Appointment With Agatha discussion

Even though we just finished the nomination process for the February side read, it's time to discuss the March side read.

The theme for March is: English village murder

So, this is an incredibly broad theme and I know that there are literally thousands of possible choices. In order to keep things somewhat manageable, I am going to close nominations once we get to 9.

Thanks, everyone!

Nominations:

1. The Key by Patricia Wentworth
2. Overture to Death by Ngaio Marsh
3. The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers
4. The Lake District Murder by John Bude
5. Hand in Glove by Ngaio Marsh
6. The Floating Admiral by The Detection Club
7. Cover Her Face by P.D. James
8. Fallen into the Pit by Ellis Peters

Three more nomination slots available!

I would like to nominate

The Key (1944) by Patricia Wentworth

Thank you!

Jazzy wrote: "I would like to nominate

The Key (1944) by Patricia Wentworth

Thank you!"

She’s such a good writer 😀

I´d like to nominate Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet.

I would like to nominate Overture to Death by Ngaoi Marsh.

I nominate The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers (1934).

*sorry, my comment posted twice - internet problems - I deleted the duplicate

Cozy_Pug wrote: "I nominate The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers (1934)."

I´d thought of that too, to give Sayers a third chance. ;)

In case my nomination is too new, here´s one from 1935:
The Lake District Murder by John Bude.

I read that Sayers a few months ago and it was very good. I plan to read Busman's Honeymoon sometime this year.

Deborah wrote: "Jazzy wrote: "I would like to nominate

The Key (1944) by Patricia Wentworth

Thank you!"

She’s such a good writer 😀"

Yes she has such intricate details!

Michaela wrote: "Cozy_Pug wrote: "I nominate The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers (1934)."

I´d thought of that too, to give Sayers a third chance. ;)"

I've read all the Peter Wimsey mysteries twice. I struggled getting into them the first time. Definitely clever mysteries, I just couldn't warm up to Peter Wimsey himself. Second readings were better, I focused more on the story than him and that helped. I love The Nine Tailors, it's different.

Ngaio Marsh's English village mysteries are among the strongest entries in her Roderick Alleyn series -- so many to choose from!

I think I'll go with Hand in Glove for this one -- one of my favorite entries in the series.

There is, incidentally, also a nice screen adaptation as part of the TV series starring Patrick Malahide as Inspector Alleyn, as well as, in this episode, John Gielgud as the key non-recurring character ... a snub-nosed "etiquette" expert who may or may not be all that he claims to be, and who specializes in the art of certain formal letters, such as condolences -- and causes all sorts of mischief (view spoiler)[when two of his letters get mixed up (hide spoiler)].

Cozy_Pug wrote: "Michaela wrote: "Cozy_Pug wrote: "I nominate The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers (1934)."

I´d thought of that too, to give Sayers a third chance. ;)"

I've read all the Peter Wimse..."

Huge fan of Sayers / Wimsey here, too. I started with Gaudy Night, i.e., the series's absolute high point, and was bowled over instantly. The Nine Tailors is a favorite of mine as well -- in fact, it's one of my annual Christmas reads -- though none of the "Wimsey solo" books are quite as good as the four Wimsey & Vane books IMHO.

As I just revisited The Nine Tailors -- both the book and the Ian Carmichael screen adaptation -- for Christmas 2020 (i.e., literally, not so much more than mere days ago), right now I'm not sure I'll be up for another revisit quite so soon ... but it's a while yet until the group read, so who knows how I'll be feeling about it by the time March comes rolling around! :)

Lillelara wrote: "I would like to nominate Overture to Death by Ngaoi Marsh."

That would have been an alternative suggestion of mine, too.

I'd like to nominate The Floating Admiral by The Detection Club.


Inspector Rudge does not encounter many cases of murder in the sleepy seaside town of Whynmouth. But when an old sailor lands a rowing boat containing a fresh corpse with a stab wound to the chest, the Inspector's investigation immediately comes up against several obstacles. The vicar, whose boat the body was found in, is clearly withholding information, and the victim's niece has disappeared. There is clearly more to this case than meets the eye - even the identity of the victim is called into doubt. Inspector Rudge begins to wonder just how many people have contributed to this extraordinary crime and whether he will ever unravel it. . .

In 1931 Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and 10 other crime writers from the newly formed Detection Club collaborated in publishing a unique crime novel. In a literary game of consequences, each author would write one chapter, leaving G.K. Chesterton to write a typically paradoxical prologue and Anthony Berkeley to tie up all the loose ends. In addition, all of the authors provided their own solutions in sealed envelopes, all of which appeared at the end of the book, with Agatha Christie's ingenious conclusion acknowledged at the time to be 'enough to make the book worth buying on its own'. The authors of this novel are G.K. Chesterton, Canon Victor Whitechurch, G.D.H. Cole and Margaret Cole, Henry Wade, Agatha Christie, John Rhode, Milward Kennedy, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ronald Knox, Freeman Wills Crofts, Edgar Jepson, Clemence Dane and Anthony Berkeley.

Michaela wrote: "I´d like to nominate Wicked Autumn by G.M. Malliet."

Michaela - I apologize, I didn't add my usual disclaimer about publication dates to the original post. However, as is usual in the group, all books must have been published prior to 1970. So, your second nomination will be included in the list!

I have read this one, though, and I really liked it!

Nominations:

1. The Key by Patricia Wentworth
2. Overture to Death by Ngaio Marsh
3. The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers
4. The Lake District Murder by John Bude
5. Hand in Glove by Ngaio Marsh
6. The Floating Admiral by The Detection Club
7. Cover Her Face by P.D. James
8. Fallen into the Pit by Ellis Peters


ONE more nomination slot available!

Christine PNW wrote: "Nominations:

1. The Key by Patricia Wentworth
2. Overture to Death by Ngaio Marsh
3. The Nine Tailors by Dorothy..."</i>


I propose 'Cover Her Face' by P D James
[book:Cover Her Face

Added it to the list, Mike!

Two nominations to go...

I also enjoyed Wicked Autumn.

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads wrote: "I also enjoyed Wicked Autumn."

That´s good to hear, thanks both! I´ll read it another time. :)

How about Fallen Into the Pit (1951) by Ellis Peters?

Kelly wrote: "How about Fallen Into the Pit (1951) by Ellis Peters?"

I love the Brother Cadfael murders - but I'm totally unfamiliar with these. Great nomination!

And then there was one . . . remaining slot for a nomination!

Kelly wrote: "How about Fallen Into the Pit (1951) by Ellis Peters?"

I've been wanting to read this series for awhile!

The poll is up! Vote here!

Even the runoff poll ended in a tie (which made me laugh out loud), so we're going to go with both of them!

We will read The Nine Tailors as our March side read, and The Key as our April side read. The Key pairs nicely with The Big Four, since they both have "thriler-esque" elements. So, that's April sorted and we will commence the May side read selection process in mid-March.

That's a good solution, Christine. The Key is available as an ebook for $1.99, so now I'm going to buy it.

Christine PNW wrote: "Even the runoff poll ended in a tie (which made me laugh out loud), so we're going to go with both of them!

We will read The Nine Tailors as our March side read, and The Key as our April side read..."

LoL re the tie. What are we like?!

And this is something I thout I would never hear you say "The Key pairs nicely with The Big Four".

Hahahahaa....

BrokenTune wrote: "And this is something I thout I would never hear you say "The Key pairs nicely with The Big Four".

I am dreading April. But I enjoyed The Key, so I have that reread to look forward to!

Also, I meant to say that, while the tribe has spoken, I reread The Nine Tailors last October, so I probably won't do a full reread, although I will still contribute to the discussion.

I'm considering reading Fallen into the Pit on my own, in case anyone wants to join me for a side-read to the side-read!

