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. 

Second Quarter Faves | Top Picks at the HALFWAY POINT!

How is it possible that we are already HALFWAY through our 2016 Agatha Christie adventure!? We have been having such a blast not only reading so much Queen of Crime, but also connecting with other Agatha Christie fans here on the blog and on social media - it's made this year twice as fun! We wanted to take a minute to go through and pick our top three favorite reads (for each of us) since our "first quarter faves" post.

EMILY'S TOP THREE FAVES #halfwaypoint
1) Why Didn't They Ask Evans? 
Well we all know I love a good caper, and this one is delightfully caper-y, and complete with an adorably bantering couple in Bobby the organist and Lady Frankie Derwent, the spunky girl who's ready for anything. Bobby and Frankie make a great team, working through the complexities of a tricky mystery, each standing their ground when they think they're right.

From the book: "'Why didn't they ask Evans?' Bobby repeated the phrase thoughtfully. 'You know, I can't see what on earth there can be in that to put the wind up anybody.' 'Ah! That's because you don't know. It's like making crossword puzzles. You write down a clue and you think it's too idiotically simple and that everyone will guess it straight off, and you're frightfully surprised when they simply can't get it in the least. 'Why didn't they ask Evans?' must have been a frightfully significant phrase to them, and they couldn't realize that it meant nothing at all to you.' " - Bobby and Frankie, Why Didn't They Ask Evans, p. 59

From the YOA review: As noted in a previous post, I (Emily) insisted on reading this one because it's one of my favorite television adaptations, albeit altered into a Miss Marple story for TV. As we've seen with a few of the others that have made their way to the screen, the plots and characters sometimes get a bit altered for a different format, and this one is no different. While the adorable, crime-solving pseudo couple, Bobby Jones and Lady Frances Derwent (aka Frankie) is still present and up their mystery solving shenanigans, the bad guys and side characters are a bit jumbled up in this one. 

I think this is largely because sometimes Dame Agatha created these complex webs of characters in effort to throw all us readers off, when she was really totally overestimating our intelligence and we still would have been just as stumped with one set of mysterious people rather than three #wegetityouaresmarter #noneedtoshowoffAgatha. This plot is really clever, and we find that some of the red herrings are FAKE red herrings, and in fact are the real deal after all, which is a great type of plot twist. 

2) Cards on the Table
This book was such a fun read, largely because of how much of herself Agatha wrote into the character of Ariadne Oliver. It's also a really engaging plot, with Poirot cooperating with several different detectives, including the mystery writer Ms. Oliver, to figure out which of several guilty people is the guiltiest.

From the book: 'Ask Dr. Roberts if he'll be so good as to step this way.' 
'I should have kept him to the end,' said Mrs. Oliver, 'In a book I mean,' she added apologetically.
'Real life's a bit different,' said Battle. 
'I know,' said Mrs. Oliver. 'Badly constructed.' " - Cards on the Table, p. 25

From the YOA review: In 1956, Agatha told a magazine, "I never take my stories from real life, but the character of Ariadne Oliver does have a strong dash of myself." Little hints of Agatha herself are sprinkled throughout the character and comments of Mrs. Oliver, including her love for driving, lack of talent at bridge, exasperation at readers who are sticklers for accuracy about things like what type of flowers bloom when, penchant for apples, distaste for dictating her books to a secretary, and her frustrations with her most famous detective, Sven, whose Finnish homeland Mrs. Oliver knew actually nothing about (akin to a certain Belgian we know Agatha was often annoyed by). Mrs. Oliver is even given credit for having written a mystery with a name familiar to Agatha fans, The Body in the Library, a title Agatha actually gave to one of her own books about six years later.

3) And Then There Were None
Even though I had read this one before, and recently watched the new tv adaptation, I still loved reading the book. It is just so atmospheric and clever, definitely in a league of its own. This was the first of Agatha's books I ever read, and I'm confident it will always be one of my favorites.

