Saturday, August 02, 2008

happiness is...


...finding an Agatha Christie novel that I haven't read before! Just when I thought life with unknown Christie plots out there was over, up pops Death in the Clouds at a second hand bookshop. I'm going to savour this one, along with Why Shoot a Butler?, by Georgette Heyer. Once there are no more new Christies for me, Georgette Heyer's 1920s murder mysteries are definitely next on the list. Then there's the books written by Christie under the pseudonym of Mary Westmacott, or G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown Stories. My life is not, in fact, over.

Is anyone else addicted to murder mysteries? What does it for you? Which ones would you recommend?

For me, I think it's the utter pleasure I get out of them. I am not ashamed to admit I read them for pure entertainment. They're not completely mindless because I do have to figure out who I think the culprit is, but they're such welcome relief from the tomes I read at university. I love that I start thinking I've figured out Christie's pattern, and can predict who the murderer is, and then suddenly she changes her pattern again and I'm completely shocked at the end. I love the characters, who are so strong and interesting and distinctive.

My favourite Christies, for anyone who's interested:
The Man in the Brown Suit
Ordeal by Innocence
They Came to Baghdad
The Moving Finger
(although it really is difficult to pick out of the long list of books she wrote...)

5 comments:

Trish Ryan said...

I can't believe I've never read Christie! Thanks for the inspiration :)

Unknown said...

like trish, i've never read christie--i may just have to see what all the fuss is about! :)

Beck said...

Ngaio Marsh is MUCH like Christie. As is Margery Allingham!
My favorite Christies?
The ABC Murders
The Hollow
A Caribeean Mystery...

Stacy said...

Wow, I haven't read Christie in years. Since high school maybe? Or even middle school?

Georgette Heyer is going back into print in the States. I almost bought one except a) money is tight and b) my to-be-read list extends almost the length of my bedroom. *is not exaggerating here*

Patty said...

Sadly, I don't have much time to read for pleasure. I am now reading two books at the same time, both teaching me how to use HTML/XHTML. I am usually reading online tutorials, researching stuff on Wikipedia, etc., so it's not like I'm a complete idiot. :) But as for real books, yah, I'm lacking there.

The last time I read an actual book, maybe a few months ago, it was a very good murder mystery book that I can't remember the name of now, I will see if I can find out. I love mysteries and murder . . . in a book of course!

I actually have an Agatha Christie movie, Caribbean Cruise/Adventure or something like that on tape that I haven't watched yet. Do you know it? Oh, I think Beck answered my question over the title. I wonder if it's any good as a film?