Ok to Judge by Its Cover: Classic Penguin, Cover to Cover | 2016

This book is so cool!

"Within these pages the artists and writers involved tell you what it was like for them to dive into this material and with their hands, their minds, give it a new continuity to propel these timeless themes and stories into the world you and I are now occupying. You will see what did not make it onto the covers, rough ideas, outtakes, the excellent and the my-god-man-what-were-you-thinking?

This book is a celebration of the marriage of beautiful Art & Design and powerful iconic Literature. There will always be ways to experience things anew -- the fun is finding those who want to help you do exactly that." - Paul Buckley, Classic Penguin: Cover to Cover, Introduction 

The Sum of It:

Obvi this is not a book of crime fiction, but we're considering this post a public service announcement for all the book folk out there (and their friends and family on the lookout for a good birthday gift this year)! 

I'm pretty sure we're all book lovers here, so it seems safe to say that we not only enjoy their contents, the moving, clever, insightful, beautiful words that make up their stories, but we also love them for their exteriors. As we've gotten to know #bookstagram, we've seen so many posts about readers finding yet another beautiful copy of a favorite book, often even posting photos of many different copies of a beloved tale together. This book is an ode to that love, of books as objects of beauty, in addition to their intrinsic value. It travels through a wide range of beautiful classic Penguin covers, from the iconic orange bands to recent redesigns of classic authors, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Graham Greene, and so many more. In addition to showcasing the beautiful covers, this book allows the designers to talk about their work, how they approached each cover, and in many cases shares earlier drafts of different covers as well as thoughts from editors and designers on how the final choice was made. It's super fascinating to learn more about the process of bringing book covers to life in such a way that really speaks to the book's themes and content, and draws in readers. 

The YOA Treatment:

It was such fun to pore through this beautiful book. While I've seen many of these covers in real life, it was so cool to catch a glimpse of others I haven't had a chance to see yet, and add them to my wishlist! It was also just so interesting to learn about how an editor pairs a designer with a particular book or author, knowing that either the designer has a style that reflects the writer's prose, or does a great job with images that will really parallel a book's themes. Even though we're all well familiar with the old adage, "don't judge a book by its cover," so often a cover's look is the first step to encouraging a reader to pick it up, and check out what's inside. It's wonderful to read these designer's thoughts on the deep responsibility they feel to accurately reflect an author's work so that the cover functions as a window onto the words inside. We just know you'll love spending some time with this book over a cup of tea or a glass of wine, and it will make you pay even more attention to the beautiful covers that pull you in! 

- E. 

Banter, Blunts, and a Ham Merchant: Partners in Crime | 1929

(image from here)

"I want things to happen. Exciting things. Wouldn't you like to go chasing German spies again, Tommy? Think of the wild days of peril we went through once." - Tuppence Beresford, Partners in Crime, p. 2

The Sum of It:
This week we have dived head first back into the adventurous and terrifically witty world of Tommy and Tuppence Beresford with Partners in Crime. The one-time Adventurers for Hire duo from The Secret Adversary are settling into married life, and settling rather badly. After all their excitement in Secret Adversary they want more than just home life. Lucky for the Beresfords, high-up-spy-man Mr. Carter comes to the rescue with a proposition: would Tommy and Tuppence like to pose as a Mr. Blunt and Secretary at the International Detective Agency in order to find out more about some fishy "foreign business" involving blue letters from a Russian ham merchant who just wants to find his refugee wife?? Um, #YASPLEASE

What follows is a truly jolly collection of short stories with many #DameAgatha classics: stabbings at costume parties, poisoned chocolates, a lady hiding from her fiance' while undergoing "slimming treatments" #dubiousscience, disappearing ladies, and that's just the start! We will be honest: the mysteries in Partners in Crime aren't necessarily mind blowing, but the dialogue is just so scintillating, it's a pure delight to read. Take this passage from chapter 1:

"Don't you ever have a wild secret yearning for romance - adventure - life?"
"What have you been reading, Tuppence?" asked Tommy.
"Think how exciting it would be," went on Tuppence, "if we heard a wild rapping at the door and went to open it and in staggered a dead man."
"If he was dead he couldn't stagger," said Tommy critically.
"You know what I mean," said Tuppence. "They always stagger in just before they die and fall at your feet just gasping out a few enigmatic words. 'The Spotted Leopard' or something like that."

Now tell us you don't want to read a whole book of that delightful repartee...

The YOA Treatment:
One of the particularly fun things about Partners in Crime is Agatha's not so subtle nods to the detective classics sprinkled throughout the cases. Tommy and Tuppence have great bookshelves of classic detective novels in their office and they often reference them in their exploits, and decide to try solving crimes in the style of many of their favorites (Tommy even pretends to be blind at one point while imitating Thornley Colton, the blind Problemist. Fortunately Agatha and Tommy avoid insensitivity by having him pledge to donate loads of money to a charity for the blind). One of Audrey's favorite instances is Tommy's attempts at the eccentricities of Sherlock Holmes:

"He picked up a violin which lay on the table, and drew the bow once or twice across the strings. Tuppence ground her teethe and even the explorer blenched...As the visitor left the office, Tuppence grabbed the violin and putting it in the cupboard turned the key in the lock. 'If you must be Sherlock Holmes,' she observed, 'I'll get you a nice little syringe and a bottle labeled Cocaine, but for God's sake leave that violin alone."

