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Advent of Mystery, Day 8: Murder at the Theatre Royale
We’re continuing the Ada Moncrieff read-through with the nect of her Christmas mysteries, Murder at the Theatre Royale. We’ve moved on from Hugh to a new protagonist (and a surprisingly popular type). Daphne is an agony aunt for a London newspaper who longs for a “real” beat. She talks her way into covering a new…
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Advent of Mystery, Day 7: Murder Most Festive
We are moving away from the dark and shocking side of holiday crime into lighter fare. We’ll start with three days of Ada Moncrieff, a modern writer with a taste for the historical. The first in her holiday mysteries is Murder Most Festive, an homage to the classic Manor House Mystery genre. Murder Most Festive…
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Sleeping Murder, Part 2: How to ruin a Miss Marple story
In my read through of Sleeping Murder, I noted that my initial impression of this story was not a great one. I also noted my surprise at this fact on re-read, as Sleeping Murder is, in so many ways, Peak Marple. But, having watched through the adaptations, I think I can confidently blame it on…
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Sleeping Murder, Part 1: The Epitome of Marple
We made it to the very end of the series! I’ll be honest – when I first started this journey, I had no idea it would take me this long. And I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy Sleeping Murder, in particular. In my memory, it was a little silly. And to be fair,…
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Nemesis, Part 2: A mess of Marple mistakes
I’m so sorry I’ve been so late to post – the holiday season got a bit away from me… But I am determined to get through this series this year – so expect some catch-up posts! As we get towards the end of our review of Miss Marple adaptations, I feel comfortable listing some of…
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Nemesis, Part 1: Let Justice roll down like waters…
Back to my favorite sleuth in one of her most famous adventures – Nemesis. Nemesis sticks out in the Miss Marple canon for a few reasons: it leans hard into series status, and it involves an interesting and unique collaboration from beyond the grave. Thematically, the story emphasizes Justice and Choice, with character choices and…
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Keeping the mystery alive in The Last Devil to Die
I know I’m not alone in my love for the Thursday Murder Club series. Ever since I read the first book, I knew that I’d return to this well as many times as Mister Osman let me. But even the best-written series can overstay their welcome, and one of the “danger zones” is entry four.…
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Grave Expectations: a spooky, cozy sensation
So I have a teeny-tiny confession to make: I’ve been deliberately avoiding one of my reading challenges. Specifically, I owe a paranormal cozy mystery for my Cruisin’ Thru the Cozies Challenge. But I have simply… not read any this year. In large part this is because I already find myself so frustrated by the lack…
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At Bertram’s Hotel, Pt. 2: a failure of peak TV coziness
I mentioned last week that At Bertram’s Hotel is one of my favorite Miss Marple stories, period. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for either of the adaptations of the book. Neither sufficiently capture that cozy (yet slightly unsettling) feeling of reading about Bertram’s hotel. Instead of unsettling perfection, we get either unsettling claustrophobia or…
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TCO Reviews: Last Word to the Wise
You can tell that after weeks of reading spy stories and fantasies, I’m in the mood for something cozy. So I’m delighted that the Christie sisters returned for some more bookshop-based sleuthing in Last Word to the Wise. Like any good cozy + Agatha fan, I had a great time with Dead and Gondola, the…