Death of a Gossip - M.C. Beaton 1985 ****1/2

Every time I have been in the library, I always end up passing the M.C. Beaton books. I'm a bit paranoid when it comes to reading books in the wrong order and could never find the first one in the series. But this weekend, after suffering from a long and tiring tooth extraction I took myself along to the small library in my Dad's village to cheer myself up. And I found this! The first book in the series. And devoured it hungrily. It had everything I wanted, murder, crime, wholesome and well round characters, and was very easy to read. Definitely what you want to read when you are feeling under the weather. Hamish Macbeth is the modern day version of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot put together, with a ferocious crop of red hair and a dry wit. We meet him for the first time in the fictional village of Lochdubh in Scotland, investigating the murder of a ghastly woman named Lady Jane, who crashes a friendly fishing club and quickly becomes the most unpopular person they have ever met. I am off to find the next book. Praise for M.C. Beaton, you have gained another fan.

Started 26th July

Finished 29th July

The Mystery of the Blue Train - 1928 ** 1/2

A very slow Agatha Christie. I was tempted to give up on it a number of times because the plot was going all over the place and it was a very weak effort.

Poirot is set to investigate the mysterious death of a beautiful wealthy woman named Ruth, who is found dead in her compartment on the Blue Train, minus her expensive jewels. Is it her soon to be ex husband who is responsible, or an assortment of other shady characters, all out for what they can get? I personally like Agatha Christie's novels the best when they are centred around a good old-fashioned murder at a country house/luxurious mansion. 

Not one of her best.

Started 6th July

Finished 14th July 

The Temptress - Paul Spicer 2010 ***

Interesting account of the mysterious death of Lord Erroll in Kenya's decadent "Happy Valley" in the 1940s. The book is really more centred around Alice De Janze, a beautiful American heiress who marries a Count and becomes entangled in a number of affairs but does go into some detail about the death of Lord Erroll and how he relates to Alice. The book chronicles Alice's early life, her depression, and then later on, her passionate and obsessive relationship with a man she ends up trying to murder. 

It's well written and informative, although I did every find it hard remembering all the different people and their relationships towards each other.

A Winter Garden Mystery - Carola Dunn 1995 ***

What started off as an exciting read turned into a boring and long, drawn out affair. Carola Dunn does a good job of drawing up the initial characters and staking out the plot, but then it slowly goes downhill and we wander off in a daze. Daisy Dalrymple is our heroine, a quirky journalist on a photographic assignment who finds herself drawn into a murder plot at Occles Hall, after a body is discovered in the grounds. I think Daisy is a brilliant heroine. She's young, fresh, intelligent and can give Poirot or Miss Marple a run for their money. This is the third book in the Daisy Dalrymple series (I was amazed to see that there were 20!) so I might not give up quite yet and try the first one.

Started 25th June

Finished 7th July

Death in the Clouds - 1935 *** 1/2

Unlike the majority of the reviewers of this book I actually found it a bit slow during the middle. The pace at the beginning was wonderful, and the ending was superb but the middle was too fluid. Poirot is right in the centre of the action, taking a plane back from Paris with a group of other people. During the journey, one of the people is murdered on the plane in her seat (a wealthy old woman no less) but the problem is no one has actually seen the culprit, or the murder taking place.
Poirot's grey matter is working overtime to solve this case, as usual never knowing who to trust.

Started 31st May
Finished 7th June

The Murder at the Vicarage - Agatha Christie 1930 ***

Reading Agatha Christie seems to have become a bit of an obsession. But then again, her writing is so wonderful and unique that you really can read book after book of hers and be amazed at how she comes up with some of her stories. 'Murder at the Vicarage' is a curious book. It has the most red herrings that I have ever come across in an Agatha Christie novel as of now.
A man is murdered in his study whilst writing a letter to an anonymous person. Only a few hours ago, the local vicar was entertaining a group of people and said he thought that anyone who murdered the victim would be 'doing the world at large a service.' And now someone had! Soon after, a number of people confess, but it is up to Miss Marple to solve the case and find the real culprit, and as always, she is more on the ball than any of the other characters.
I prefer Poirot to Miss Marple, but this was still a good read. One more to tick of my list.

Started 9th May
Finished 17th May

Books, Books, Books?

Next year I am determined to make a proper dent in the list of books I want to read. So far I am reading one that takes my fancy and then perusing the next one to the extent that I am wasting precious time not knowing what I next want to read.
Next Year I am going to have a schedule for my reading. I know it's not very proper and it sounds like I'm going to take all the enjoyment out of it if I have a specific pattern, but actually I think it will help me tackle books that I have had on my TBR pile for god knows how many years. I will continue to try and read as much Wodehouse and Christie as I can, but will also aim to read a classic for every 3 or 4 easy/modern novels that I finish. I do love classics when I get in to them, but sometimes the idea of having to read something that doesn't jump right off the page at me is rather off-putting. I am also determined to read all (or at least half) of the Georgette Heyer detective novels (having only read one so far and thoroughly enjoyed it) along with a few of the Dorothy L Sayers 'Lord Peter Wimsey' books. Crime, crime crime is the word on my 2012 mouth. I will devour as much crime and detective fiction as I can eat. I may even get started on one of the Edmund Crispin or Ngaio Marsh novels if I dare... Does anyone know whether there are any other detective writers like the ones I've listed? I am starting to become obsessed with them..
So maybe this is completely ridiculous, having just started this rant by saying that I want to have order to my reading, and then going on to say I'm going to read a specific genre instead of particular novels, but at least having a good idea of which genre I want to make a big hole in is a bloomin' good start...