Trust No One. Sir Stafford Nye, a minor diplomat, encounters an irresistible call to adventure on a routine business trip. All his training and his common sense tell him to refuse. But he’s bored with his ordinary life, he’s curious, and he’s got a mischievous streak that he can’t help indulging. Impulsively, he takes the …
Review: Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie Read More »
Still waters run deep. That’s the theme of this classic English country-house mystery. The village of Hazel Green is as peaceful on the surface as a woodland pond. But over the years, a series of disappearances create disturbing ripples: A lonely housemaid vanishes from her parents’ cottage. A priceless ring vanishes from an heiress’ party. …
Two victims. Two detectives. One body. That’s the basic premise of the book, and I’ll be walking on very thin ice to tell you more. The story is so tightly constructed that nearly everything in it connects to a clue, and once you figure out the plot twist, you’ll never be able to forget …
As you may recall, Mottley’s longstanding friendship with Chief Inspector Forthright reached a breaking point in Mr Mottley Gets His Man: “I’ll grant you see things, Mottley – things we might never pick up on. I let you muck in on this case because I thought you might be useful. Mucking, indeed! Look what you’ve done, …
#SneakPeek: Mr Mottley & the Plushbottom Conundrum – Old Friends Read More »
I wasn’t sure at first if I was going to like this book. To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t sure if I could finish it at all. The most frustrating thing was that by rights I ought to love this story. The premise is fantastic: Lady Georgianna Rannoch (Georgie to her friends) is the epitome …
Review: On Her Majesty’s Frightfully Secret Service by Rhys Bowen Read More »
Dick Francis is the cozy lover’s Raymond Chandler. He plunks down a hard-boiled thriller right in the middle of a cozy mystery setup, and somehow it just…works. It’s really amazing when you think about it. Francis’ books have all the trappings of a textbook cozy, right down the line: an amateur sleuth with an interesting hobby or …
Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a warm, safe, and fun holiday celebration. And I hope those who don’t celebrate Christmas were more amused than annoyed by those of us who do. I wasn’t sure whether I’d get to read and review a holiday mystery this month, because my hands were always full with work, …
…or rather, Tey for four. I’ve been on an author binge this summer, and I don’t regret a single minute of it. After reading Nicola Upson’s marvellous mindbender An Expert in Murder, I went out collecting original Josephine Teys, to refresh my memory on her effortless, masterful style. My first find was her 1950 novel, To Love and …
![By Silar (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://ellenseltz.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/01464_vintage_Russian_Soviet_silver_cup_tea_holder-224x300.jpg)
Along with Sirop de Cassis, cocoa at breakfast, and other drinks considered by Hastings to be “noxious”, Hercule Poirot is often seen drinking his tisane, to which he attributes health and the acuity of his “little gray cells”. This recurring theme led me to wonder, what flavor of tisane would Poirot like best? I often …