Joyce McDonald
“The Mysterious Affair at Styles” by Agatha Christie
In this first novel by Agatha Christie, published in 1920, she introduces the inimitable Poirot, who would go on to appear in 33 Christie novels and 54 short stories. In fact, Christie spent so much time with Poirot that she began to think of him as “insufferable” and “an ego-centric creep.”
“Antarctica on a Plate” by Alexa Thomson
Wanted: Cook for remote camp. Location: Antarctica. Job Description: Cook meals at unspecified times for 7-100 persons. Duration: 4 months. Pay: Appallingly low. Facility: Scattered tents in the middle of nowhere. Entire facility buried sometimes for years when not in use. No Cuisinarts. No KitchenAids—no electricity. Stove sometimes belches fire and could burn down the camp. However, camp more likely to be blown away by storms.
“The Secret Adversary” by Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie carefully weaves her story with clues that appear to be casually dropped, and which the reader may not take to heart. Her skill at foreshadowing marks her as a master storyteller whose stories endure nearly a century after they were written.
“Murder on the Iditarod Trail” by Sue Henry
Published in 1991, and winner of the Anthony Award and the Macavity Award, both for “Best First Mystery,” Murder on the Iditarod Trail chronicles the adventures of a musher (as Iditarod contestants are known) and a State Trooper as the former tries to elude and the latter tries to catch the person responsible for the deaths of three mushers and the maiming of three more.
“The Cat Who Had Sixty Whiskers” by Lilian Jackson Braun
Those of us who have faithfully read the entire “Cat Who…” series have seen Jim Qwilleran put his life back together after hitting rock bottom, as a result of his alcoholism, divorce and the inability to hold onto a job. We have seen him pull himself up by his bootstraps to become the man in control—the one others come to for comfort and advice, and filthy rich to boot. Now we see his idyllic universe begin to unravel. He and the reader realize that his universe may have been getting a little stagnant. Is Jim paying for his failure to make personal commitments? Will another woman take up where Polly left off? Will she be reserved and erudite like Polly, or outgoing and outrageous like Hixie Rice?
“String of Pearls” by Priscilla Buckley
The title of this book is evidently a double entendre—a guess, since pearls are never mentioned in the narrative. However, a string of pearls was and still is a wardrobe staple for the professional woman. A “string of pearls” must also refer to the format of the narrative. It is a collection of vignettes presented in a logical if not always chronological order. As the reader progresses through the stories, he or she realizes that these stories are indeed gems.
“The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell” by Lilian Jackson Braun
The Cat Who Dropped a Bombshell is available at Diesel Ebooksand Amazon.com.
Part of the success of the “Cat Who” series can be explained by the fact that each novel in has some special point of interest that grabs the reader. The early novels hinged fascinatingly on Qwilleran’s efforts to put his life [...]
“The Cat Who Went Bananas” by Lilian Jackson Braun
The Cat Who Went Bananas is available at Diesel Ebooks and Amazon.com.
Imagine, if you will, a small, quiet, remote town with murder rate well above the national average. Imagine a climate so forbidding that a neighboring town is called “Brrr”. Imagine an eccentric populace of cat owners and cat lovers who look with [...]
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