Christine PNW wrote: "Also, I meant to say that, while the tribe has spoken, I reread The Nine Tailors last October, so I probably won't do a full reread, although I will still contribute to the discussion.

I'm conside..."

I read The Nine Tailors between Christmas and New Years (as I have done for a few years) so will probably give it a miss, too.

I look forward to The Key as this is new to me.

And if I can find a copy, I might join you for Fallen into the Pit. I've never read a novel by Ellis Peters.

BrokenTune wrote: "Christine PNW wrote: "Also, I meant to say that, while the tribe has spoken, I reread The Nine Tailors last October, so I probably won't do a full reread, although I will still contribute to the di..."

I've only read her Brother Cadfael books, which I love. Serious comfort reads. I'm curious about the Felse series.

Christine PNW wrote: "Even the runoff poll ended in a tie (which made me laugh out loud), so we're going to go with both of them!

We will read The Nine Tailors as our March side read, and The Key as our April side read..."

I´ve read The Nine Tailors right before New Years as well, so I will give that one a pass too.
The Key would be a reread for me and I´m not sure if I´m going to pick it up in April. It all depends on my mood at that time.

I might join you in the Ellis Peters read, though.

And I´m kind of looking forward to The Big Four, mainly because I will be listening to Hugh Frasers narration for the very first time. That´s always a treat. Plus I sort of like the ridiculousness of it (the trope of (view spoiler)[the numbered villian (hide spoiler)] is one of my favorites).

I never see these polls until they are over. Do we get notifications by email?

the time given to respond to the poll must be incredibly short!
PS I see i voted in the last one, but don't remember it. after all it was a few days ago 😂

Also i just read the nine tailors a few months ago so won't read that one but I have the key!

Lillelara wrote: "Christine PNW wrote: "Even the runoff poll ended in a tie (which made me laugh out loud), so we're going to go with both of them!

We will read The Nine Tailors as our March side read, and The Key ..."

Re The Big Four - I am really looking forward to it, too. I love the ridiculousness of it...and Achille. ;)

Jazzy, it depends how your settings are regarding the group. You can get emails, but also "only" notifications, but if you follow this thread, there´s always a reminder to vote.

Jazzy wrote: "I never see these polls until they are over. Do we get notifications by email?

the time given to respond to the poll must be incredibly short!
PS I see i voted in the last one, but don't remember ..."

The initial poll had a ten day response time. The runoff poll had a shorter response time because I wanted to get the determination made by the end of the month. I always send out notifications to all group members, but I'm not sure if they come by PM or in some other form.

Christine PNW wrote: "Also, I meant to say that, while the tribe has spoken, I reread The Nine Tailors last October, so I probably won't do a full reread, although I will still contribute to the discussion.

I'm conside..."

I would definitely join in a Felse read--I have a few of the books in the series but haven't read any yet. If they are half as good as Cadfael, I would be happy.

Lol the runoff ending in a tie ;) I'm pleased with reading one book in March and the other in April - The Key intrigues me, not read that before.

The runoff ending in a tie. Totally classic for this group.

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads wrote: "The runoff ending in a tie. Totally classic for this group."

It really is.

Susanna - Censored by GoodReads wrote: "The runoff ending in a tie. Totally classic for this group."

Absolutely.

Christine PNW wrote: "Also, I meant to say that, while the tribe has spoken, I reread The Nine Tailors last October, so I probably won't do a full reread, although I will still contribute to the discussion.

I'm considering reading Fallen into the Pit on my own, in case anyone wants to join me for a side-read to the side-read!"

I'm in for the Felse read as well.

Christine PNW wrote: "Jazzy wrote: "I never see these polls until they are over. Do we get notifications by email?

the time given to respond to the poll must be incredibly short!
PS I see i voted in the last one, but d..."

Ahh that would be it, if i only get notifications I never see them all - I joined far too many groups! ahaha