From the book:"But what you don't seem to realize is that [no spoilers!] is mad! And a madman has all the advantages on his side. He's twice as cunning as any one sane can be." - And Then There Were None, p. 213

From the YOA review: We dare say, if you are going to read ONE Agatha Christie novel, this is the one to read. It has been hailed by fans and critics alike as Agatha Christie's best novel, and we can certainly see why. Even Agatha Christie herself wrote in her Autobiography of how proud she was of the work she put into ATTWN, and its final result:

I had written this book because it was so difficult to do that the idea had fascinated me. Ten people had to die without it becoming ridiculous or the murderer being obvious. I wrote the book after a tremendous amount of planning, and I was pleased with what I had made of it. It was clear, straightforward, baffling, and yet had a perfectly reasonable explanation; in fact it had to have an epilogue in order to explain it. It was well received and reviewed, but the person who was really pleased with it was myself, for I knew better than any critic how difficult it had been.

AUDREY'S TOP THREE FAVES #halfwaypoint:

1) Death on the Nile
This may solidly stay in my top (dare I say?!) three Agatha Christie books of all time? I have always enjoyed this story so much and re-reading this book helped me remember just how classically Christie it is in both story and characters. It also has a healthy dose of exotic drama which I love!

From the book: "Because — if you do — evil will come…Yes, very surely evil will come…It will enter in and make its home within you, and after a little while it will no longer be possible to drive it out." -Death on the Nile, p. 64

From the YOA review: "The setting is one of our fave parts — Anyone who can make it through Death on the Nile without desperately wanting to take an exotic vacation with Poirot is lying to themselves. One of the things we love most about Poirot (particularly if he must be sans Hastings) is his love of the lavish holiday. Not only do his voyages give colorful settings to his stories, but allow for an eclectic bunch of characters that wouldn't always make sense in the country home or London where we usually find Hercule Poirot. Death on the Nile is no exception. All that grisly murder aside, we would be more than thrilled to sail through Egypt with Poirot…and okay if we are being totally honest we would love to help him solve a crime or two as well…"

2) The Moving Finger
We haven't read much Miss Marple yet this year, but every time we do, it is such a treat. The Moving Finger almost doesn't feel like a Marple, with Miss Jane showing up just basically at the end to solve the crime, BUT I just love the cozy village setting and brother/sister duo Jerry and Joanna.

From the book: "The great thing in these cases is to keep an absolutely open mind. Most crimes, you see, are so absurdly simple. This one was. Quite sane and straightforward—and quite understandable—in an unpleasant way, of course." - Miss Jane Marple, The Moving Finger, p. 180

From the YOA review: As with many of her novels, Agatha has chosen a man as the narrator for this novel. In much the same way as Luke Fitzgerald from Murder is Easy, Jerry Burton plays more of the being-nosy-from-the-sidelines sort of character instead of the pretty formal sidekick-esque Dr. Sheppard from Roger Ackroyd or observer who gets told a lot of secrets Leonard Clement from Murder at the Vicarage. I admire Agatha for not sticking too closely to a formulaic narration style. 

3) Five Little Pigs
This is, so far, one of the very best Poirot novels I have read. I enjoyed reading through his thorough, methodic crime solving style as he interviews all those involved with a sixteen-year-old crime.

From the book: "It's psychology that interests you, isn't it? Well, that doesn't change with time. The tangible things are gone—the cigarette end and the footprints and the bent blades of grass. You can't look for those any more. But you can go over all the facts of the case, and perhaps talk to the people who were there at the time—they're all alive still—and then—and then, as you said just now, you can lie back in your chair and think. And you'll know what really happened..." - Carla Lemarchant, Five Little Pigs, p. 8

From the YOA review: While I generally adore the Poirot TV adaptations, I must admit I often avoid this particular episode because it is SO SAD! This is a fairly accurate representation of the book, because Five Little Pigs does have a somber tone which is kind of unusual for Poirot. He doesn't have Hastings by his side for (mostly unintentional) comic relief, and right from the get go the reader is left with a bit of a lose-lose situation because Caroline Crale is dead so even if she IS innocent, Carla is still left without her parents. That being said, this book has a very compelling ending because you are left both satisfied and unsatisfied, but not necessarily for the reason you think. I shall reveal no more because a) NO SPOILERS! and b) I want you to be so intrigued that you run and pick up a copy of this book right away!

