REVIEW: Dead Until Dark

 Dead Until Dark
Author: Charlaine Harris

I started reading this series years ago when only the first couple of books were out. I eagerly awaited each new book and snapped up a hardback copy on release day to further feed my gloriously trashy vampire story fixation. :) I just loved the characters, and had a great time reading each new addition. The entire series remains on my shelves to this day. I've re-read them several times since then. But -- 13 books and a couple of the short story collections that have Sookie Stackhouse tales in them take up a lot of space on my bookshelves!

I'm working to pare down my physical books. I have too many. I'm downsizing to move to a 1 bedroom apartment next year, so reading my way through my books and donating them. I will still have books....and I'm keeping all my bookshelves. But.....no more double stacked shelves! I just don't feel the need to own physical copies of hundreds of books anymore. Orderly shelves.....bit of bookish decor.....couple of plants. Much better than too many books crammed onto shelves however they will fit. I can't even see what books I have when it's chaos like that! 

Operation Downsize has begun!!  

After finishing all my Agatha Christie books and offloading them....I decided I wanted to revisit Bon Temps, Merlotte's Bar, and my favorite Louisiana waitress. I'm going to read my old copies of this series one more time, and donate them to a local thriftshop or used bookstore. Old friends....moving on to be read by someone else. :) 

And, most likely I will also re-watch the HBO series, even though it drifted so far from the books that it was a disappointment. 

I read my paperback copy of the first book in the series while listening to the audio book [Recorded Books, 2007, 9 hrs 29 minutes, narrated by Johanna Parker - thank you Hoopla/my local library!]. I got in the habit of reading and listening while I was journeying my way through all of Agatha Christie's mystery writing and found I really like it. I just like having a story read out loud to me....and I couldn't imagine Sookie's southern accent quite as well as Johanna does it.

I loved re-reading this book again!  

I enjoyed the story of Sookie and Vampire Bill meeting for the first time. All the strange murders....and the exciting ending where they finally discover the killer's identity. Great story! Steamy, suspenseful and fun to read. 

This series is not classic literature. It's entertaining. Something fun to read. I'm not looking for complex, riveting, masterpiece fiction. I just want to read a story about vampires, monsters, shapeshifters, steamy sex and a bit of horror. After taking six years to read, research and review all of Agatha Christie......I just want to have some fun. :) 

And....this series is perfect for that. 

Brain candy. And, I'm having a great time! 

Already reading/listening to book 2.  

REVIEW: Sleeping Murder

 Sleeping Murder
Author: Agatha Christie

Since 2020 I have been reading all of Agatha Christie's mystery novels and short stories in publication order. There were a couple novels I DNF'd because I wasn't enjoying the story. And, I skipped the last 3 Tommy & Tuppence books and one other book (Passenger to Frankfurt) because I had read them before and the stories just did not age well, in my opinion. All of the other books and short stories I read, researched, and reviewed. 

And.....this is the final one. The journey took me six years. 

Sleeping Murder was published following Christie's death in 1976. It is the final Miss Marple mystery. I have read it multiple times over the years. My old paperback copy [Bantam Books, 1976, 295 pages] had been read so many times it was falling apart. I enjoyed one last read......and put it in the recycle bin.  

The Basics: A relative of Miss Marple's has just gotten married. She travels to England ahead of her husband to purchase a house. The minute she buys Hillside, she begins to imagine she's been there before. Her imaginings soon turn very dark. She thinks there may have been a murder. Miss Marple is soon pulled into the strange case. 

This story has a very supernatural, spooky vibe. It's the perfect send-off for Miss Marple. And -- she doesn't die in the book. She just goes back to St. Mary Mead, her knitting and her tea....and lived out the rest of her days in peace. With no more dead bodies. I hope. 

Adaptations:

Television: Joan Hickson played Miss Marple in the 1987 episode of Miss Marple based on this book.

Some changes were made to the plot and characters, but this episode stays relatively faithful to the original story. I really enjoyed this episode! It's one of my favorites from the show!

Television: Syrian television adapted this story in 1992 as part of a 17 episode show "Jareemeh fee al zakera"  I was unable to find this show online. 

Radio Drama: BBC Radio 4 broadcast an audio drama based on this book in 2001. The episode is 90 minutes long and stars June Whitfield as Miss Marple. Changes were made to the plot and characters, but it is a very well done show! I enjoyed listening! 

Television: Japanese television adapted this story in 2005 as part of the show Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple. I haven't been able to find this show online to watch, so I didn't get to watch this 4-episode adaptation.

Television: In 2006, Agatha Christie's Marple adapted this story with Geraldine McEwan playing Miss Marple.  There are a lot of major changes in the plot. This show had a tendency to do that, and as usual, I was not a big fan of the changes. I wish they had kept to the original more closely. 

