73. Endless Night (1967)

 Dear Agatha,

We're almost there - almost to the books you've written in my lifetime.  

So - I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK.  

Funny story.

I'm reading along, thinking to myself, and sharing with Robert, how amazing this book is and how different it is from anything else of yours I've read before (which, really, is amazing, given that this is title number 73!).  I wouldn't have called it a crime or detective novel.  It was more suspense, slightly horror themed.

And then one day I get to a latter section of the book and I think, hmmmm... this is kind of familiar.  And I went on my Goodreads and lo and behold - I *had* read it before!  AND... my comment was "This novel is different from any Christie I've read, vastly different."   Hil. Ar. Ious.

What a ride.  Thanks for the fun!

b.

72. Third Girl (1966)

 Dear Agatha,

Talk about gaslighting!  Loved this book.  Lots going on, but as always, you are way smarter than I.

Here's a tangential story.  Recently I had to get a new specialist, a rheumatologist, and I had two to choose from, a woman and a man.  I had just finished this novel, and found that the femaile doctor's first name is Ariadne - so I went with her!

On the day of the appointment, as we were winding down, I asked if her she knew who Ariadne Oliver was.  No.  Agatha Christie?  No.  Oh, Agatha... I felt so let down!  I was more upset about that than about any of the medical stuff.  How could she not know?  Yes, she was young, but you're... you're Agatha CHRISTIE.

Not only that, but she said her parents misspelled her name - and they pronounce it AriaDEN.  What?!  So, so disappointed.

Sigh.  I thought about bringing her a book that features Ariadne Oliver to my next appointment, but I didn't act on the thought and the appointment is tomorrow.  I'll see if I can turn anything up.

So many books, so little time.

b.

"The Mousetrap" at Arvada Theater - September 17, 2025

 Dear Agatha,

Robert took me to see "The Mousetrap" in a small theater in Arvada.  It was so well done.  I was impressed with every actor, every character drawn, every piece of set work, all of it.  

But can I tell you how dumb I am?  You'll just shake your head I'm sure, but man I'm such an idiot.  

After the first act I kept thinking that man, this is so familiar!  I had to have read it before!  At halftime - er, intermission - I looked on my blog to find this:  https://deardameagatha.blogspot.com/2020/03/52-three-blind-mice-and-other-stories.html

Idiot squared.  That's me.

But it was really an enjoyable date night with my husband.  Maybe someday I'll get to see it in London.  In some September.  That's a bucket list item, and I don't have very many.

Love,

b.

71. At Bertram's Hotel (1965)

 I want to go to there, dear Agatha,

But I'm sure I'd find, as Miss Marple did, that nothing is as it seems, is it?  

Another well-constructed web with much going on - lots of things to distract and misdirect, and as always fun to follow it to the end.  

Canon Pennyfather's character perhaps hit home a little too closely - seeing in him several shared traits with my own father.  

All for today,

b.

70. A Caribbean Mystery (1964)

 Dear Agatha,

Not much to say, again, for lack of my own little gray cells, but another enjoyable story.

Note:  The millionaire Jason Rafiel appears again, posthumously, in the novel Nemesis where he sends Miss Marple on a case specifically because of her success in solving the events related in A Caribbean Mystery. (Wikipedia)

And another note:  Miss Marple calls herself Nemesis in this story.  I may have to revisit this one when I get to Nemesis - which actually is only 7 publication years away...

Thanks as always, Dame Christie,

b.

69. The Clocks (1963)

 Oh dear Agatha,

This one had me from the very first pages - from the prologue.  What a puzzle you created from the very start and that needed 200 pages more to resolve.  There is so much going on here and yet it doesn't feel overdone or too cluttered.  Fun book that I definitely want to read again.

Catching up,

b.

68. The Mirror Crack'd (1962)

Dear Agatha,

So there are spaces of months or even years between posts - so what, right?  I'm going to get it done though.  I'm going to read all of them.

I've read through these past 4 novels sometime over the past couple of months.  I don't remember precise dates, and really it doesn't matter.  We're in the right year, so there's that.

So The Mirror Crack'd - A Christie classic.  Always fun, always twists and turns.

I followed the book by watching the 1980 film with a lot of big stars (!) that I honestly had never really seen before: Joan Crawford, Kim Novak, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, and of course my favorite Dame Angela Lansbury in the role of Miss Marple.  

Books are always better, though, aren't they?

Pardon my brief comments.  As I age, my mind does not remain as sharp as Miss Jane's.  And I didn't mark anything specific to comment on here.

Thanks for the fun, as always.

b.