Murder on the Orient Express: Agatha Christie

Murder on the Orient Express was published in 1934, it featured Hercule Poirot, the dapper, egotistical, and very intelligent and perceptive Belgian detective.

From the synopsis of the book at the official Agatha Christie website:

Travelling on the Orient Express, Poirot is approached by a desperate American named Ratchett.  Afraid that someone plans to kill him, Ratchett asks Poirot for help.

Thus begins an intriguing tale of a murder investigation in an enclosed environment, this time on a train. The plotting is superb, and there is subtle humor in the relationship between Poirot and the director of the Compagnie Internationale des Wagon Lits (also a Belgian). I found Christie's handling of the denouement, and the reactions of the "spectators" as the culprit was revealed, very moving, providing an emotional ending.

It is obvious I enjoyed this book, but I did read it after seeing the movie based on the book, and thus I knew the story from beginning to end. [I thought I had seen the movie recently, but in truth in had been nearly 3 years.  I still remember it vividly however.]

The movie is a good adaption, following the book very closely, and beautifully and tastefully done. Reading this book, I was paying more attention to how the story is told, how the author fools the reader until the very end. The fact that I could enjoy it so much, even though I knew the ending, speaks to how well Christie tells a story and entertains us.

In the film Albert Finney stars as Poirot. Other well-known actors in the film are: Martin Balsam, Richard Widmark, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman (who received an Oscar for her performance), Sean Connery, John Gielgud, Vanessa Redgrave, Michael York and Anthony Perkins.


This counts as one of my books for the following challenges:
Mt. TBR Challenge
Read Your Own Books Challenge
A-Z Challenge
Vintage Mystery Challenge
Cruisin' Thru the Cozies Challenge
Mystery & Suspense Reading Challenge

D is for Len Deighton

This post is my contribution to the Crime Fiction Alphabet community meme for this week. The letter is D, and this gives me the opportunity to feature an author I really enjoy reading. Please visit the post at Mysteries in Paradise to check out other D entries.

This is the year I discovered Len Deighton.  A couple of years ago I researched his books and wondered why I had never pursued them. When I attended the Big September Book Sale that I go to yearly, I picked up as many of his books as I could: The IPCRESS File, the first four Bernard Samson books (the Game, Set, and Match trilogy, plus Spy Hook), SS-GB, and Winter. So I was set.

The first book I read this year was The IPCRESS File. I have to admit I was disappointed. I found the book confusing and disjointed. I read many reviews afterwards. There were other people who had the same problems I had, but the vast majority loved it, and it is on many lists of iconic spy fiction.  Maybe on a re-read I will appreciate it more, and I just purchased the next two nameless spy books because I have read so many good reviews and articles.

This excerpt from an article at The Guardian describes a similar reaction from Kingsley Amis:

His first novel, The Ipcress File, was framed as a story told by the narrator to the Minister of Defence, who is cut off sharply when he tries to elicit an elaboration of a point:

    ''It's going to be very difficult for me if I have to answer questions as I go along," I said. "If it's all the same to you, Minister, I'd prefer you to make a note of the questions, and ask me afterwards."
    "My dear chap, not another word, I promise."
    And throughout the entire explanation he never again interrupted.

In an excoriating essay written in 1964, Kingsley Amis suggested that the reason for this was that the minister had fallen asleep. But later he changed his mind somewhat: in a letter to Philip Larkin in 1985, he wrote that Deighton's work was "actually quite good if you stop worrying about what's going on".

Moving on to the other books, I read Berlin Game, Mexico Set, and London Match in February of this year. I immediately became a Len Deighton fan.  And a Bernard Samson fan (the protagonist of the novels).  My brief reviews are here and here.

Next I read Winter, which is described as a prequel to the Bernard Samson series. Although it is not a mystery, some of the characters do get involved with the intelligence community during World War II.  It actually fits well between the Game, Set and Match trilogy and Spy Hook, because Spy Hook includes characters that are in Winter. This is the story of a family in Germany from 1900 to 1945. It is a very ambitious book and it did not grab me as much as the others, possibly because of the length. (My review here.) On the other hand, my current reading subject of choice is World War II and England and Germany, and it fit right in. It motivated me to read Richard J. Evan's The Coming of the Third Reich, which I am doing right now.

