53. They Came to Baghdad (1951)

Agatha!

This book really, really exemplified the word adventure!  And Victoria Jones - what a badass!  (Sorry if that's inappropriate, but really!!)  She starts out mildly annoying and immature and transforms over the next two hundred pages into a clever, brave badass!  She reminded me of Anne Beddingfied in The Man in the Brown Suit (although honestly it took me a bit to remember her name and story.)

When I saw this title came up, I honestly wasn't too excited about it.  Baghdad.  Middle East.  Dust.  Not really my thing.  And the politics of spying and such - over my head.  But you managed to pull me in within a few lines and I loved the craziness of it all.

Fun characters, twists and turns, an exotic setting... thanks again for the ride.

Always,
Beth

52. Three Blind Mice and Other Stories (1950)

{also published as The Mousetrap}

Agatha!  

How I loved "Three Blind Mice"!  I kept seeing it in my head as a brilliant play.  I Googled it to see if it had been done.  I'm an idiot.  I knew "Mousetrap" has been one of the longest-running plays in history in London and I have always wanted to see it - but it took until this morning to realize it's the same play.  Doh!

But...!  This was such a wonderful, fun read.  I loved every minute of it and now I doubly can't wait to see the play performed.  Someday...

Other stories -

With Jane Marple:

• "Strange Jest" 
• "Tape Measure Murder"
• "The Case of the Perfect Maid"
• "The Case of the Caretaker"

With Hercules Poirot:

• "The Third-Floor Flat"
• "The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly"
• "Four and Twenty Blackbirds"

And with Satterthwaite and Harley Quin:

• "The Love Detectives"

What a tremendous volume of stories, dear Agatha.  Obviously "Three Blind Mice" was my favorite, but I enjoyed every one of the others, too - even those strange birds Satterthwaite and Quin.

We are in a strange state of the world today, dear Agatha.  We are in the midst of a worldwide panic over the coronavirus pandemic.  I've never seen any reaction like this at all.  Schools closed, many, many businesses closed.  I'm not sure how I will navigate the next few weeks.  But one good thing about it - there will be lots of time for reading.  And I have lots of books.

Back soon,

b.

PS:  Another mystery...: