The Agatha Christie Reading Group discussion

I've only seen the TV version with Ian Carmichael and listened to the BBC version (also with Mr. Carmichael.) I'm not sure if I will be able to read the book this month, but I will try.

I'm reading it, too, so there will be at least two of us!

Three! Although since it was my choice I will sit back and see what people make of it. I read it during the week of New Year which I have done three or four times before. A sentimental creature of habit. Recommend people look at the Dorothy L Sayers Society website to see the really good work they do

Lauren wrote: "I finally got to the discovery of the body! There was a lot of "cultural" background in the beginning. I have to say, I was a bit lost on all the discussion about the bells. I'm excited that the..."
In another novel, we spend 30 pages (?) cracking a code; and then she gives a clue in French with no crib!! I still admire them though

I am about 2/3rds of the way through. There is an awful lot of technical detail on the bell ringing that I think is not particularly critical to the plot, just Sayers showing off that she knows about this sort of thing.

On the other hand, being familiar with the TV and BBC adaptations, it turns out that they are quite close to the book.

I always wondered about the Spanish Flu aspect of this book. In the opening, there is the wedding of the Thorpes at which the emeralds are stolen. At this time, WW I is about to start. When Deacon breaks out of prison, it is a few years later, near the end of the war. When the events of the book occur, it is 16 or so years later than the wedding (after all, the daughter Hilary is about that age.) Only then does everyone get the Spanish flu. Now the flu epidemic was just at the end of the war, in 1918, not 16 or so years later. I wonder if there was another epidemic of the same thing, of if Sayers is just using creative license?

Lauren wrote: "I finished it! My fist DLS...it was quite an adventure. I felt this mystery was kind of drawn out, but Sayers' writing is so descriptive and full of great characters that it was worth reading. I..."

Well done!

I've found that Sayers likes to add a lot of side (extraneous) information to some of her books, perhaps just to show off her knowledge. In Murder Must Advertise, it was advertising; in this one it was the bells and bell ringing. In Gaudy Night, it was Oxford. It does make them longer than the average mystery, nearly twice as long in Gaudy Night.