Passenger to Frankfurt

Publication date: 1970

Summary: Sir Stafford Nye's life becomes slightly less boring than this sleeper of a novel when a young woman at the Frankfurt Airport asks him to give her his passport and cloak, drink a sedative in his beer and let her escape to London.

This somewhat interesting opening spirals into long dialogues, fantastic plot twists and a somewhat difficult to describe denouement. The novel takes a cynical view of the world and the social unrest of the late sixties. Unlike her first thriller, The Secret Adversary, where order is restored quite easily, in this novel, there is less confidence about order being restored and the characters resort to trying to get a formula called Benvo which permanently makes people benevolent. More information is in the video below. Oh yeah, and Hitler's bastard son is on the loose.

Body count: You tell me.

Detective/Sleuth: No one we've met before

Rating: 2 drugged beers out of 5

Commentary:

Hallowe'en Party

Publication date: 1969

Summary: Ariadne Oliver calls Poirot in to investigate the death of a young girl named Joyce who is drowned in an apple bobbing bucket at a Hallowe'en Party after having announced that she'd seen a murder once. We get the reintroduction of Superintendent Spence from Mrs. McGinty's Dead as well as references to characters in other Poirot novels: Miss Bulstrode and Mr. Goby. The novel does reflect the times as it is the first work by the author to use the word "lesbian" and there is some discussion around the abolishment of capital punishment. In this novel, Ms. Oliver, who (like Christie) loved eating apples, vows never to eat another after seeing Joyce's lifeless body slumped over the apple bobbing bucket.

Body count: Joyce Reynolds and her brother Leopold snuff it.

Detective/Sleuth: Hercule Poirot, Ariadne Oliver, Superintendent Spence

Rating: 3.5 apples out of 5

Commentary:

By the Pricking of My Thumbs

Publication date: 1968

Summary: Tommy and Tuppence Beresford (now an aging couple in their sixties) find themselves mixed up in a puzzle from the past after visiting their Aunt Ada at the Sunny Ridge Nursing Home for Ladies. Tuppence is disturbed by the sudden disappearance of a Mrs. Lancaster and believes that the key to solving her disappearance is in a painting given to Tommy's aunt by the missing woman. After finding the house and exploring a churchyard, Tuppence gets coshed on the head and Tommy has to find her.

This interesting novel doesn't seem to know whether it's about robbery or murder. The book becomes muddled midway through and bogs down with the late introduction of several characters and possible plot lines. While it's always fun to see Tommy and Tuppence, the mystery here is pretty lacking.

The literary allusion to Macbeth is appropriate given the number of witch-like old ladies in the novel.

Body count: several children apparently

Detective/Sleuth: Thomas and Tuppence Beresford

Rating: 2.5 diamond-stuffed dolls out of 5

Commentary:

Endless Night

Publication date: 1967

Summary: Penniless Mark and American heiress Ellie meet in the sprawling country landscape of Gypsy's Acre and fall for each other. Aided by Ellie's companion, Greta (whom no one in Ellie's family likes), the two lovers get married and buy Gypsy's Acre. Despite local superstition about the place and warnings from local gypsies, the two decide to tear down the old house and build a new place designed by Mark's friend, the famous architect Santonix. Santonix is a hard character to classify in the Christie canon. He's a mysterious figure who seems to see through people. If I had to lump him with other characters, I'd say he reminded me of Shaitana from Cards on the Table or Mr. Quinn from The Mysterious Mr. Quinn. He frightens people, not because of who he is, but because he sees you for who you are.

Almost immediately after moving into their new house, Ellie and Mark begin to have strange things happen to them. A note attached to a rock comes through the window, a bird is found stabbed through with a knife, and Ellie sprains her ankle. Greta is sent for and a short visit quickly becomes a live-in situation. Eventually, just when Mark and Ellie believe that all of the superstition has come to an end, disaster strikes. Ellie goes out riding and never comes back. Her horse is seen galloping by without its rider and she's eventually found dead in a grove. There are only minor injuries on her body from the fall from the horse. Death is determined to have been caused by heart failure. One neighbor claims to have seen Miss Lee, a local gypsy, in the vicinity shortly before seeing Ellie's horse. Unfortunately Miss Lee

Body count: 4

Detective/Sleuth: None

Rating: 5 gypsies out of 5

Commentary:

Tea Time - Christie Style

Although I've lived in Turkey for over a year and a half and have visited Istanbul half a dozen times, I had not yet been able to go to the Pera Palace Hotel in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul. The main reason for my wanting to visit this little gem of vintage architecture and throwback to the turn of the last century is because this was where Agatha Christie used to stay when she came to town. I have a feeling it was a popular destination for people who rode on the Orient Express. The Peral was built in 1895 and was designed by a Levantine architect and Istanbul resident named Alexander Vallaury. Some of the famous people who have stayed in the Pera include: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Ernest Hemingway, Jacqueline Kennedy, Greta Garbo, Alfred Hitchcock, King Edward VIII, Mata Hari and Sarah Bernhardt.


When I first came to Istanbul, I scoped out the Pera on a map and walked there from my hotel. Unfortunately, it was under renovation and I couldn't go inside. This was true of the second time I visited as well. When I was here last Christmas, we stopped by to get a drink in the lobby bar, but it was closed for the night and we weren't allowed in the lobby.

Today, when I got to my flat near Taksim Square, I jumped online to find out about visiting the Pera. I'd remembered my department head had said something about afternoon tea being served at the Pera, so I decided to check it out. Tea at the Pera comes with a price tag, but the spread and the ambience more than make up for the cost. The real reason for going to the Pera for tea is to people watch and soak up the atmosphere of the place.

If Christie visited the Pera today, I think she'd feel something akin to Miss Marple's experience going to Bertram's Hotel - very little has changed. There is an old fashioned elevator (the first in Istanbul), a jazz pianist, a very proper looking staff in the Kubbeli Saloon where tea is served, and an interior that makes even the most humble of travelers (i.e. me) feel a bit posh.





Me looking overwhelmed by the grandeur.

For tea, I was served:
-Tea (duh!) with an extra pot of water and milk (which I had to ask for - Turks don't like to mess up their tea with milk)


-Sandwiches: cucumber, smoked salmon, beef, and a brioche bite with a kind of crab mousse



-Desserts: a table heaped with loads of little sweet treats. I took a hearty sampling of the ones that looked good to me



The grandeur of the hotel saloon left me in no doubt that Mrs. Christie enjoyed traveling in style. I don't think I'd have bumped into her at a youth hostel or couch-surfed with her and Max. I enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere of bygone days sitting there in the saloon, but it made me yearn for more classic Christie works - the brave new world of post-war Europe of her novels in the 50s, 60s, and 70s seems a bit lackluster compared to what I'd experienced this afternoon. I wonder if Christie too sensed an aesthetic decline with the advent of pre-packaged everything, mind-numbing prosperity and growing cynicism.

At any rate, if you get to Istanbul, splurge and get the 55TL (around 40USD) tea with all you can eat desserts. If you like Christie, you'll really enjoy this treat.

Third Girl

Publication date: 1966

Summary: A lost, drugged out Norma Restarick turns up at Poirot's office saying she may have murdered someone. After telling Poirot she thinks he's too old to help her, she disappears and we don't see her for most of the novel. She's the third girl of a trio of women sharing a London flat. What's strange is that these three women are all connected in odd ways. Poirot teams up with Ariadne Oliver to help figure out if there was indeed a murder and if Norma was indeed the murderer.

Body count: Two
Detective/Sleuth: Poirot and Ariadne Oliver

Rating: 3.75 coils of hair out of 5

Commentary:

At Bertram's Hotel

Publication date: 1965

Summary: Not nearly as far-fetched as most of her espionage novels, this one has an underlying murder story only tangentially connected to the crime syndicate plot. Miss Marple enjoys a two-week stay at the eternally unchanging luxury hotel, Bertram's. During this time she begins to suspect that the hotel may be a front for some other activity - it's simply too good to be true. The novel revolves around two women, a mother and daughter: adventuress Bess Sedgewick and her estranged daughter, Elvira Blake. While mom does her best to avoid her daughter, her daughter seems overly preoccupied with the idea that someone is trying to kill her. What makes this novel interesting is not Miss Marple, who's powers of deduction are given little show, but the denouement - we don't quite get that this story of espionage is also a murder case until the end and the murderer, icily detached, gets away with it.

Body count: One death

Detective/Sleuth: Miss Marple, Father

Rating: 3 night's stay out of 5

Commentary: