Diane’s Comments (group member since Dec 25, 2015)

Diane’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Thank all of you for your info! I am in the States and my library uses Overdrive. I do already use the overdrive to download audible books but didn’t realize I could utilize it for a kindle.
I will talk to one of the librarians before purchase to see if some models work better than others, etc.
Thanks again!

I do not have a kindle but am thinking of buying one. Too many books I want from the library, golden age mysteries, are only available now as ebooks and I don’t enjoy reading them from my computer.
Must all books on the kindle be purchased? Are library ebooks easily downloadable to a kindle?
I hope this is an appropriate place to ask this question. If not, my apologies.

I just finished it and have already started on The Sirens Sang of Murder. I hope it’s as entertaining.
The legal language was over my head and I had to read up on the British legal system. I had no idea of the difference between members of the Bar and solicitors. The tax laws, I’m not even going to try to understand but my ignorance hasn’t made a difference. I loved the repartee and the witticisms, at least I hope there were some because I found lots to smile about.
Alas, my local library only has the last three books of the set. Unless I buy Thus Was Adonis Murdered, I will never know what happened.

Thom wrote: "Diane wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "Yes, I loved Mapp & Lucia books so much, I bought the DVD as a birthday gift to myself..."
There are DVDs? And they were done well? That sounds wonderful and I've..."
Thank you both for the the wonderful information about the Mapp and Lucia series. My local library had the dvds and it was the 1980s series! They are delicioso! Sorry, after binging all ten episodes I've starting talking a bit like Lucia.
Prunella Scales and Geraldine McEwan are the quintessential Mapp and Lucia and Nigel Hawthorne is exactly as I always pictured him. Molte grazie.

Now, back to Mystery in the Channel. I liked the cleverness of the plot but not entirely. For me, at times, it did bog down. And I did guess the culprit although I didn't figure out the how. I couldn't see who else it could possible be.

Susan in NC wrote: "Yes, I loved Mapp & Lucia books so much, I bought the DVD as a birthday gift to myself..."

There are DVDs? And they were done well? That sounds wonderful and I've got to find them. Best of all, I have a birthday coming up.

I totally agree with you, Annabel, and her ability to portray people so vividly is probably why she's is still beloved today.

I'm glad you mentioned the Mapp and Lucia books. I loved them and I think its time to reread them. I could use some chuckles now.

I'm only about half way through but did not notice the absence of women either. I'm guessing the absence is due to the lack of women in finance until more modern day times.
One real punch that I did catch was when Sir Mortimer was soliloquizing about the innocent people who would be hurt and mentioned "Think of all the innocent people who will now have to give up sending their sons to a decent school."
It's just the way it was then.

Jill wrote: "I never noticed the absence of any women. There was a mention of French's wife and him going on holidays, and I did wonder why at the end of his day he was going to see the other detective, but dis..."
Perhaps Croft and his wife were going through a bad patch when he wrote this book. lol

I really liked this plot with all its twists and red herrings and I was leaning toward the correct one for the murder! That is rare for me. I am usually clueless.

Sandy wrote: "I just checked out the cover on the kindle version and it shows a cat and two kittens playing with knitting yarn and needles. I've know the knitting connection but haven't met any cats yet.."
I got the actual book for the library and so saw the cover first thing. I figured that neither the person who drew the cover nor the person who approved it had read the book, After all, a book with old ladies and knitting must also involve cats!

I really l enjoyed the book. It was humorous and very clever in where the critical part of the murder weapon was hidden. Mrs. Napier was a quite the character.

Just checked and my local library has all listed for the challenge. I am set.

Susan wrote: "For anyone hoping to join in with our 'extra,' Miss Marple title next month, Miss Marple's Final Cases but who has a complete book of Miss..."

Thanks for listing them. My local library doesn't have a copy of Miss Marple's Final Cases but does have the complete book of short stories. Now I'll know which are relevant to our discussions.

Tara wrote: "He might very well have gotten away with these murders too, if Miss Marple was not at hand to out-sleuth him."

Hurrah for Miss Marple. With all its flaws and improbabilities, I thought it was still a good story. And the flaws give us something to talk about, surely a good thing.

Susan wrote: "I liked the way that Miss Marple felt responsible for Gladys though. She never hesitated, just went off to do battle! Gladys was too late in contacting her, but she knew that she would do her best ..."
That's true. Miss Marple always has a good sense of right and wrong, duty and responsibility. After mulling it over, I realized that if Gladys hadn't worked for Miss Marple, Miss Marple wouldn't have been involved and the murders would never have been solved. Not unless they were pinned on Miss Dove.

I didn't guess the murderer but the relation to the poem worked once the pie episode was explained.
The seduction of Gladys resulting in her role seemed overly complicated and risky. And Gladys having once worked for Miss Marple just seemed too coincidental. I don't know, I'm still mulling this part over.

Carol ♔Type, Oh Queen!♕ wrote: "Judy wrote: "
I feel I'd like to finish the seri..."

The funny thing about the Grafton books - even the ones I enjoy I can't remember anything about them afterwards. Other than W- I do remember th..."

How funny - I'm the same way! I can't remember even after reading a plot summary if a couple of years have passed by. And I liked the series.
I figure I can re-read the series someday and it will seem new and fresh.

This book is my favorite of the Miss Marple series so far. Like everyone else, I love the atmosphere. It feels so comfortable.

Judy wrote: "Susan, I noticed that too - people keep thinking she is *very* old and then it transpires she is about 72 at the most!"

The movies and TV shows always portrayed her looking and acting as though she was 90.

I really enjoyed this possibly because I guessed and early on, who the murderer was. I had no idea of the intricacies of how etc but the Major had mentioned in his story of two doctors comparing notes about wife murderers that one of the victims had been described by the devoted husband as acting odd, neurotic. She tried to commit suicide, been rescued by the husband, only to succeed later. The other doc had the same story.
I just knew who the killer was from that but of course had to read to whole book to confirm it and find out the how. I'm proud of myself. I rarely can figure out who done its.

I really like the book even with aliases galore. The only negative, and it was a minor one, was the mimicry at the end. I thought it unnecessary.