Diana Wynne Jones - Howl's Moving Castle

I just couldn't get into Alias Hook and when I lamented as such on the Facebook page a friend recommended Diana Wynne Jones as my replacement "J" for my A to Z. Years and years ago I had read some of Jones' standalones but realized that I had never read Howl's Moving Castle!

That is no longer the case.

Oh my gosh what a wonderful book! Witches and wizards and demons and curses and love and magic and .... and I'm really quite glad that it took me until now to read it because I'm not quite sure I would have appreciated it enough if I had read it when I was younger and it first came out. In fact, now I'm wondering if I should go and re-read the books of hers that I HAD read when I was young to see if they're entirely new to me with some decades of life added. Funny how that can happen, isn't it?

Michael Innes' Death at the President's Lodging

Death at the President's Lodging is the first John Appleby mystery and was published in 1936. I stumbled upon it 79 years later while searching for an "I" for my A to Z Author Challenge and I am so very glad that I did.

I love classic mysteries. Mysteries set before you could do a background search on someone just by going to Google. Before cell phones made calling for help instantaneous. Even better than a classic mystery without all of the technological gizmos and whatnots? One set in an academic setting. (I'm that much of a geek.)

The "President" in question here is (well, was before, you know, his death) the head of St. Anthony's College in England. You've heard of the "closed room mystery,"  right? Where the crime is committed under seemingly impossible circumstances -- like a closed room with no possible entry or exit? Well, this sort of goes along those lines except that the room is the college campus and entry/exit is limited after hours to a select handful of professors who have been given keys to the school gates. The good news is that this limits the suspect list down greatly. The bad news is that of course a mysterious extra key exists and is unaccounted for.

Now, I could go on and on about plots (complicated and puzzling and, at times, I think made my eyes cross) and characters (the eccentric professors, the bumbling locals, the overly-enthusiastic student sleuths). You know, I could write a review like a "good" reviewer would do.

I never claimed to write good reviews.

What I DO claim is simply this: I'm glad that there are 36 more Appleby titles in existence. If even a quarter of them tickle me as much as Death at the President's Lodging has, I'll be ecstatic.

Agatha Christie's The Murder on the Links

The Murder on the Links is the third of Christie's novels and the second featuring Hercule Poirot yet this was my first encounter with the story. The ITV series didn't air the tale (in all of its "made-for-tv-ness") until part way through the sixth season and I'm still only on the second. (I took a break from watching them on Acorn since they ARE so different and SO out of order. Still very watchable, of course, but I'd like to get more of them read before watching.)

Once again, Hastings is the narrator. In fact, he starts out the tale by breaking my heart into a million lit-crushing pieces:

Ah .... Hastings wouldn't have patience for me! Totally not his type. Of course, my Tom isn't what I ever would have considered to be my type so maybe my lit-crushing fantasies can continue ....

The woman in question Hastings meets while on a train returning to London from Paris. It is some time after The Mysterious Affair At Styles and he and Hercule Poirot were living and working together. While on the train the two talk about life, Poirot, and Styles. They part ways in much better spirits than they started (see? There's hope for my modern neuroticism!) but he doesn't get her name. She says it's Cinderella as she leaves.

Hastings returns to Poirot who is lamenting about being bored because there are no great criminals about to let him work his "little grey cells." Waiting for him in the mail, though, is a call for help from a man in France who feels he is in danger but does not wish to go to the police. He begs Poirot to come at once and, of course, the two take off for France but arrive too late. The man was murdered and his body found on a nearby golf course (the "links" from the title).

The local authorities already know Poirot and there is another detective milling around -- a French Sherlock-ish character who irritates Poirot (he refers to him as "the human foxhound"). There are also mysterious South Americans, family members household staff, a mysterious "secret," a supposed mistress and her "goddess"-like daughter (oh, Hastings ... you're such a dog sometimes. What about the girl on the train?), twins ... and the Cinderella girl and her sister.

Everyone is a suspect at one point or another, and Poirot is brilliant at picking apart what's what and who's who until everything is all solved and tidy again. Since this is told by Hastings, though, we're left quite in the dark at times just as he had been.

