by R.W. Heber ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 17, 1997
Being a peer isn't what it used to be. Now that their Oxfordshire estate has fallen on hard times, Lord and Lady Gilroy have had to fall back on a series of increasingly desperate money-making schemes. Their latest, an Agatha Christie weekend with eight guests and a fictional murder, nearly founders before it's launched when the Christie estate forbids the use of any of the old inventer's plots or characters. Luckily, none of the guests—decorous stock characters, all of them, though duly equipped with the modern complement of nipples and thighs—is terribly disturbed by Lady Deirdre's last-minute substitutions, since they all have their own fish to fry: an adulterous affair, an article for a true-crime magazine, an attempt to strong-arm Lord Algernon into parceling out the estate for a subdivision of homes. For a while, Lady Deirdre and her first-time author have fun confusing fictional threats with real ones, but once the two murders, fake and real, are discovered, everything that follows- -despite the local inspector's sage observation that ``few things about the Wittenham Park murder seemed to be normal''—is utterly predictable. A miasmal lack of surprise will dampen the weekend for all but the staunchest nostalgia buffs. If only the Christie estate had relented and allowed a dollop of Agatha's surpassing ingenuity.
Pub Date: Oct. 17, 1997
ISBN: 0-312-16938-8
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1997
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by Lorna Barrett ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2019
An anodyne visit with Tricia and her friends and enemies hung on a thin mystery.
Too much free time leads a New Hampshire bookseller into yet another case of murder.
Now that Tricia Miles has Pixie Poe and Mr. Everett practically running her bookstore, Haven’t Got a Clue, she finds herself at loose ends. Her wealthy sister, Angelica, who in the guise of Nigela Ricita has invested heavily in making Stoneham a bookish tourist attraction, is entering the amateur competition for the Great Booktown Bake-Off. So Tricia, who’s recently taken up baking as a hobby, decides to join her and spends a lot of time looking for the perfect cupcake recipe. A visit to another bookstore leaves Tricia witnessing a nasty argument between owner Joyce Widman and next-door neighbor Vera Olson over the trimming of tree branches that hang over Joyce’s yard—also overheard by new town police officer Cindy Pearson. After Tricia accepts Joyce’s offer of some produce from her garden, they find Vera skewered by a pitchfork, and when Police Chief Grant Baker arrives, Joyce is his obvious suspect. Ever since Tricia moved to Stoneham, the homicide rate has skyrocketed (Poisoned Pages, 2018, etc.), and her history with Baker is fraught. She’s also become suspicious about the activities at Pets-A-Plenty, the animal shelter where Vera was a dedicated volunteer. Tricia’s offered her expertise to the board, but president Toby Kingston has been less than welcoming. With nothing but baking on her calendar, Tricia has plenty of time to investigate both the murder and her vague suspicions about the shelter. Plenty of small-town friendships and rivalries emerge in her quest for the truth.
An anodyne visit with Tricia and her friends and enemies hung on a thin mystery.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0272-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
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by Agatha Christie ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 28, 1934
A murder is committed in a stalled transcontinental train in the Balkans, and every passenger has a watertight alibi. But Hercule Poirot finds a way.
**Note: This classic Agatha Christie mystery was originally published in England as Murder on the Orient Express, but in the United States as Murder in the Calais Coach. Kirkus reviewed the book in 1934 under the original US title, but we changed the title in our database to the now recognizable title Murder on the Orient Express. This is the only name now known for the book. The reason the US publisher, Dodd Mead, did not use the UK title in 1934 was to avoid confusion with the 1932 Graham Greene novel, Orient Express.
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 1934
ISBN: 978-0062073495
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dodd, Mead
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1934
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