-A. & E.

Stranded and Afraid: And Then There Were None | 1939

(image from here)

"But what you don't seem to realize is that [no spoilers!] is mad! And a madman has all the advantages on his side. He's twice as cunning as any one sane can be." 

And Then There Were None, p. 213

The Sum of It:
We were so happy to see so many of our Instagram friends are huge fans of our latest read, And Then There Were None. Our summary this week will be fairly brief, because, to be quite honest, you really have to read this book and it is best read if you've avoided spoilers! So, in a sentence: And Then There Were None follows a group of ten strangers as their weekend getaway (for various reasons) to a posh mansion on a secluded island turns terrifying when guests start dying one by one…in ways that eerily follow an ominous poem framed on the wall about "ten little soldier boys"…

The YOA Treatment:
We dare say, if you are going to read ONE Agatha Christie novel, this is the one to read. It has been hailed by fans and critics alike as Agatha Christie's best novel, and we can certainly see why. Even Agatha Christie herself wrote in her Autobiography of how proud she was of the work she put into ATTWN, and its final result:

I had written this book because it was so difficult to do that the idea had fascinated me. Ten people had to die without it becoming ridiculous or the murderer being obvious. I wrote the book after a tremendous amount of planning, and I was pleased with what I had made of it. It was clear, straightforward, baffling, and yet had a perfectly reasonable explanation; in fact it had to have an epilogue in order to explain it. It was well received and reviewed, but the person who was really pleased with it was myself, for I knew better than any critic how difficult it had been.

This mystery is so engrossing that we've had several friends report that they finished it in just a day or two. Since we have both read this one before, and recently watched the awesome new adaptation of it from the the BBC/Lifetime, some of the initial confusion and amazement at the mystery's resolution wasn't there for us in this reading, but we certainly can't help but admire the deft crafting of characters, atmosphere, and straight up #TERROR in this short novel.

One of our favorite things about recommending this book to folks who are new to Agatha is that it's a great hook. People get a great feel for how fun it can be to devour one of her brilliant mysteries, and what a truly fantastic writer she really is. Several folks have already asked for a list of other Agatha books they should track down and add to their summer reading list, which we are so pumped about, since bringing more converts into the Agatha fold was the whole goal of our project here at the Year of Agatha! Incidentally, if you or someone you know is looking for a short list of Agatha's to get started with, take a gander at our first quarter favorites! Soon we'll be updating the blog with our second quarter favorites as well.

- A. & E.

#YOAreadalong Discussion 3: And Then There Were None

(image from agathachristie.com)

Hello everyone!

We are hard at work finishing this week's read Death on the Nile (spoiler alert: IT'S A GOOD ONE), but wanted to let everyone know that we will be reading Dame Agatha's supreme classic, And Then There Were None in just a few short weeks and would like to invite one and all to read along with us! To that end, we've gone ahead and put some thought into discussion ideas for the upcoming #YOAreadalong.

Per usual, let's use this post to add comments/discuss our thoughts and feelings. We know so many of you Agatha Christie fans have already enjoyed this one, so we can't wait to hear from more of you about it! We will not be having a giveaway with this particular readalong because we are waiting on a REALLY EXCITING surprise item for the next giveaway, which we hope to announce soon!

In the meantime, let's talk about And Then There Were None here! We will be posting our final recap/review on June 20th!

Characters:
>this book is PACKED with characters. Any of them stand out to you as particularly interesting?
>anyone seem particularly guilty or suspicious?

#MURDER:
>spoiler alert: people die in this book. Who do you think/did you think will be the first to go?

Story:
>beginning, middle, and end: what do you think is going on!?!
>Some of you may be familiar with the fact that this story has actually had different endings at different points in time. Any thoughts on which one you preferred, or which one seems more classically Agatha??

