#ClassicsCommunity 2021 Reading Challenge discussion

1. I am actually a fan of dividing the book into three different parts. I think it is setting the stage really nicely. As for why she did it: I'm thinking it might be for keeping track of the characters and each of their unique relationships with Rosemary? Just a thought.
2. Yes, I think that Rosemary as the name of the victim was a deliberate choice because of the meaning. I noticed that small quotes pertaining to remembrance and Rosemary are sprinkled throughout book 1. (but @Shannon, yes, who knows, maybe she loved Rosemary and Iris flowers and simply wanted to incorporate them into a story)
3. Honestly I'm not quite sure about George so far... I get a feeling that he did find out who Leopard was. But then again, maybe if he had known who Leopard was and then murdered Rosemary, he wouldn't be so obvious by acting oddly in front of Iris/asking so many questions. I'm not sure. I haven't made up my mind completely about him yet.

This one is a real page turner! I love the setup of it, and I like how we're getting a bit of insight into the characters. Can't wait to check in next week ☺️

Oh and also, I voted on the other thread, but just in case it was missed: B, D, E, and G are my choices.

#1 I'm also a fan of this structure. It makes things clearer for us failed amateur sleuths :P and builds up the suspense really nicely

#2 I haven't paid attention to her name's meaning but that you mention it, I did notice the same thing Erika mentioned. Shannon's observation could also be true though.
Maybe it'll be something connected with the motive behind the murder but that's a far fetched possiblity

#3 I think he might have suspected an infidelity but didn't have solid evidence, or maybe he did. In any case, I have no strong suspicions where he's concerned

This one is an absolute joy to read!! I can't wait to find out the solution! I think Victor is somehow involved in it

1) Maybe she structured the book this way to try out a new technique? I know she was always trying different things. I've never read any of her books that were structured this way either. The format allows an inside glimpse into all those around her, and for the first time, we are inside their thinking minds and thought processes. A different view for sure!

2) Yes, I also think she picked this name carefully because it's all in the details, especially in her mystery stories.

3) I don't know if George knew about Leopard in particular but I think he did know that Rosemary was seeing someone. He saw her writing a letter, or rather, he caught her covering it up when he entered the room one day. I don't know if he knew about the letter that Iris found in a pocket up in the attic that mentioned Leopard, though.

Wednesday and Monday both work for me (I completed the chapters for this week so I'll be happy with either option) ☺️. Hope everyone is staying healthy/being safe. I'm definitely appreciating the escape reading provides lately!

Like Erika, Wed and Mon also works for me:) Take good care everyone!

Oh my, these are crazy times right now. Thank you Shannon for all you do!!

Book 2:
1: I didn't like the idea. And this party was to also serve as Iris's 18th birthday party, which didn't help her to celebrate her birthday at all :c And the birthday girl couldn't even sit next to Anthony at her own party. But it wasn't really her party.
2: I expected something ominous to happen at the dinner party, especially since Colonel Race strongly recommended that George not host the party. I don't know if George was the intended target, but after it happened (even though it was a dramatic and shocking twist) I wasn't completely surprised.
3: I think I like Colonel Race; he hasn't been around much. So far he's been right on the money. I hope he appears more in Book 3 so I can get to know him better.

Shannon wrote: "Hey guys with everything going on right now and trying to be ready for a 2 week quarantine if needed I was going to postpone the discussion till Wednesday if that is alright? I can postpone till ne..."

Whatever suits you guys works for me

#1 I think it could've amounted to something had the plan been more elaborate, but it was too predictable

#2 Not in the scenes leading up to the party, but once we got to the event itself I knew George was a goner

#3 He hasn't made much of an impression on me. I can't tell whether that's a positive or negative thing. I guess I'll wait and see what I think of him when we read Death on The Nile

Shannon, thank you for setting aside time for these, it is greatly appreciated. (But please don't feel obligated next time if you have something more pressing! I'm sure we'd all understand)

1. I could see where George was coming from when he orchestrated the recreation dinner (perhaps it would "smoke out" the killer, by making him or her extremely nervous, etc.), but I agree with Gia: I felt bad that he used Iris' birthday as the cover.
2. I thought something may go badly, but I did not expect it to include the murder of George. I actually exclaimed, "What??" out loud while reading of George's demise. I think that he was the intended target. Only because I think the killer may have felt trapped and thought that he might already know who they were, and expose them.
3. I agree with Nada: Race honestly hasn't made much of an impression on me so far. Then again, he hasn't made many appearances in the book yet, so I guess that is to be expected. As we discussed last week, this book seems more central character driven/backstory driven rather than focusing on the detective and his ingenuity. So maybe it is on purpose?

My favorite part of this book was Book 3 "Iris." I really enjoyed seeing the transformation in the character of Anthony; it was shocking how he emerged so heroic and strong toward the end. I just didn't see that coming at all. And I never guessed 'whodunnit' throughout the whole entire book either, so that was fun to be completely surprised at the end!

Looking forward to reading Death on the Nile now.

Your idea about future discussions works for me, Shannon:) I'm busy reading so many books each month now that one discussion here at the end of each month will work out very well for me. Thanks, again, for doing this buddy read!

I failed to figure the twist of Iris being the real target instead of George, but I had guessed that Victor and Ruth were the guilty party when I read the scene where they first met. At first I felt smug about it but then I sensed that it made the ending a bit underwhelming. So lesson learned: stay in the dark and enjoy the book :P

I really enjoyed this one, and I ended up rating it a 5/5 (honestly it's a little hard for me to rate her work less than that. It might be nostalgia mixed with truly enjoying her mysteries). I liked the way each character was explored, rather than solely focusing on the detective. However, this did leave me a bit disinterested in Race, honestly.
@Gia, I agree, I really loved the transformation of Anthony! At first I hated him, and the unexpected turnaround was actually quite nice.
@Nada, you're better at solving these than me haha! I thought that the scene where Ruth first meets/is fascinated by Victor may have contributed to just her killing Rosemary, but then when George died I threw that idea out the window. So I was completely surprised.
@Shannon, I think that idea for the last discussion of the month works well ☺️. Looking forward to our next read!