50 from Paddington The Sum of It: I have been WAITING FOR AGES for it to be time to read this one, because I love, love, love the "Agatha Christie's Marple" version, and the book totally lived up to it. Eek! Ok, so, summary.  Miss...

Casual Weekend Murder Hunt: Dead Man's Folly | 1956

Image from here "‘[Absorption in one’s personal life] is, you know,’ Poirot persisted, ‘a form of humility. And humility is valuable. There was a slogan that was written up in your underground railways here, I remember, during the war. “It all depends on you.” It was composed, I think, by some eminent divine– but in my opinion it was a dangerous and undesirable doctrine. For it is not true. Everything does not depend on, say, Mrs Blank of Little-Blank-in-the-Marsh....

The Five Star Experience: At Bertram's Hotel | 1965

(image from here) "Inside, if this was the first time you had visited Bertram's, you felt, almost with alarm, that you had reentered a vanished world. Time had gone back. You were in Edwardian England once more."  -At Bertram's Hotel, p. 2 The Sum of It: I'm back with Miss Marple this weekend - and it's been such a treat! Miss Marple's niece, Joan (married to the regularly-referenced nephew Raymond West), wants to give Auntie Jane a bit...

Miss Lemon Makes an Error : Hickory Dickory Dock | 1955

Image from here “Poirot closed his eyes. What he perceived mentally was a kaleidoscope, no more, no less. Pieces of cut-up scarves and rucksacks, cookery books, lipsticks, bath salts; names and thumbnail sketches of odd students. Nowhere was there cohesion or form. Unrelated incidents and people whirled round in space. But Poirot knew quite well that somehow and somewhere there must be a pattern . . . The question was where to start.. . . .”...

The Crescent of Intrigue: The Clocks | 1963

(image from here) "Inspector Hardcastle walked in manfully. Unfortunately for him he was one of those men who have cat allergy. As usually happens on these occasions, all the cats immediately made for him. One jumped on his knees, another rubbed affectionately against his trousers. Detective Inspector Hardcastle, who was a brave man, set his lips and endured." -The Clocks, p. 62-63 The Sum of It: Happy October, one and all! Fall is trying to...