Category: Books & Novels

Written by Joanne Fluke

SUMMARY:

Released in 2016 by Kensington Cozies, this 232-page murder-mystery is set in the sizzling hot summer of 1995 at an unnamed college in proximity to the Hampton Cove beach.  Joining her boyfriend, Ryan Young, college socialite Eve Carrington utilizes her wealthy father’s connections finagling an invite to a month-long creative writing workshop held on campus. 

Along with eight other college students, Eve & Ryan will spend a month living together at the dilapidated Sutler Mansion, as they work on their prospective books under Professor Hellman’s supervision.  As judged by Hellman, the top three books will be submitted for consideration by his New York publishing contacts. 

One of the writing projects is Angela Adams’ murder-mystery based upon the workshop and the participants themselves.  Not only is Eve fuming over Angela initiating a love triangle over Ryan, she is quickly jealous of Angela’s knack for ingratiating herself with the project’s participants.  Once Hellman is sidelined by a contagious illness, the ten students must be quarantined to the mansion for at least ten days. 

Targeted by an unknown serial killer, the novice writers realize that their dire predicament is mirrored by Angela’s novel-in-progress, as they are murdered one by one.    

Notes: Oddly, the back cover synopsis is inaccurate re: the mansion being a last-minute substitute for the workshop’s location.  Contradicting this synopsis, the novel specifies that Sutler Mansion is the workshop’s site from the get-go.  Re: a Hampton Cove beach, there’s a real locale in Florida, but Fluke is vague as to any geography.

REVIEW:

Wicked ‘s true culprit is irony.  Perhaps unwittingly, the ludicrous Wicked reads like an Agatha Christie rip-off an aspiring novelist might have devised for a creative writing class.  Joanne Fluke repeatedly acknowledges the Christie novel that Wicked mimics by even having the students watch a film version of And Then There Were None (aka Ten Little Indians), as it is Angela’s inspiration for her book. 

Yet, Fluke’s shallow ensemble cast is nothing more than a cliché-fest, i.e. Eve is a Veronica Lodge knock-off going by another name.  It’s almost too coincidental that Angela’s physical description suspiciously resembles Betty Cooper.  One wonders if that means the two-timing Ryan must be an indecisive redhead with freckles.

Aside from the characters being uniformly weak, what sinks Wicked is that its Hollywood slasher schlock plot is so implausible.  Case in point: would anyone really believe, quarantine or not, that, upon the first homicide, the others wouldn’t be fleeing for the cops?

Storing a rising number of corpses in a walk-in freezer and continuing on with one’s day occurs in even some good mysteries, but Wicked surely isn’t among them.  One could argue that Fluke’s inconclusive twist finish is an imaginative way to justify 225+ pages of flimsy plotting. The flip side, of course, is that this movie-style cop-out then renders the novel’s prior shenanigans as pointless. Either way, such derivative storytelling confirms Wicked as a woeful murder-mystery from start to finish.

Included samples from other Fluke works indicate that she’s a popular writer for a reason.  Suffice to say, the eye-rolling Wicked demonstrates what happens when she isn’t on her game.   

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

There’s approximately seventy-two pages of padding.  Extended samples of two of Fluke’s other novels: Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder and Wedding Cake Murder, include recipes.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                       2½ Stars

Written by Agatha Christie

SUMMARY:

First published in 1932, Pocket Books issued this 224-page Pocket Books reprint in 1990.  Set several months after The Mystery of the Blue Train, Hercule Poirot is vacationing with his old friend, Captain Arthur Hastings, at The Majestic Hotel – an English coastal resort in Cornwall.  Though his ego is hurt that a new generation is oblivious of him, the legendary Belgian sleuth insists he’s content in retirement. 

A chance encounter meeting a charming young local, Magdala “Nick” Buckley, tips off Poirot that her recent series of near-death escapes is no joking matter.  For starters, the detective duo soon find a spent Mauser pistol bullet that discreetly punched a hole through Nick’s hat during their casual chat on a hotel terrace. 

