Sunday 24 October 2010

ACRC Carnival 2010 #9 - October 2010

Welcome to the October 23, 2010 edition of Agatha Christie monthly Blog Carnival.

First of all many thanks to those who contributed to the blog tour in September to celebrate Agatha Christie's 120th birthday. It was a great event, and the posts were all wonderful.
There is a summary post here with links to all the days of the blog tour.

Many thanks to those who contributed links to the Carnival this time. We really do have a bumper issue with  40 contributions from 22 contributors.

    Do visit the participating blogs and leave comments if you have read the books. Spread the word too about the existence of this blog and the monthly opportunity it offers to showcase reviews about Agatha Christie books. 
Today's 22 Contributors - please see the items below for exact URLS of their posts.
Featured Blog: A Library is the hospital of the mind


Sarah is an enthusiastic reader of Agatha Christie and a participant in the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge and our monthly carnival. She participated twice in the blog tour in September.

News & Headlines

General


Jose Ignacio reviews And Then There Were None (1939) by Agatha Christie posted at The Game's Afoot. saying "It has a clever ending that will test the sharpness of the reader."

swapnil warang presents Book Reviews: Must Read Books ........... Part 10 posted at Book Reviews. The list includes an Agatha Christie. Can you guess which one?

Roberta Rood presents The Art of the Mystery, Part Three: the Golden Age of British crime fiction. posted at Books to the Ceiling, saying, "The Golden Age of crime writing in Great Britain was epitomized by the work of five gifted women, sometimes referred to as "les Grandes Dames""

Yvette presents The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie posted at in so many words..., saying, "My rainy night review of THE SECRET OF CHIMNEYS."

Carolyn Rector presents Library Land: reading posted at Library Land, saying, "I have an old book on my shelf that I am ashamed to say probably read four or five times, and still it draws me in and I like to visit the setting, the time, the winter snowy night, the blizzard feeling of closed roads and winds swirling at the windows and whistling through the grooves of the bricks or stone walls of the house."

Carolyn Rector reviews MRS McGINTY'S DEAD posted at Library Land saying "I can always get into an Agatha Christie novel easily. I wonder what makes her style so easily read."

ng kai-lee presents The Unexpected Guest posted at -Zhen's Summer Cafe-.I must confess that having read “The Unexpected Guest”, I keep comparing it to the “usual” Christies that I’ve seen so far.

quirkyreader presents quirkyreader - Christie Plays posted at quirkyreader. "I've been trying to read all of Agatha Christie's plays."

Jo D'Arcy presents Queen of Crime posted at The Book Jotter. There is something devilish about her books, and having read only a few I can see their mass appeal but I can also see why they have lasted so long.

Donna presents And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie posted at A Novel Review, saying, "This was an excellent choice for my first Agatha Christie read. The mounting suspense engages the reader almost from the start."

Danielle C. reviews Iraq: They Came To Baghdad posted at The Romantic Armchair Traveller, saying, "During a stay in Iraq Christie wrote one of her entertaining departures from domestic whodunnits, a Cold War thriller that brims with local colour and sly humour."

Janet Rudolph presents Agatha Christie and Nursery Rhymes posted at Mystery Fanfare, saying, "Agatha Christie drew her inspiration from so many places and nursery rhymes were a rich source for titles as well as themes. Although nursery rhymes may seem jolly with their happy rhymes, the mayhem they describe is fodder for a crime writer. Nursery rhymes, unlike fairytales, are all about ordinary people conducting disorderly behavior."

Vanda Symon presents The Poisonous Pen of Agatha Christie posted at Overkill. This is a fun little book I stumbled across when doing some research on Ngaio Marsh and her use of poison as a murder weapon. No doubt about it, Agatha Christie was the Queen of Skulduggery and murder by poison. To quote from the book, 'in over half of her sixty-six novels, at least one or more of the corpses are the victims of overdoses of poisons, drugs and other chemicals.'

BooksPlease presents Agatha Christie on … posted at BooksPlease, saying, "I'm reading Agatha Christie's Autobiography and have decided to do a few posts on her observations on life rather than write about the details of her life. This is my first of these posts."

Hercule Poirot


Jennifer presents Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie posted at Reading with Tequila. "This book is a wonderful mystery from beginning to end."

Joy Hall presents Reading Report: Cards on the Table posted at Joy's Blog. This was a great read – but then, I always say that about all Agatha Christie mysteries. And one of the best things about the book is that it represents the first major appearance of Poirot’s friend and sometime-assistant, Mrs. Ariadne Oliver (she’d been introduced, briefly, in one of Christie’s early short stories)

sarah presents Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie posted at A library is a hospital for the mind..., saying, "Five Little Pigs was a captivating and quick read. As I read several clues seemed to jump off the page.Maybe this is due to the fact I just finished reading Agatha's autobiography last month, or maybe I've just read enough of her books to pay attention to the details that matter. Either way it was a fun read..."

Margot Kinberg presents In the Spotlight: Agatha Christie's The ABC Murders posted at Confessions of a Mystery Novelist..... One of the reasons that Agatha Christie’s work is so well-regarded is that she was a genius at plot twists and surprises. All of the clues to her mysteries are there for the alert reader, but Christie was a master of leading the reader down the proverbial “garden path.” There’s a real example of her skill at deception in The ABC Murders, so let’s take a closer look at that novel.

Yvette reviews Cat Among the Pigeons posted at in so many words..., saying, "A review of one of my favorite Agatha Christie books, CAT AMONG THE PIGEONS. A book in which Christie's talent for characterization shines brightly."