Sherlock Holmes isn't the only detective Agatha paid homage to - in fact she even left a few hints at Hercule Poirot! There are many instances of Tuppence or Tommy encouraging the other to "use your little grey cells, mon ami" #tresadorbs. Ol' Tommy at one point dresses up as a parson and imitates the well known clerical sleuth Father Brown.

Agatha owes the roots of her own mysteries to the work of her predecessors, and tells in her autobiography about a conversation with her sister Madge, who had introduced her to some of her favorite detective story authors, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Paul Beck, and Gaston Le Roux. She told Madge after reading a Paul Beck book called The Mystery of the Yellow Room that she would like to try her hand at writing a detective story. Madge basically said "yeah right good luck" but from that moment, Agatha says she was "fired by determination" that she would write a detective story. And how!

- A. & E.

All the Cloaks and All the Daggers: The Big Four | 1927

(image from here)

"It is a duel to the death, mon ami. You and I on the one side, the Big Four on the other. They have won the first trick; but they have failed in their plan to get me out of the way, and in the future they have to reckon with Hercule Poirot!" - The Big Four, p. 16

The Sum of It:

So you know that thing where you go to see the latest James Bond movie and it's all spy-ish and everyone is constantly dressed in evening wear and you're like yeah, I could be a spy? Well it seems like maybe Agatha Christie had that same feeling right before writing The Big Four. This third Agatha novel featuring Hercule Poirot and his ever faithful sidekick, Arthur Hastings, takes the air of adventure we were introduced to in The Secret Adversary to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL. I mean, look at the different cover art this book has had over the years - they are very Bond-esque.

   

(images found here, here, and here)

The Big Four begins with a sort of Gift of the Magi situation with fairly-newly-married Hastings making the long journey back to England from The Argentine (where apparently he has turned cattle farmer since the end of The Murder on the Links). He is super stoked to surprise his bestie, and shows up at Poirot's door only to see a pile of suitcases because OF COURSE Poirot was already on his way to South America to visit Hastings AT THE SAME TIME. Hastings is like okay great to let's just hang in England because I'm already here, but Poirot is like nope, sorry I just got offered an enormous amount of money by an American bajillionaire to go and investigate some "hocus pocus" in Rio so how about you drop me off at the station. However, as they are literally walking out the door for the train station, a man staggers into Poirot's apartment, scribbles the number 4 all over some paper, and then promptly DIES. (Hastings suggests perhaps he has "brain fever" - Poirot says uh no, you are not a doctor, Hastings.)

Thus begins a truly epic 198 pages of twists and turns as Poirot and Hastings literally put themselves in harm's way to get to the bottom of an international crime ring known as the Big Four. This book reads almost like a collection of mini cases with Poirot and Hastings investigating basically half a dozen murders, all seemingly unconnected...until Poirot finds that one little clue that links the death to the mysterious Big Four. 

Winners:

Stunts: In The Big Four, Poirot and Hastings jump out of a moving train, get into fist fights with thugs, are kidnapped NUMEROUS times, and escape from a country home by climbing down ivy from an upstairs window! 

Hastings: While still self-admittedly several steps behind Poirot for most of the book, Hastings does have a few shining moments, even receiving some kudos from Poirot himself: "How marvelous is my friend Hastings! He knows everything -- but everything! How do they say -- Inquire Within Upon Everything. That is my friend Hastings."

Losers:

English Coffee: Apparently, it is not to Poirot's liking. "Only in England is the coffee so atrocious. On the continent they understand how important it is for the digestion that it should be properly made."

#hastingsinlove: Poor Hastings. Even happily married, he can't help himself wistfully remarking how pretty girls are (sometimes based solely on their name), particularly if their hair is a "delicate shade of auburn." Poirot shamelessly calls him out: "Always looking for romance! You are incorrigible!"

The YOA Treatment:

Poirot makes a thoughtful observation about his friend Hastings in this book: "Your narrative style is masterly. I say to myself, it is a book that talks, not my friend Hastings." Hastings is our window into Poirot's world, giving the reader the perfect person to connect with, for not all of us possess the little grey cells of the Hercule Poirot! 

Without Hastings, Poirot's remarkable genius might feel too unrealistic, too uncanny to make much sense. But Hastings offers the foil that both reveals Poirot's brilliance and ensures that the reader doesn't feel alone in being a step or two behind the best. 

Agatha is obviously not the only mystery writer to employ the not-as-clever-but-good-at-writing-things-down friend as a narrator. Another obvious example is Dr. John Watson's narration of the Sherlock Holmes cases. Like Hastings, Dr. Watson serves as a conduit for the eccentric Holmes's methods to the reader, giving us the facts, and yet also not afraid to pose questions to the famous sleuth, so that both companion and reader can keep up. In her autobiography, Agatha notes the influence of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as she created her own characters and story structures, and in Hastings is perhaps the clearest example. Seeing Poirot's cases through Hastings's eyes is a delight, not only because of the often hilarious exchanges between these two unlikely friends, but also because Hastings's reactions as events unfold are our reactions, particularly in The Big Four, where Poirot is often keeping Hastings in the dark of his clever plans to outwit the villains. 

-A.