Oh, yes. I know the feeling well. At the same time, though, I often feel like giving my beloved Hastings a good shake because of how obvious it is that the "nothing" isn't "nothing" at all. Love him dearly, but Hastings definitely isn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree sometimes and definitely isn't in this outing.

I blame Cinderella.

M. J. Trow's The Blue and The Grey

***I received this title for free from NetGalley and Severn House. 

The free-ness in no way influenced my opinion.***

I feel strange saying that I'm a fan of the Civil War. It just sounds wrong and it was truly a horrible time -- but I've always been a fan of stories from and about that time period. Likewise, Victorian England has always held a special place in my lit-based heart. When I read the description on NetGalley for M. J. Trow's upcoming The Blue and The Grey (set to be released April 1st) and saw that it combined the two? I knew it was one that I would have to read.

The year is 1865. Abraham Lincoln has just been assassinated in Washington, D.C. by John Wilkes Booth. Prostitutes are being butchered in London by the Haymarket Strangler. The stars are Captain Matthew Grand -- an American Civil War veteran who was at the theater when Lincoln was shot and gave chase to Booth, and James Batchelor -- a London-based journalist who ended up covered in a butchered prostitute's blood. Grand travels to London on a mission from the pre-Secret Service agency investigating a conspiracy surrounding Lincoln's assassination and ends up joining forces with Batchelor, who is working with the local police in regards to the Haymarket Strangler.

Trow tells the tale beautifully. The supporting characters are fleshed out more than I typically expect and the locations are so richly detailed that the cities feel like characters all on their own. The sights, the smells, the feels (both physical and emotional) all vivid and vibrant. I felt my heart racing with anxiety -- and also snorted my coffee from the humor. A few times (or more) I got frustrated because I wanted to piece things together just so in my head only to have them jostled out of place by Trow within a couple of pages. I love that it wasn't all neat and tidy and actually threw me off kilter!

The Blue and The Grey is the first in a series and I'll definitely be keeping track for when the second is announced and released.

Agatha Christie's The Secret Adversary

When I was young I had daydreams of growing up to be just like those great fiesty spitfire women I got to watch on weekend tv or read about in the books on my grandmother's shelves.

Like Emma Peel.

Or Nora Charles. 

Or Tuppence Cowley Beresford.

First introduced to the world in Agatha Christie's second novel, The Secret Adversary, Tuppence (whose given name is Prudence) is an old childhood friend of Tommy Beresford's. They meet up by chance after both having been released from wartime duties. They soon realize that they're without much in the way of funds or of prospects. Marrying into wealth isn't as easy as it sounds and neither is finding employment. Tuppence has an idea, though.

They decide to put an advertisement in the newspaper: "Two young adventurers for hire. Willing to do anything, go anywhere. Pay must be good. No unreasonable offer refused." Their joint venture, The Young Adventures, Ltd -- and one of my favorite literary pairings -- begins.

Before the advertisement can even be taken to the paper Tuppence is approached by a man named Mr. Whittington who overheard their conversation and wishes to engage her services. When she goes to meet him she gives him a false name (so as to not have it get back to her clergyman father), Jane Finn. At the time she doesn't recall hearing the name from Tommy -- she believes that she just pulled it out of thin air. Mr Whittington's reaction is quite peculiar and he demands to know what she knows and who she's learned it from. Of course, Tuppence has no idea what he's talking about but plays along to a degree and he pays her off but tells her to return the next day. Later, Tommy reminds Tuppence that he's the one who first told her the name "Jane Finn" and they decide that they have to find out more by investigating Whittington.

"Sort of thing one reads about in books." Oh, Agatha ... you funny, funny author.

Sooooo the next day the two head for Whittington's office only to find that Whittington and the entire company has vanished! Mysterious, right? And all of this just in the first 11% of the book -- there's a lot more to come!

This is not a murder mystery. It's more political espionage and intrigue than cozy. Even though it's typically not my preferred type of story to read,  I still feel like I have to love it.

Because it's Christie.

Because without it we never would have had the BBC Partners in Crime series of the early 1980's (or the upcoming series in celebration of Christie's 125th birthday).


Because of that I love Tommy & Tuppence.

