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.

64. Cat Among the Pigeons (1959)

*Spoilers*

Hi Agatha,

As I finished this one a bit ago, my daughter said, "Has there ever been an Agatha book you didn't like?"  No, I don't think so.  Maybe some of the occultish stories weren't my favorite, but I just feel like you hit it out of the park every single time.

I enjoyed the setting of this one, a prestigious girls' school called Meadowbank.

I enjoyed the fact that the culprit was a woman - sorry if that's a spoiler, but it says so on the back of the book, and really, what can you expect from a cast that is 95% female?

I enjoyed the humor.  It can be subtle, but it always makes me smile.

I was so involved in the story that I was surprised at the appearance of Poirot 2/3 of the way through the book.  I had completely forgotten it was a Poirot novel, and even checked back at the front cover.  I thought one of the girls would solve the mystery (and pretty much one did).  But Hercules came to put all the threads together and wrap it all up.

There was a lot going on in this one plot-wise, and while I typically don't enjoy political, war-related, coup-related, whatever-type stuff, I did enjoy this, and was hoping until the very end that the prince and his pilot weren't really dead.

Now, Agatha, I'm off to read my final book for my reading challenge for 2021 - and it's set at Christmastime!  Christmas is three weeks from today!  Woot woot!

My heart is happy.  

b.

60. Hickory Dickory Death (1955)

 {also published as Hickory, Dickory, Dock}

Dear Agatha,

Hickory, dickory, dock, the mouse ran up the clock.  The police said, "Boo," I wonder who, will eventually stand in the Dock?

Twisty, twisty, twisty.  When you know it can't be X, because it's too obvious, so you suspect Y, Z, and A through E, and then we get right back to X again.  Bad person, that X.  

Glad I never resided at 26 Hickory Road.  What an absolute mess.

Thanks for the fun,

b.

59. Destination Unknown (1954)

 {also published as So Many Steps to Death}

Ah, Agatha ~

This book... hmmm...

I loved Hilary and her story, and the book was interesting enough for me to keep on because I wanted to see how that all would turn out, but... this one... this one I'm not sure stands the test of time.  Or perhaps it does, but I am just not a fan of whatever genre this is.  A mystery, yes - and even a murder thrown in at the end - but the politics / conspiracy / spy / take-over-the-world genre... not really my favorite.

But no worries... I have many more to go.

Respectfully,

b.

54. The Under Dog and Other Stories (1951)

Good morning, dear Agatha,

Nothing like a global pandemic to get me reading more, eh?  The kids and I are doing another reading challenge, too - seeing how many pages we can read by the beginning of May.  I'm over 800.  I would guess Grace is about the same, and Josh probably has 246,129.

So, I really enjoyed the main story of this collection, "The Under Dog."  I also liked hearing from sweet Hastings again for the rest of the stories.  

When people talk about you, Dame Agatha - it's always to call you the Queen of Crime and discuss the different complicated plots and solutions of your mysteries.  One thing that isn't mentioned that much, in my humble opinion, is your humor.  I love it because it's subtle, but these scenes from "The Under Dog" certainly made me chuckle.

"I believe in small men!  They are the clever ones!"  (Followed up by Poirot's observation that Inspector Miller is a tall man)

"A heavy thud," he said impressively.

"If I mistake not, it is a dull thud in most works of romance," murmured Poirot.

"Maybe, sir," said Parsons severely.  "It was a heavy thud I heard."

"A thousand pardons," said Poirot.

"Do not mention it, sir.  After the thud, in the silence, I heard..."

Some of the stories seemed vaguely familiar to me.  Perhaps I'd read them before I started this blog - I'm not sure.  I don't see reference to them in skimming my blog posts and the only other collection I see them as part of is Poirot's Early Cases (1974).  For example, the scene of "The Submarine Plans" where the bold young man stole a kiss from the French maid on the stairs seemed familiar, as well as the masquerade of "The Affair at the Victory Ball" (although granted the characters they dressed up as do pop up here and there in some of your other works).

All in all, while I do prefer your novels over your short stories, this was, as always, a great read.

47. The Labors of Hercules (1947)

Dear Agatha,

What a crazy journey it has been, these past six or so months.  Our life was upended and we have moved over 1000 miles away back to our desert home in California.  Crazy series of events, for sure, leaving me out of my reading routine.  I have a couple of books - like this - that I read months ago - and never had time to blog.  And, because I'm 50 now, I honestly don't remember a lot abou them.  Please forgive me.

Getting back on track.

b.