As always, be advised: everyone is reading at their own pace so spoilers may be inevitable! Post and read at your own risk! :)

Happy reading!
A. & E.

THIS IS NOT A DRILL: And Then There Were None is (almost) HERE!

(image from here)

This is a Public Service Announcement to make sure that all of you Agatha Christie fans out there are aware that:

a) The BBC has made a brand, spanking new adaptation of what has been voted Dame Agatha readers's favorite book, And Then There Were None,
b) It's (apparently) INCREDIBLE,
c) (and) Those of us in America have only mere days left to wait until we can view it too! The first installment of And Then There Were None is airing THIS SUNDAY NIGHT (March 13) at 8/7c on Lifetime!

Oh, did you say you wanted to see a preview? NOT A PROBLEM! Please click here to see it in all its spooky glory!

We will definitely be watching - will you? Or have any of you lucky ducks already seen it? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram all your And Then There Were None thoughts and feelings.

-A. & E.

2016: The Year of Agatha

Hi, we’re Audrey and Emily. The Year of Agatha is a project we conceived via text message in 2015 while simultaneously watching episodes of Marple in our respective homes. Agatha Christie has been one of the best known and best loved masters of mystery for almost 100 years. Since we both admit to being occasionally teased, nay, mocked for our devotion to almost century-old British mysteries, we wanted to explore what it is that makes her stories connect just as much with millennials as they did with the post-WWI readers who were her contemporaries.

To get ready for the project, we read Agatha’s self-titled autobiography to learn a little more about her life and her personality. Over the course of 2016, we’ll be reading all of Agatha’s mystery novels -- some we’ll divide and conquer and some we’ll team up on, like Hastings and Poirot (but with a less marked gap in intelligence). We’ll be documenting our thoughts on themes, plots and characters drawn from real life, whether Tommy & Tuppence are basically millennials, the number of times Hastings totally misses the boat, favorite side characters, the poor souls who find the bodies and whether they are similar to Law & Order cold-opens, and much more. On Saturdays and Mondays, we’ll provide a quick overview of each book, accompanied by our super-erudite analysis, and the occasional mood board of things we think Tuppence might buy while online shopping.

Audrey (aka Clawdrey), tell us about your life-long interest in Agatha and the inspiration for this project.
I grew up in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere Michigan which, bizarrely, had a fantastically extensive public library. One summer I discovered the Agatha Christie bookcase way in the back of that little library. Several big shelves housed her complete works, and I devoured each one in rapid succession. I can vividly remember reading Peril at End House in one sitting and coming to the end and being so excited that the Queen of Crime had dozens more of these glorious mysteries for me to read. My grandma would tape Masterpiece Mystery episodes of Poirot for me and I would watch them over and over until the tapes nearly wore out. Agatha Christie stories give me such a happy nostalgic feeling and I can't wait to relive all the mysterious memories with Emily this year!

Emily, why don’t you tell us about how you got into Agatha?

As a preteen, I also picked up a number of our lady’s greatest hits in my regular summertime library runs, familiarizing myself with some of the most well known mysteries in the canon, like And Then There Were None and Dumb Witness. Once I became friends with Audrey and we realized that we basically like 95% of the exact same things, she was shocked to realize that I had never watched David Suchet’s long-running BBC Poirot series, so naturally I watched them (as well as Marple) and of course became a devotee, reviving my interest in Agatha. Since then I’ve read a few more of the books, seen the Doctor Who where Agatha Christie helps the Doctor save everyone from a giant wasp alien, and gotten more curious about Mrs. Christie herself. When Audrey suggested we read all the books as a joint project, I was pumped to get to know Agatha and her stories better.

So if you’re out there, thanks for joining us! Let us know when we’re reading one of your favorites, share your theories about the stories, and discuss how all the Girl on the Train fans have Agatha to thank.

Tune in after January 9 for our first book post, a joint review from both of us on Agatha’s first two books, The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Secret Adversary.