Spy Hook

And the last fiction book I completed was Spy Hook. This continues the story of Bernard Samson, an intelligence officer in the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). Like most spy fiction I have read, there is a large cast of characters, some continuing from the earlier novels, some new. Samson has personal relationships with old friends from Berlin and business relationships with other intelligence officers, and has to balance his loyalties and determine who he can trust. Family relationships are a big theme, probably one of the reasons I like the series. There is a  lot of traveling and investigation in this one; some of the earlier ones focused more on the day-to-day office experience of the intelligence officer.

I am deliberately avoiding much mention of the actual plot and what drives a lot of Samson's actions, because that could hamper the enjoyment of earlier books in series, if you have not read them. I do recommend reading them in order, and starting with Berlin Game. This one has a cliff hanger ending, which normally would annoy me, but since I know I will be continuing with Bernard's story, it worked well for me. I enjoy Bernard Samson's company almost as much as Archie Goodwin, the first person narrator of the Nero Wolfe mysteries by Rex Stout. 

Further reading

A list of all the Bernard Samson novels with year published:

1. Berlin Game (1983)
2. Mexico Set (1984)
3. London Match (1985)
4. Spy Hook (1988)
5. Spy Line (1989)
6. Spy Sinker (1990)
7. Faith (1994)
8. Hope (1995)
9. Charity (1996)

I do have plans for reading more Deighton this year. I will complete the Bernard Samson series, I hope. I have ordered Spy Line and Faith, and will be looking for Spy Sinker. I will definitely read XPD, and probably SS-GB.  Both of those are alternate histories. My husband read SS-GB a few months ago and rated it highly. And if there is time, the next two novels in the nameless spy series: Horse Under Water and Funeral in Berlin.

There are many more books by Deighton.  More in the nameless spy series, other fiction and non-fiction books.

This post is already much longer than I intended, so I will end with a couple of links.

The Deighton Dossier is just an amazing resource on Len Deighton and his books. There is so much more to know about him than I can cover here.

There is a nice review of Winter at Simon's Book Blog.  The blog appears to have reviews of most of Deighton's books.

Book Beginnings: A Train Ride

Most Fridays, I participate in Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader. This week my entry is for a vintage mystery.

The guidelines of the meme are: Share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Don't forget to include the title and author of the book.


Visit the post at Rose City Reader and view the other links and get a glimpse of books you may not be familiar with.

The first two sentences of my latest read is:

It was five o’clock on a winter’s morning in Syria.  Alongside the platform at Aleppo stood the train grandly designated in railway guides as the Taurus Express.

This beginning evokes thoughts and images of exotic locations and travels in faraway lands. The book delivers, although the most of the action (or detection) takes place inside the train. I am about a third of the way through and enjoying the trip very much.

The book is Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie.

I have not read anything by Agatha Christie for a long time. I read a lots of her books when I was younger. I have seen the movie based on this book, so I know the plot, but I am finding that this book is so enjoyable to read that it doesn't matter.

C is for The Cambridge Theorem

Again I am participating in the Crime Fiction Alphabet community meme. This week we are up to the letter C, and I am eager to see what other participants have covered. Please visit the post at Mysteries in Paradise to check out other C entries.

My choice is The Cambridge Theorem by Tony Cape. This is a first novel by an author who produced four mysteries between 1989 and 1996. This book is a combination of police procedural and spy fiction. Right up my alley. I read the book in January of this year, before I started this blog.

The description on the book cover sums it up well:

"When Simon Bowles commits suicide, no one is surprised. A graduate student at Cambridge University, Bowles had a long history of depression. But as Detective Sergeant Derek Smailes soon discovers, he also had an extraordinary knack for solving historical mysteries. His most recent project: Uncovering the identity of the fabled “fifth man” in the notorious Cambridge spy-ring of the 1930s. Could Bowles possibly have solved that mystery? And could his solution—his “theorem”—have brought about his death?"

It is obvious from the beginning that there is something brewing related to the Cambridge spies, but it is not clear if it actually has anything to do with the demise of Simon Bowles. Every one else involved considers the death of the graduate student to be a suicide... but DS Derek Smailes isn't so sure. He gets interested and follows up on some inconsistencies.

The title of the book refers to the student's extracurricular activities: using mathematical logic to solve problems. In this case both the possible existence of a fifth Cambridge spy and the solution to the Kennedy assassination.  The plot centers on the investigation into a possible conspiracy to cover up a murder, and whether this relates Simon Bowles' investigation into the Cambridge spies or not. 

I enjoy spy fiction for the stories of corruption and betrayals. Police procedurals are a favorite sub-genre for me. With elements of both, this book kept me entertained for all of its 430 pages.   However, it was the development of the main character, Derek, and his backstory, that pushed up another level for me. The exploration of why he is a policeman and his complex relationship with his father and how this drives his actions was well done.

The book is set in the early 1980's, and was published in 1989. The copy I have was published by Felony & Mayhem and I discovered it at a wonderful independent bookstore that has an extensive mystery collection. There are three more books by Tony Cape (per Fantastic Fiction) and as far as I can tell, they all are continuations of the Derek Smailes series. The second and third are available at a reasonable price (used, online), but finding the fourth one is more difficult.  I would like to know more about the author, Tony Cape, but was unsuccessful in my research.

More information related to the book:
Online article about the Cambridge spies at BBC News
At Felony & Mayhem
A review by B. Morrison

A Fall from Grace: Robert Barnard

This book is the eighth book in a series of mystery novels about Detective Inspector Charlie Peace. He first appears in the fourth book in the Perry Trethowan series, Bodies.  At that point he is not a policeman. Later he gets his own series.

In this book, Charlie has recently moved with his family to Slepton Edge, a village in Yorkshire. He and his wife are getting to know others in the community. At the same time, his wife's father has moved to the same village, an uncomfortable situation for both he and his wife. Her relationship to him is strained, and neither of them like him very much.

Even though the series is in the police procedural sub-genre, this entry is not really a police procedural, focusing more on their family life and relationships, and community relationships.  Charlie and his wife become involved with a murder that takes place in their village, but it is outside of his turf, and he is warned off by the detective in charge. For various reasons, Charlie feels it is important for him to do some investigating, and he tries to do this without stepping on any toes.

Charlie is black and his wife is white; they do run into some prejudices in their interactions with the community. The inter-racial aspects are noted in this mystery, but that is a side issue. The various members of the community are all interesting types, as usual, and provide some humor. Others are very sinister. This is a cozy with an edge.

The last book by Robert Barnard that I read (and reviewed here) is Political Suicide, a satirical look at politics in the 1980's. In A Fall from Grace, one of the secondary characters is involved in politics at the local level, and Barnard pokes some fun at the political process here too.

Barnard's novels often touch on uncomfortable aspects of community life and challenge our expectations. The review at Kirkus Reviews decribes this book as  "an exquisitely troubling portrait of parenting, teaching and the pack mentality."

I enjoyed this book. It does end abruptly; there is a resolution but it is implied, not explicit. It works for me, and unusual endings are usual in Barnard's novels. I have the next two in the series waiting to be read; I just have too many books I want to read. And I want to read another non-series novel by Barnard soon too.

This counts as one of my books for the following challenges:
Mt. TBR Challenge
Read Your Own Books Challenge
A-Z Challenge
Cruisin' Thru the Cozies Challenge
Mystery & Suspense Reading Challenge  

Mysteries in May and Pick of the Month

Last month I began summarizing my monthly reading... or at the least my mystery reading. In May, I read more books than the previous month and they were all very good.

In 2002, I began writing down every book I read, non-fiction, fiction,  all genres. In a lined journal. I wish I had done that all of my adult life. I find I am enjoying writing in my blog partly because I like thinking about what I liked and why. And to be able to go back and remind myself.

Books I read in May (with links to reviews)...

1. In the Woods by Tana French
2. A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler
3. Political Suicide by Robert Barnard
4. The Guards by Ken Bruen 
5. The Light of Day by Eric Ambler 
6. A Fall from Grace by Robert Barnard 
7. Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-fifth Street by William S. Baring-Gould 
8. Spy Hook by Len Deighton

The Crime Fiction Pick of the Month meme is hosted at Mysteries in Paradise. It is entertaining to see what others have read during the month and what they liked.

Two of the authors I read this month were new to me, Tana French and Ken Bruen. I am glad I gave both of them a try, and I will read more books by those authors.

Only one of my books was a vintage mystery. I have got to pick it up in that area. Although the non-fiction book about Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe covers a lot of books from the vintage years.

It is difficult this month picking the one book I liked the best.  I was very impressed by The Guards by Ken Bruen. I wasn't expecting to like it that much, given the subject matter. But my last read of the month was Spy Hook by Len Deighton. That book is the 4th of nine books about Bernard Samson, and I love that series. From the first page to the last, I was enjoying the read and being able to spend more time with Bernard, my favorite spy.

Thus my Pick of the Month for May is Spy Hook by Len Deighton. I have not reviewed that book; I just finished it last night. But I have reviewed Berlin Game, the first novel in the series, and my favorite. And the 2nd and 3rd in the series: Mexico Set, and London Match.