Probing her dilapidated family estate, End House, a worried Poirot & Hastings start suspecting their new friend’s inner circle.  It appears that someone among them is a shadowy predator bent on vengeance against the Buckleys.

REVIEW:

As a Hercule Poirot mystery, Peril at End House is serviceable.  One might deem it even slightly lesser than middle-of-the-pack.  In terms of balance, Agatha Christie holds Poirot, Captain Hastings, and Inspector Japp up to their usual marks, but the mystery itself is something of a bore.  More specifically, the imperiled Buckley girls, Nick & Maggie, should be an intriguing contrast in personalities.  They’re handicapped, unfortunately, by a yawn-inducing roster of suspects that struggles generating interest to keep viewers tuned in for a twist finish. 

Given End House’s premise, there’s still sufficient suspense at the right moments.  Yet, unlike her far superior Poirots, this particular game of misdirection probably won’t leave readers awed by Christie’s ingenuity.  It’s a decent garage sale find; otherwise, Peril at End House should be considered a library option.      

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

In addition to the chapter list, there’s a list introducing the characters.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                        5½ Stars

Written by Agatha Christie

SUMMARY:

First published in 1969, this 198-page Berkeley Books reprint was issued in 1991.  In London’s quiet, middle-class suburb of Woodleigh Common, bossy Rowena Drake hosts a Halloween party for the neighborhood’s older kids at her home, Apple Trees. During the party’s afternoon preparations, thirteen-year old Joyce Reynolds boasts that she had once witnessed a homicide long ego, hinting too few details. 

Mystery novelist Ariadne Oliver is among the adult guests present later that night when Joyce is found murdered in the library.  Joyce’s killer has ruthlessly drowned her in the same metal bucket from which children had earlier bobbed for apples.  In London, a distressed Mrs. Oliver calls upon her old friend, Hercule Poirot, to sleuth the girl’s apparently vindictive homicide.

With help from ex-Scotland Yard Superintendent Spence’s family now retired to the area, the Belgian detective probes the village’s wary residents for answers.  One wild card is the self-involved landscape artist, Michael Garfield, who possibly knows more about some of his neighbors than he lets on.  Poirot must also search the recent past re: what unknown murder, if there really was one, that quickly necessitated Joyce’s demise.  In the night lurks a shadowy culprit, whose wrath will strike anyone else threatening Woodleigh Common’s chilling secret.        

REVIEW:

It’s ironic that Dead Man’s Folly, Mrs. McGinty’s Dead, and Cat Among the Pigeons are all alluded to during Hallowe’en Party.  In terms of Poirot novels, these three mysteries are arguably middle-of-the-pack caliber by Agatha Christie’s golden standards, but they’re still satisfying reads. The ghoulish Hallowe’en Party fails to surpass any of them.

Though certain elements of Hallowe’en Party are derivative of Dead Man’s Folly (i.e. Ariadne Oliver’s role), the novel oozes sufficient originality for readers expecting some macabre twists befitting its title. However, enjoyability is hampered, as Christie pursues what is arguably the nastiest Poirot storyline ever. There’s not even a worthwhile climax (it’s left frustratingly vague) to mitigate some of her dubious creative choices. Frankly, the less said about one villainous motive the better, as its grandiosity crosses the line into the absurd.

Like her repugnant Marple whodunnit, Nemesis, what’s most unsettling about Hallowe’en Party is Christie’s use of children/young teenagers as murder victims.  Is there everyday realism involved, yes, but, all too grimly, it’s more like exploitative realism.  Similar criticism applies to her bleak Crooked House, but one can argue that Christie’s superior plotting logically justifies that novel’s shock value finish.  Hallowe’en Party, in contrast, comes off as a formulaic Poirot where Christie’s bag of tricks contains nothing special. 

This novel may entice ardent Poirot fans, but a single read should prove sufficient for most adults.       

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

Christie dedicates this novel to fellow author P.G. Wodehouse.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                       3½ Stars

Written by Agatha Christie

SUMMARY:

First released in 1961, this 259-page HarperCollins/William Morrow paperback reprint was issued in 2011.  On a foggy London night, Father Gorman is summoned for a dying woman’s confession in a blue-collar neighborhood.  Soon after scribbling a list of enigmatic surnames she told him, Gorman is fatally bludgeoned in a dark alleyway.  Scotland Yard’s investigation is assigned to Divisional Detective-Inspector Lejeune and police surgeon Jim Corrigan.   

By chance, historian Mark Easterbrook becomes involved in their homicide case when he senses a potentially ominous link among names on Gorman’s list.  Despite skepticism from both Jim Corrigan and his would-be girlfriend, Hermia Redcliffe, Mark reluctantly finds himself playing amateur sleuth.  Is this list really proof of a shadowy murder-for-hire racket somehow using black magic, he wonders. 

At the core of his macabre theory is a rural old pub called The Pale Horse, now inhabited by three reputed witches, in the quiet village of Much Deeping.  Only adventurous Katherine “Ginger” Corrigan and possibly Lejeune himself share Mark’s suspicions that all isn’t what it seems.  The enigma becomes: to safeguard The Pale Horse’s dark secret, will one of them become a diabolical killer’s next victim?     

Notes: 1. Appearing for the only time without either Hercule Poirot or Parker Pyne, Ariadne Oliver contributes a minor role.  Her involvement in 1956’s (Poirot) Dead Man’s Folly, for instance, is referenced.  2. Much Deeping’s vicar and his wife are Mr. & Mrs. Dane Calthorp, from 1942’s (Marple) The Moving Finger. 

3.  Mark’s likable cousin, Rhoda (whose maiden name isn’t revealed), and her husband, Col. Despard, are presumably the same pair from 1936’s (Poirot) Cards on the Table.

Yet, some inferences suggest that Christie is merely recycling their names.  One might notice that Major John Despard is now ‘Col. Hugh Despard.’  More significantly, neither Mrs. Oliver nor these Despards acknowledge they’ve already been acquainted for several years, let alone stemming from Cards’ scandalous Shaitana murder investigation.  From what little readers are told, it’s indeed plausible that Mrs. Oliver first meets the Despards in The Pale Horse.  One element is undeniable — The Pale Horse  refrains from directly referencing either Jane Marple or Hercule Poirot. 

REVIEW:

Though it isn’t among Agatha Christie’s best-known works, The Pale Horse is still a satisfying standalone whodunnit for the Halloween season.  Her plotting makes reasonably good sense, as Mark & Ginger become an endearing tandem.  Christie’s potentially silly reliance on black magic/voodoo (like she later would with A Caribbean Mystery) is played with enough straightforward realism to keep even skeptical readers tuned in.  At a minimum, there’s enough clues inferred that the culprit’s identity is definitely fair game.  Even better that is the mystery’s eerie plot twists swerve at the right moments.    

No one is likely to be awed by the climax, but Christie’s storytelling magic won’t disappoint readers, either.  Suffice to say,  The Pale Horse’s loose TV adaptations inexplicably fall short of this novel’s originality — it already works best as is.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

The first page is a brief Christie bio.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                              7 Stars

Written by Agatha Christie

SUMMARY:

First released in 1949, this 276-page St. Martin’s paperback reprint was issued in 2002.  Prior to the end of World War II, British colleagues Charles Hayward and Sophia Leonides become confidantes while stationed in Cairo.  Capably working in England’s Foreign Office administration, 22-year old Sophia reveals that she comes from a wealthy family.  The duo commits to reuniting after the war, at which time Charles wishes to propose marriage. 

Two years later, upon returning to London in late 1947, 35-year old Charles learns that Sophia’s beloved grandfather (and family patriarch), Aristide, has been recently murdered.  Eserine (eye medication) was deliberately switched for Aristide’s daily insulin injection. The crime occurs at the victim’s somewhat eerie estate, Three Gables, located in the posh London suburb of Swinly Dean.

Cajoled by both his father (a Scotland Yard Assistant Commissioner) and a worried Sophia, Charles unofficially joins Chief Inspector Taverner’s investigative team.  At the secluded Three Gables, Charles tactfully observes his potential future in-laws: scholarly Philip & vapid actress Magda (Sophia’s parents), Sophia’s peculiar younger siblings: Eustace and Josephine; Uncle Roger & Aunt Clemency, and prickly Great-Aunt Edith.  There’s also Aristide’s gold-digging (and far younger) widow, Brenda, to contend with. 

Despite the family’s outward quirks (and, per Sophia’s candor, varying shades of ruthlessness), the crime’s primary suspect is the manipulative Brenda.  One theory is that Brenda is conspiring with her rumored lover: the family’s high-strung, in-house tutor, Laurence Brown.

Scandalous family secrets come to light, as Aristide’s’ missing will further complicates a perplexing case.  Charles must rely on his growing insights into the dysfunctional Leonides clan — if there’s any chance of thwarting a sociopathic predator lurking among them.         

Note: This edition’s back cover teaser is inaccurate.  Notably, 1. Charles Hayward isn’t a criminologist – at most, he’s an amateur detective with minimal prior experience.  It’s left murky as to what exactly his overseas occupation actually is.  2. Charles isn’t already ‘intimately’ familiar with the Leonides clan; he’s an outsider looking from the inside, so to speak.  

REVIEW:

Among Agatha Christie’s more chilling works, Crooked House is in the same league but doesn’t surpass And Then There Were None.  One notable distinction is that None’s dark-and-stormy-night ambiance necessitates a generally unlikable cast.  Crooked House’s readability, however, is bolstered by Charles & Sophia’s endearing chemistry.  Often making the same deductions, their plausible teamwork endears them as one of Christie’s most underrated couples. 

While the reclusive Leonides household isn’t as ghoulish as The Addams Family, they aren’t blah caricatures, either.  Pivotal contrasts between the pragmatic Sophia and her oddly intertwined family makes for an intriguing read — i.e. how Sophia is more like an aunt or adult cousin than a big sister to her far younger siblings, let alone a thankless role as Magda’s ‘manager’ vs. being her eldest child.    

Charles’ ongoing surveillance, as a result, conveys a satisfying, first-person whodunnit where everyone is likely whom they seem.  The enigma remains: which suspect’s self-involved personality hides a killer’s instincts.  Hence, Crooked House is really best known for its shocking twist finish (at least, for that era’s standards). 

Putting Christie’s knack for ingenious bait-and-switches aside, the culprit’s identity, based on some obvious inferences, is fair game.  The means by which the horrific truth unfolds, however, remains duly heartbreaking, no matter how often one re-reads the outcome.  As disturbing as the climax is, Crooked House earns its reputation as one of Agatha Christie’s best mysteries.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

The back inside cover provides a brief author bio.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                               8 Stars

Written by Agatha Christie

SUMMARY:

First published in 1936, this 249-page William Morrow/HarperCollins paperback reprint was released in 2011. In London, a chance meeting prompts Hercule Poirot’s bigger-than-life social acquaintance, a Mr. Shaitana, to gleefully invite the Belgian detective to his lavish flat for dinner, drinks, and possibly murder. 

At this peculiar supper party, the flamboyant Shaitana’s guest list includes Colonel Race of the British Secret Service, Scotland Yard’s Superintendent Battle, and mystery novelist Ariadne Oliver.  Evidently attending for their own private reasons, Shaitana’s other quartet of guests consists of: pompous physician Dr. Geoffrey Roberts; sharp-witted widow Mrs. Lorrimer; meekly young companion Anne Meredith; and dashing explorer Major Despard.  Before the night is over, as each quartet of guests play bridge in adjacent rooms, their Mephistophelian-like host is discovered stabbed to death. 

