And Then There Were None; Agatha Christie

And Then There Were None; Agatha Christie

Harper Collins

And Then There Were None is an Agatha Christie mystery about ten people, all strangers to one another, who have received an invitation to spend time on a remote island (Indian Island).  The details are vague, but each of them is lured to the island with promises of just the vacation they needed or an employment opportunity. All of those invited are anxious to escape their past and decide to accept the invitation. The invitees do not even know who will be hosting them once they arrive. 

Each of the ten guests has somewhat of a dark past and the crime they committed has gone unpunished. At dinner shortly after their arrival, a mysterious recording plays announcing the dark deeds each guest has supposedly committed. Soon, one by one they begin to die off. It appears that they have been invited to the Island to pay for their crimes.

I had mixed feelings about this story. I really disliked the beginning when all of the guests were being introduced. The writing seemed very choppy and I felt like I needed a flow chart to track the guests and what was being said about them if I was ever going to be able to put the pieces together.  It’s obvious from the beginning that all of the guests are going to end up dead, but how they would die and who would be next, was what made me want to hang in there instead of jump ship after my rocky start.

I did like the way AC  made each of the guests look like they could have been the murderer at one point or another. The remote island setting, the grand old house, all added to the build of tension as the mystery progressed. The ending was not what I was expecting either, but I did like the manner in which details of the murders were revealed.

A quick and pretty clever mystery, I thought this was a decent read, but I think overall I was still a bit disappointed.

3.5/5 stars

(purchase)

Dear Daughter; Elizabeth Little

Dear Daughter; Elizabeth Little

Viking - 2014

Dear Daughter tells the story of Hollywood "It Girl",  Jane Jenkins who served 10 years in prison for murdering her mother, Marion Elsinger, a high society beauty and philanthropist who has had numerous husbands over the years.

Jane, as a teen was spoiled rotten and totally out of control, often appearing in the media for some drug or alcohol offense.  Now at 27 and newly released from prison on a technicality for evidence mishandling, she immediately goes into hiding. She is a woman on a mission,  determined to find her mother’s killer,  although the night of her mother’s murder she was heavily under the influence.

Jane changes her appearance, leaves town and recreates herself. Even her lawyer isn't sure where she is. With only a vague memory of a conversation she overheard her mother having with a man the night of the murder, she headed to two small mining towns in South Dakota, to get to work. However, once she begins asking questions she quickly learns that she’d better be careful or she could even be a target like he mother.

Our protagonist Jane (Janie) is what makes this novel a treat. She’s a spunky, in your face kind of person, she’s very vain and knows how to turn on the charm when it’s to her benefit, but she is very witty and funny as well and that’s what this novel so good. Imagine an in your face Beverly Hills girl in small town South Dakota looking for a killer. It makes me laugh just thinking about it. Although a lot of what happens in this novel seems very unrealistic, it’s fiction, and if you can allow yourself to suspend belief, you will be rewarded for your efforts.

Dear Daughter is a  multi-layered mystery with a protagonist you won’t forget. Although not all of the threads are completely tied up, the ending did not disappoint, and it left me wondering if a sequel might be in the works.  Elizabeth Little is a new author with talent who knows how to create interesting and quirky characters, I’ll be looking out for more books by her moving forward.

4/5

(book received from published)

R.I.P. Challenge - IX - Completed 9/30/2014

When it comes to reading challenges these days, I try to avoid them, EXCEPT, for Carl's R.I.P. Challenge. This is my 7th year participating and Carl's 9th year as host.  The challenge runs from, September 1 - October 31st and is always great fun, as what better time to read creepy stories or good mysteries than right before Halloween.

There are several levels one can participate, but I always try to choose the easiest so I don't fail:)

Peril the First:
Read four books, any length, that you feel fit (the very broad definitions) of R.I.P. literature. It could be King or Conan Doyle, Penny or Poe, Chandler or Collins, Lovecraft or Leroux…or anyone in between.

I hope to read 4 of these 6 for this challenge.

• After the Funeral; Agatha Christie -When Cora Lansquenet is savagely murdered with a hatchet, the extraordinary remark she made the previous day at her brother Richard’s funeral suddenly takes on a chilling significance. At the reading of Richard’s will, Cora was clearly heard to say,“It’s been hushed up very nicely, hasn’t it.…But he was murdered, wasn’t he?”In desperation, the family solicitor turns to Hercule Poirot to unravel the mystery.…
• At Bertram's Hotel; Agatha Christie - An old-fashioned London hotel is not quite asreputable as it makes out to be.…When Miss Marple comes up from the country fora holiday in London, she finds what she’s looking forat Bertram’s Hotel: traditional decor, impeccableservice, and an unmistakable atmosphere of dangerbehind the highly polished veneer. Yet, not evenMiss Marple can foresee the violent chain of eventsset in motion when an eccentric guest makes hisway to the airport on the wrong day.…
• Silkworm; Robert Galbraith - When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days-as he has done before-and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.
  But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realizes. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were to be published, it would ruin lives-meaning that there are a lot of people who might want him silenced.
  When Quine is found brutally murdered under bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any Strike has encountered before... A compulsively readable crime novel with twists at every turn, THE SILKWORM is the second in the highly acclaimed series featuring Cormoran Strike and his determined young assistant, Robin Ellacott.
• One Kick; Chelsea Cain  - Meet Kick Lannigan. She’s twenty-one. She can pick any lock. She knows five ways to kill you with a jacket. Get ready to fall in love.
  From the author of the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell thrillers: The first in a nail-biting new series featuring Kick Lannigan, a young woman whose complicated past has given her a very special skill set. (Sept)
• Dear Daughter; Elizabeth Little (Sept)
• And Then There Were None; Agatha Christie (Sept)
• A Good Marriage; Stephen King (Sept)
• The Farm; Tom Rob Smith (Oct)
• That Night; Chevy Stevens (Oct)

Thanks Carl

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