Sir David Suchet and Agatha Christie

 

Alice C. Linsley

I have been reading Agatha Christie's novel The Man in the Brown Suit. It is full of descriptions of places she visited in Southern Africa. She even mentions surfing in Hawaii, something she loved to do. Imagine my delight to find that Sir David Suchet refers to that novel in the brilliant series Travels With Agatha Christie & Sir David Suchet S1 - Factual | BritBox.

Sir David, who played the role of Hercule Poirot for 25 years, charms throughout the series. He travels to locations Agatha Christie visited, immersing himself in countries she explored to uncover the literary enigma's inspirations.

If you haven't watched this informative BritBox exclusive, I commend it to you for utter enjoyment.

It is clear why Agatha Christie is considered the "Queen" of the detective novel. Her character Poirot rivals Sherlock Holmes.

Watch and enjoy!

Related reading: When the World’s Most Famous Mystery Writer Vanished - The New York Times

Fiction for the Wealthy White Woke

 

Donna Andrews is an American mystery writer of two award-winning amateur sleuth series. Her first book, Murder with Peacocks (1999), introduced Meg Langslow, the main character of her books. Meg is mother of twin boys and a blacksmith from Yorktown, Virginia.

Andrews' novels feature multi-generation, mostly wealthy white Virginians, craft persons, female Episcopal priests, zookeepers, and bird enthusiasts. There are nerdy techs, hippies, and sage smudging New Agers. Gay "marriage" comes into her stories.

Her murder plots are layered and her emphasis on conservation of natural habitats is praiseworthy. All of her titles involve birds though the reader may sometimes struggle to see a connection between the title and the plot. Some titles in the Meg Langslow series include The Real Macaw, Duck the Halls, Stork Raving Mad, and the Gift of the Magpie. 

Her books can be purchased from Barnes and Noble or Amazon. Many are available in your local library.

Murder by Arsenic

I recently read Dorothy L. Sayers' Strong Poison for the second time. This 1931 novel is the fifth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. It is the first in which the character of Harriet Vane appears. As a mystery novelist, Vane knew all about arsenic poisoning, and when her former lover died in the manner prescribed in one of her books, a jury nearly find her guilty. But Lord Peter Wimsey was determined to find her innocent.

In the novel, Sayers recounts some of the famous arsenic murders in British criminal history. That made me curious to know more.

Then I found this piece Murder by Poison in the New Yorker (2013) written by Joan Acocella, and I recommend it.

Alice C. Linsley