Loosely working as a team, Christie’s detectives deploy their own special methods to ferret out the enigmatic culprit, who may not settle for one victim.  The question remains: which of the fellow guests did their late host evidently bait like a hungry tiger? 

Notes: Poirot & Race also team up in Death on the Nile. In addition to early appearances working with Parker Pyne, Ariadne Oliver appears in several subsequent Poirot mysteries: Mrs. McGinty’s Dead; Dead Man’s Folly; Third Girl; Hallowe’en Party; and Elephants Can Remember.  Along with Ariadne Oliver, Despard and his wife later resurface in The Pale Horse.    

REVIEW:

Despite Christie’s propensity for crossovers recycling her supporting cast, Cards on the Table is the sole team-up co-starring four of Christie’s signature headliners.  The absence of Miss Marple, Harley Quin, and/or Tommy & Tuppence Beresford is regrettable; even so, Christie’s fans won’t be disappointed. 

At a minimum (presumably, it was Christie’s intent), Cards on the Table may well spark renewed interest in Ariadne Oliver, or, for that matter, exploring Battle and Race’s own solo cases – many of which date back to the 1920’s.  That aside, amongst Christie’s vast repertoire, Cards on the Table is a delight to read! 

While the bridge-related jargon might bewilder non-players (of which this reviewer readily confesses to), this factor doesn’t impact the mystery’s entertainment value much.  Instead, one should think of such references as an analogy to the investigation: how one plays his/her cards on or off the table reveals plenty about the player’s mentality.  Not only is the primary crime audaciously intriguing, readers tag along to probe at least four other crimes hidden deep in the past. 

In that sense, the concept predates Christie’s grim And Then There Were None, in terms of bringing belated justice home to some unrepentant sinners.  Make no mistake, though: Cards on the Table is a breezy caper, as compared to the dark-and-stormy-night that And Then There Were None is.  Shaitana’s devilish charisma, for instance, is more attuned to a wacky Batman villain, as far as this plot’s undercurrent of macabre humor goes. 

One also should ponder the judgment of Shaitana’s uneasy guests, as none of them actually like their weird host.  Short of scoring a free meal, why would these eight invitees come to his home, let alone even associate with this creep?  Suffice to say, it’s one baffling puzzle Christie may well leave unsolved.     

There’s really no ingenious ‘Ah-ha!’ to be found in Cards on the Table.  In other words, Christie just wants fans to have some fun, much like how her foreword notes Poirot has a good time tackling this case.  As a casual read, this Poirot mystery delivers the necessary goods (for instance, there’s few racist overtones, as compared to some of Christie’s notorious works).

David Suchet’s 2005 TV film version casts a wickedly perfect Shaitana in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s Alexander Siddig.  Otherwise, Suchet’s loose adaptation is a head-shaking misfire.  An excess of glossy style is substituted in for reliable substance, as sensationalistic changes are made to sex up Christie’s plot.  This reviewer instead recommends Neil Simon’s playfully outlandish Murder By Death.  Despite its risqué humor, this all-star 1976 mystery-comedy spoof (including James Coco as its Poirot stand-in) pushes the detective dinner party-and-a-murder concept to the limit.    

Note: Another Poirot curiosity is 1927’s The Big Four, as Captain Hastings rejoins his best friend for a globe-trotting, comic strip action-adventure melding Sherlock Holmes with James Bond.  Pre-dating Ian Fleming’s style, Christie’s ludicrous plot scores few reality points, let alone expresses sensitivity towards racial caricatures. Exploring Christie’s equivalents to Fu Manchu, Professor Moriarty, and even SMERSH/SPECTRE decades before the James Bond movie franchise, however, offers some fun in her one experiment with Poirot pulp fiction.    

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

Christie includes a brief foreword and a table of contents.  For visual aid purposes, the four suspects’ tabulated bridge scores appear on pages 44-45.  The first page is the author bio.  There’s multiple ads listing the publisher’s available Christie titles.  

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                   7½ Stars