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.

The Christie Affair by Nina deGramont

 Hi, dear Agatha -

So I'm not sure what kept me away for nearly three years (I'm actually pretty embarrassed), but I know what brought me back.

A few months ago, my distant cousin in Arkansas sent me a book, kind of out of the blue.  We are friends on Facebook, but I can't recall the last time we had a conversation.  But she read this book and then sent it on to me.

I wasn't sure what I thought at first, and it actually took me a little while to get into, but by the end, I did find this fictionalization of your little disappearance really interesting.  It was different for me to see you as, first of all, a character - an attractive woman in a short period confronted with various emotions and such that really changes the course of your life.

It's just fiction, of course.

But I appreciate the book more now that I've stepped away from it awhile - its structure, its originality, its creative ideas.  And I appreciate the book for bringing me back to reading your works again.

Still,

b.

67. Double Sin and Other Stories (1961)

 Dear Agatha,

Before we start, here is an unsolved mystery for you to unravel.  Where on earth have I been for nearly 3 years???

Honestly, I don't know either.

Mystery #2:  What happened to my book?

Looks like she's been through a lot, amirite?  Thankfully I've got another on the way so the collection will still be intact.

This collection was really a good way for me to jump back in to reading your works.  About half of the stories I had read before, but not all.  But lucky for me I have a poor memory so reading them again doesn't mean I was bored a bit.  In fact, I think I enjoyed them more.  These were "Double Sin," "Wasps' Nest," "The Theft of the Royal Ruby" (which has been published elsewhere as "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding), "Greenshaw's Folly" (which I sure thought had something to do with a gazebo or something, but um, no, not at all).

But new to me:

"The Dressmaker's Doll" and "The Last Seance" - I am not particularly into the supernatural.  Still, occasionally, I don't mind it - with something like a feel for The Twilight Zone.  This was "The Dressmaker's Doll"... but "Seance" - eh.  It was dark and short and I kind of feel like they should have listened to Elise.

"The Double Clue" was fun, but I do think you saved the best for last with "Sanctuary."  The stories featured both Poirot and Marple and a few with neither.  It felt like a nice visit with old friends.

Thank you for pulling me back in, dear Agatha.

b.