I'm typically one of the first ones to spout out that the book is always better than the tv or film version. Well ... The Secret Adversary is old enough that it's in the public domain and free in the US. No reason not to get it and give it a shot. You may love it. You may want to stick with the on-screen version like I tend to, though.

Caroline Dunford's A Death In The Family

A quick little ramble about a quick little read. If I hadn't been distracted by work and stupid Facebook games I probably would have finished it in a single work shift with time to spare!

After her father, a vicar, unexpectedly falls dead face first into his dinner 18 year old Euphemia ("Effie") Martin takes it upon herself to get a job in order to help support her mother and younger brother. She answers an advertisement for service help at the home of Lord and Lady Stapleford using fictional experience and soon after arriving at the home finds a dead body in a service corridor. Being newly there and obviously not a professional housemaid, she's immediately on the top of the suspect list. She tries to explain herself by admitting only that she's in service because of her father's death -- but omits the fact that her family is actually of higher social standing than her employers. (Her grandfather is an Earl but pretty much disowned Effie's mother when she married or something like that.)

The year is 1910 which gives the tale a feel of the original ITV run of Upstairs, Downstairs or Downton Abbey. Please note, though, that I've ONLY mentioned the shows in case you're not otherwise familiar with the time period and the separation of the servants from the family. I saw it suggested that the book was some sort of spoof on Downton. This, of course, would be hard to pull off since the book was first published a year before Downton hit the air. I'm nitpicking. I'm in one of those moods. (These are the same types of reviewers who complain that English spellings are used instead of American. Eesh.)

Anyway, it's a pleasant enough read. Euphemia is often quick to act/speak before she thinks things through. She's 18 years old, after all, and I can imagine that 18 year olds in 1910 weren't all that different than 18 year olds now (at least as far as the whole ability to keep their mouth shut part goes). Of course not everyone in the household reacts well to her but she does bond rather quickly with some of the members from each side of the house -- the servants as well as the family. In fact, she ends up teaming up with one of the Stapleford sons to clear her name, keep her position, and solve the crime.

For me the relationship between Euphemia and Bertram is the highlight of the whole book. The mystery aspect was decently written, but for me it was secondary to Effie and Bert. They play off of each other quite wonderfully and it makes me eager to see what (if anything) may happen between them in the future. This is, after all, book one of a series that is so far 6 1/2 books long....

Initial Thoughts on Rhys Bowen & C.M. Broyles Dreamwalker

I received Dreamwalker from NetGalley and was beyond thrilled. I have always loved dragons and I'm already a fan of Rhys Bowen thanks to Her Royal Spyness. What would be better than a book about a dragon school of some sort written by Bowen and her daughter? Right?

From the cover: "Seven children. Seven powers. One enemy."

Ooooooh this could be good!

It could be good.

I'm at the 40% mark in the book and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I'm not used to that.

Had this feeling of "meh" happened several months ago, I would have just been all "well, it IS written for children" and called it a day. I can't blame it on being "written for" a younger audience or for having a 12 year old as a main character, though.

According to Amazon:

Dreamwalker -- grades 4-8. The Gates -- grades 5-9. How To Train Your Dragon (reading with John and LOVING it) -- grades 3-7. Flavia de Luce -- 11 year old main character. Sophronia Temminick -- 14 year old main character.

According to a hospital in St. Lawrence County, NY:

Me -- 39 years old

So it definitely doesn't have anything to do with the itty bitty age gap. And it's not a bad book. If it was a bad book I wouldn't have made it all the way to 40%, right? It's just not holding my interest all that much. (I find John's book-crush/fictional-girlfriend Judy Moody more interesting than Addy Walker ... and at 40% she's the only one of the "seven children" mentioned on the cover that we really know anything about!)

If this was a television show -- say, your standard hour long primetime CW program -- and I wasn't hooked 40% in to the first episode I would be probably be turning it off and I think that's what I'll be doing now. (Granted, like your standard CW program I may try again at a later date and love it. It took me several "restarts" before I really got into Arrow, after all. There's still hope for Dreamwalker and an updated review .... some day.)

Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair At Styles

This is going to be far more of a ramble than a "review" so bear with me.

Growing up, I was spoiled by superstations. The biggest culprits being WOR and WPIX -- Channels 9 and 11 out of New York City. They aired the greats. They introduced me to Laurel & Hardy, Twilight Zone, The Three Stooges, F-Troop, Charlie Chan, Jim Rockford, Cary Grant, Danny Kaye ... and Agatha Christie. My absolute favorites were And Then There Were None and Murder On The Orient Express (it amused me to no end that Charlie Chan and Hercule Poirot were so similar ... of course, both being played by the late great Peter Ustinov).

Anyway, being quite young when I first started to watch them, I had yet to fall in to the "Must. Go. In. Order." mindtrap once I realized that they actually came in book form as well. My grandmother had several Agatha Christie books on her shelves and I would read them as best as I could and as often as I could. When I started to acquire the ebooks to lead up to this year's birthday read-a-thon I realized that I may not have ever read the very first: The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

(Do yourself a favor and get a hard copy ... or at least make sure that 

your e-copy indicates that it has the illustrations. They're pretty nifty.)

The tale is a first-person narrative given by Arthur Hastings (much like John Watson tells the tales of Sherlock Holmes).

Yay! I big puffy-heart LOVE Hastings! Especially the ITV Hastings. Ooooh Hugh Fraser and those eyes ... SO much dreamier than the Hastings of my youth. Seriously. The best part of the TV adaptations has been the increased presence of Hastings as he only really appeared in eight out of thirty-three Poirot novels.

Anyway, back to the novel at hand.

Hastings is off to stay with his old friend, John Cavendish, and his rather dysfunctional family -- wife, brother, stepmother, her new husband, her niece and several servants. During an early conversation with John's beguiling wife, Mary, she asks Hastings what he might do with himself now that he's back.

So, yes. This is the first Hercule Poirot novel ... but we don't even see the little fellow until Hastings literally runs into him about 10% in:

It is quite the stroke of luck that Poirot is so close since, of course, a mysterious death occurs a short time later. It's John's stepmother and he asks Hastings to have Poirot investigate. Poirot agrees and Hastings tries to help.His earlier mention of using his friend's method of detection but having "progressed rather further" is seen to be a bit of an exaggeration.

Often left in the dark with what his little friend is thinking, Hastings still tags along hoping to come up with some way to be of use and show his worth.

Suspects are plentiful, of course. Even we, the readers, are left to wonder "who-done-it," what Poirot is thinking, and whether any of his "little ideas" ever mean anything at all. That's one of the glorious things, I believe. We go along for the ride with Hastings and the rest of the crew wondering what the heck is going on.

Arrests are made, acquittals are made, and at times even Poirot is frustrated that things don't seem to be falling into place. Then voilà! Poirot calls everyone together and reveals all -- arranging all of the facts into their proper places and making sense of it all.

Is it the best mystery novel ever written?
Of course not.
Is it well worth reading?
Mais oui, mes amis.

2015 British Books Challenge

I found out about the British Books Challenge hosted over at Fluttering Butterflies from Chrissi Reads' recap of her 2014 reads.

I got looking at The Reading Thing and immediately thought : GREAT! A ton of these are British!

Eh. Not so much.

A ton of them are SET in the UK but written by "others."

I only have eight British authors on the Thing!

• Agatha Christie
• Rhys Bowen
• Carola Dunn
• Catriona McPherson
• Claire North
• Josephine Tey
• Nicola Upson
• Jacqueline Winspear

Luckily, though, the challenge is to read 12 books by British authors .... and since I'm lined up to read the first 18 Hercule Poirot novels over the course of the year (if all goes as planned), I should have this in the bag!

The way it looks now my tally will look like this:

• Agatha Christie - 18
• Rhys Bowen - 2
• Carola Dunn - 2 (3 if you count the one I'm reading now and likely won't finish until next year)
• Catriona McPherson - 2
• Claire North - 1
• Josephine Tey - 1
• Nicola Upson - 1
• Jacqueline Winspear - 1

28 total (or 29). Not too shabby. Of course, this IS assuming I read consistently .... and a wee bit faster than I have in 2014.

For more information on the BBC and to sign-up, just click here: