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stonepicnicking_okapiThe Floating Admiral [1931] was written by the Detection Club, of which Agatha Christie was a member. Each member wrote a chapter and passed it onto the next. My expectations were low, but it turned out to be a decent story. Anthony Berkley did the last chapter and was Very Clever about it. Dorothy L. Sayers did a chapter, too.
The plot:
On a drifted boat, the body of Admiral Penistone is found. Last night, he had dinner with his niece in the house of the vicar. Afterwards he used his own boat to navigate over the river to his home. However, the boat on which the admiral is found is not his property, but is owned by the vicar. The admiral was stabbed by a knife or a dagger, but there is no blood on the floor. Furthermore, the mooring line has been cut.
Everyone is Not What They Seem and Guarding Secrets and quite a few of them Have a Past. And there's a chapter that relies heavily on train schedules and another that includes a lot about river tides.
---
The Sittaford Mystery [1931] is a girl + guy solve a mystery. I had read it before and remembered the most interesting part of it: the motive of the killer. It's greed but the circumstances of the greed are sort of funny and pathetic and twee. And, boy, does Agatha have Bizarre Thoughts about couple compatibility, marriage, romantic relationships, etc. A heavy does of People Being Not What They Seem. And I can see her taking bits and pieces of other works and weaving them in. Parts of this are like The Man in the Brown Suit. There's an element here that will show up in Mousetrap. There's another type of character (the older man who makes foolish investments) shows up in all kinds of places.
Mrs Willett and her daughter host a a séance on a snowy winter's evening in Dartmoor. The spirit tells them that Captain Trevelyan is dead. The roads being impassible to vehicles, Major Burnaby announces his intention to go to the village on foot to check on his friend, where he appears to find the prediction has come true. Emily Trefusis, engaged to Trevelyan's nephew, uncovers the mystery along with the police.
Next up: Peril at End House. I can hear the way Poirot says 'Mademoiselle Buckley' in my head as we speak. And more séances, I think.
The plot:
On a drifted boat, the body of Admiral Penistone is found. Last night, he had dinner with his niece in the house of the vicar. Afterwards he used his own boat to navigate over the river to his home. However, the boat on which the admiral is found is not his property, but is owned by the vicar. The admiral was stabbed by a knife or a dagger, but there is no blood on the floor. Furthermore, the mooring line has been cut.
Everyone is Not What They Seem and Guarding Secrets and quite a few of them Have a Past. And there's a chapter that relies heavily on train schedules and another that includes a lot about river tides.
---
The Sittaford Mystery [1931] is a girl + guy solve a mystery. I had read it before and remembered the most interesting part of it: the motive of the killer. It's greed but the circumstances of the greed are sort of funny and pathetic and twee. And, boy, does Agatha have Bizarre Thoughts about couple compatibility, marriage, romantic relationships, etc. A heavy does of People Being Not What They Seem. And I can see her taking bits and pieces of other works and weaving them in. Parts of this are like The Man in the Brown Suit. There's an element here that will show up in Mousetrap. There's another type of character (the older man who makes foolish investments) shows up in all kinds of places.
Mrs Willett and her daughter host a a séance on a snowy winter's evening in Dartmoor. The spirit tells them that Captain Trevelyan is dead. The roads being impassible to vehicles, Major Burnaby announces his intention to go to the village on foot to check on his friend, where he appears to find the prediction has come true. Emily Trefusis, engaged to Trevelyan's nephew, uncovers the mystery along with the police.
Next up: Peril at End House. I can hear the way Poirot says 'Mademoiselle Buckley' in my head as we speak. And more séances, I think.
no subject
Date: 2021-08-27 07:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-08-27 02:56 pm (UTC)I have only made it through 1 decade and there are 4 more to go! It will be a life journey, but it does help me see how she evolves certain ideas and recycles types of characters.