BooksPlease reviews The ABC Murders posted at BooksPlease, saying, "What is the motive behind the ABC murders? And why advertise them in advance to Poirot? An ingenious murder mystery."

KerrieS presents THE LABOURS OF HERCULES posted at MYSTERIES in PARADISE, saying, "This collection of 12 short stories was published in 1947. It features Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, and gives an account of twelve cases with which he intends to close his career as a private detective."

Jose Ignacio presents The Murder of Roger Ackroyd posted at The Game's Afoot. I consider this a ‘must read’ for anyone who is reading Agatha Christie novels for the first time. A wonderful and very ingenious book that no crime fiction aficionado should miss.

Norman Price presents THIS LITTLE PIGGY..... posted at CRIME SCRAPS On the evidence of Five Little Pigs, written in 1942, Agatha Christie is an underestimated writer, because not only is this novel entertaining with its clues and puzzle to solve, but contains character studies and a lot of social commentary.

Miss Marple


Donna presents Book Review: Nemesis by Agatha Christie posted at A Novel Review, saying, "This was my second Agatha Christie novel. Since I acquire titles rather haphazardly (translated at thrift shops, library sales, and the like) I'm pleased to find a series that doesn't require that the installments be read in succession. But with so many other challenges to fulfill, I'm pulling back the reins a bit and starting out with a commitment to read one a month."

Birdy presents Sleeping Murder: Agatha Christie posted at Life Wordsmith - Book Reviews & Poems, saying, "Miss Marple's last case is a very engaging read"

Nan presents Letters from a Hill Farm: The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie posted at Letters from a Hill Farm, saying, "To celebrate Agatha's birthday month I read the first Miss Marple book. It was also the first book I read on my new Kindle."

BooksPlease presents 4.50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie: Book Review posted at BooksPlease, saying, "Miss Marple enlists the help of Lucy Eyelesbarrow to solve this murder mystery."

Nan presents The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie posted at Letters from a Hill Farm, saying, "Continuing my own little birthday celebration for Agatha, I read the second Miss Marple book."

Roberta Rood presents From Christie to Shakespeare, in one easy leap. posted at Books to the Ceiling, saying, "There is seemingly no end to Shakespeare’s power to astonish (or in Agatha Christie’s power to entertain and oftentimes, to provoke)."

KerrieS presents MISS MARPLE: complete short stories posted at MYSTERIES in PARADISE, saying, "A complete set of Agatha Christie short stories - only 20 of them ever published."

Short Stories


KerrieS presents WHILE THE LIGHT LASTS, Agatha Christie - audio posted at MYSTERIES in PARADISE, saying, "A short story collection by Agatha Christie first published in the UK on August 4 1997 by HarperCollins. It contains nine short stories, all published much earlier.
The narration is dramatic and makes it very easy listening. The stories were mainly written early in Christie's career, and include a couple of Poirot stories.
They all contain "eternal" themes of romance betrayed, buried treasure, and deception, which Christie was to explore further in later stories and novels."

Elizabeth presents Three Blind Mice posted at Miss Lemon's Mysteries, saying, "Miss Lemon doesn't feel that she is going too far by saying this short story by Agatha Christie is perhaps one of her all-time best."

Updates


KerrieS presents ACRC: Short Stories, Update #9 posted at MYSTERIES in PARADISE, saying, "A summary of where I am with Agatha Christie short stories. I've read 102 stories in 9 collections"

quirkyreader presents quirkyreader - I've Been Busy Reading Christies posted at quirkyreader.

quirkyreader presents quirkyreader - More Covers and My Christie Progress posted at quirkyreader.

Discoveries


DeliciousDeath : Agatha Christie's Works List posted at MYSTERIES in PARADISE, saying, "16,421 cover art images have been added to this wonderful resource that lists all Agatha Christie's works divided up according to protagonist, has a Chronological table, a list of film & tv dramas, and a list of the short stories."

Tea Vacation with Agatha Christie posted at Tea Blog, saying, ".. imagine sitting at Greenway, enjoying Devonshire Tea served at Devonshire tea in Devonshire, and discussing novels with the spirit of Agatha Christie."

Agatha Christie posted at Book Spy, saying, "Nice summary/biographical note, together with a display of some of the covers of the Agatha Christie Signature series."

St. Mary Mead railway station posted at The Dolls House Emporium Blog- "As lovers of anything Agatha Christie ourselves, St. Mary Mead railway station by Jackie Osborn from Kent, really stood out – we could just imagine Miss Marple or Poirot heading out from this station on their next sleuthing adventure! Here, Jackie explains how she created her 1950’s station."

The story behind the Mousetrap posted at South Wales Argus | News- "Newport man tells his tragic story behind Agatha Christie classic."


That concludes this edition.

Submit your blog article to the next edition (November 23) of the agatha christie monthly carnival using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
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Sunday 10 October 2010

ACRC Carnival will resume on October 23

Spread the word about the existence of this blog and the monthly opportunity it offers to showcase reviews about Agatha Christie books.

If you'd like to be part of the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge, it is never too late to start. Check out the other postings on this blog and my main Agatha Christie Reading Challenge postings which will lead you to the lists of titles etc. You can now join the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge too, so just go down to the bottom of this page and sign up.

Read at your own pace, write a review on your blog, go to the Carnival collecting space and put in the URL, your details, and a comment about the post. The October edition of the Carnival will be posted on October 23, so get your submissions in by October 22.