Television: In 2012, French television adapted this story for an episode of Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie. The story is moved to France and features French detectives. The show is an entertaining watch, but only loosely based on the book. If you have access to Kanopy through your local library, they have all of the episodes available. 

And with that -- my Agatha Christie reading journey is concluded.  I have now read them all. 

I can finally read all the non-fiction books I have about Agatha and her writing that I have been saving for the time when I wouldn't accidentally get any spoilers or reminders regarding plots and whodunnit! I have now read all the stories.....so I can read about the crafting of them with no fear! I have a book by David Suchet about his time playing Hercule. I have Agatha's Autobiography, a book about her travels....even two books about the poisons and venom she used to kill victims.  

So, I'm not leaving Agatha behind. I'm just moving to a different part of the journey! 

And......my final old worn out Agatha Christie paperback has been closed for the last time....and has been sent to the recycle bin. 

It is finished.  

 

REVIEW: Curtain

Curtain
Author: Agatha Christie 

Curtain is the final Hercule Poirot mystery. Agatha Christie wrote this novel in the early 1940's, but it wasn't published until just before her death. The novel was published in the UK and US in late 1975. Christie passed away on January 12, 1976.   

I had a rough time reading this novel. I felt like I was actually watching Hercule Poirot die. It's a wonderful mystery and I have read it before. But after spending six years reading my way through all of Christie's mysteries in publication order, I really felt by the time I hit this final Poirot book that I was leaving an old friend behind. 

When I started, I had 80+ novels and short story collections by Agatha Christie on a dedicated shelf. They took up the entire space, double stacked, and a few stragglers on another shelf because there just wasn't enough room. The paperbacks were in bad shape. All of them were very old and in various stages of decay. Paperbacks just really aren't meant to hang around for 40 or 50 years. They had outlived their usefulness...covers coming off, spines broken, pages falling out.....

I read them one by one -- and let them go.....putting them into the recycle bin. 

And now.....after finishing Curtain.....I only have one final book left.  

My copy of this novel came in a slip cover case with 5 other Poirot novels. I bought the set at a garage sale one summer when I was 9 years old. I had to do chores all summer to pay my mom back for the $4 she gave me to buy the books. The book has been on my shelf all those years....through grade school, middle school, high school, college, multiple moves......and now, it got read for the very last time. It really did feel like saying goodbye to a friend. Just as in the book, it was time for Poirot to solve his last mystery and move onto the next world. And it's a goodbye of sorts to Agatha as well. This was the final novel she ever published while she was still alive. She wrote it during World War II so that if she died, Hercule Poirot would get an ending. But she didn't approve publication of this book until she was elderly and her death was approaching. I think she wanted this book to be one of her last. Her very final novel -- Sleeping Murder -- came out posthumously in 1976. 

Others felt the same way as I did when reading this book. At the time the book was published, the New York Times even ran a front page obituary for Poirot. 

The novel is set at Styles. The same country house where Poirot's first novel - The Mysterious Affair at Styles - was set. Totally fitting. Joining Poirot is the detective's old friend, Arthur Hastings. Poirot sent for Hastings to help him solve a series of murders. He suspects another guest at Styles of killing five people. Poirot does solve the case in a most dramatic way.....after he has already passed away. 

Adaptations: 

Television: The final episode of the long-running Poirot television series is this story. Poirot's last case. I can only imagine how difficult it was for David Suchet to film that episode!! It was the final episode to air, but the first of that final season to be filmed. There are some minor changes made, but the story stays relatively true to the original. 

The television episode is the only adaptation I found for this final Poirot tale. 

 I have to admit when I finished the book and watched the episode of Poirot I cried when he died. Luckily, I brewed tea and cuddled with my dog while watching, because I knew it was going to get to me. I was prepared for the feels. 

 This book has been on my bookshelves for almost 50 years. I read it this last time.....and said goodbye. 

Goodbye, Hercule. And farewell, Agatha -- thank you for all the mystery. You will always be the Queen of Crime. 

One last book to read on my journey through Agatha Christie's writing..... Sleeping Murder. I need to say goodbye to Jane Marple next.  And then.....the journey will be over. A goal that I set when I was 9 years old and biked home from a garage sale with a set of mystery novels. They were the first small print paperbacks I ever read.....my first "adult" level books. And as I read my way through them, I made a promise that I would read all of her books. I finally did it! 

It took me a long time, Agatha. But I kept my promise. :) And what a magnificent, entertaining and fun journey it has been!!  

On to the last book -- Sleeping Murder.  

 

REVIEW: Elephants Can Remember

 Elephants Can Remember
Author: Agatha Christie

This is the last Hercule Poirot novel Agatha Christie wrote before her death in 1976. Curtain was the last published, but that story was actually written in the 1940s. Elephants Can Remember was published in 1972.

My old paperback copy of this novel had a stamp on the inside front cover from Rainy Day Books in St. Joseph, MO and an old price sticker stuck on the front cover. :) Obviously, I bought it used.  I read it one last time, and it went into the recycle bin. 

The Basics: Ariadne Oliver (my fav Agatha Christie side character!) once again pulls Poirot into an investigation. The case is 12 years old. A couple were found shot to death, but the investigation never proved if it was suicide or a clever case of murder. 

I enjoyed re-reading this book, but I wish Hercule had gotten a stronger send-off. Miss Marple got an edgy last story in Nemesis, but this last Poirot book just seems the same old-same old. I did enjoy it more because Adriane Oliver added her energy into the plot, but it still just isn't that great of a book. Very formula. I think Agatha Christie had just grown tired of churning out Hercule Poirot books. 

Adaptations: 

Television: In 2013, the long-running Poirot television series starring David Suchet aired an episode based on this book. There were major changes to the plot and characters. Zoe Wanamaker was wonderful as Ariadne Oliver once again! It's an enjoyable episode, but really only loosely based on the book. 

Radio drama: BBC Radio 4 broadcast an audio drama starring John Moffat as Hercule Poirot in 2006. 

2007 Movie: The Thai movie "Alone" was released in 2007 and has been re-made multiple times in several languages. It's only loosely based on this novel.  

My old paperback is in the recycle bin.....and moving on to the final two books in my reading challenge. Curtain and Sleeping Murder.  

REVIEW: Nemesis

Nemesis
Author: Agatha Christie 

This novel was published in the UK and the US in 1971. It was the last Miss Marple novel Agatha Christie wrote before her death. Sleeping Murder was the final book published, but that story was actually written in the 1940s. 

My old paperback copy of this novel had Joan Hickson on the front cover and was an ad for the Miss Marple television series. 

The plot harkens back to A Caribbean Mystery in that a wealthy man that helped Miss Marple with that investigation has died. His will leaves the elderly sleuth money if she completes a task for him. As part of her task, Miss Marple goes on a trip and gets pulled into a complex web of deceit and multiple murders. 

Wow -- this story had a lot going on! Once the plot grabbed hold of me, I couldn't stop reading. I had to know what was going on! First I wanted to fully understand what her actual task was.....and then I wanted to know the solution to the puzzle. The plot definitely kept my attention. I found it disturbing and dark, but it definitely held my attention from start to finish. 

Agatha Christie gave Miss Marple a great last huzzah with this book.  As usual, I made a guess at what the truth was....and was wrong. I had part of the solution right, but not the entire thing. 

This isn't one of my favorite Miss Marple stories, but it was an entertaining and engrossing read. 

Adaptations:

Radio drama: BBC radio adapted Nemesis in 1998 with June Whitfield as Miss Marple.  

Television: In 1987, Joan Hickson starred in an episode of Miss Marple based on this book. The episode is mostly faithful to the book. Very well done. 

Television: Agatha Christie's Marple adapted this story in 2007 as part of the 3rd season. Geraldine McEwan played Miss Marple for the last time in this episode. There are major changes to characters and plot making this episode really only loosely based on the novel. I didn't really care for the changes. I almost turned the episode off a couple of times...but finished it as it was Geraldine McEwan's last time playing Miss Marple. 

Television: Korean television adapted this story in 2018 as Ms. Ma, Nemesis. 

I'm almost to the end of my Agatha Christie reading challenge! 3 reviews to go and I'm finished. Six years to read all of Agatha Christie's mystery novels and short stories (with a few exceptions). Whew! I have already completed reading the remaining books. I'm just catching up on watching/listening to adaptations and writing up the reviews. 

I will be totally transparent and state that I gave myself permission to DNF any books I wasn't enjoying or to skip some involving characters I don't like.  In this home stretch to the finish, I skipped Passenger to Frankfurt. I've read it before and just didn't enjoy it. It's a weak book....so I just jumped over it and moved on. I also skipped Postern of Fate. I don't enjoy the Tommy & Tuppence books at all. I've read them all previously....and I find the spy/thriller/crime angle too outdated to be enjoyable. So....skipped past their last novel.   Life is too short to force myself to read / re-read books I don't care for, even if they are written by Agatha Christie.  

My old paperback of Nemesis is in the recycle bin. Moving on!   

REVIEW: Hallowe'en Party

 Hallowe'en Party
Author: Agatha Christie

This Hercule Poirot mystery was published in the UK and US in 1969. 

My favorite of Agatha Christie's side characters is back -- Ariadne Oliver! 

The basics: At a Halloween party, a young girl excitedly tells Ariadne that she once witnessed a murder. When that same girl is found dead in a gruesome manner later on during the party, Poirot is on the case! Can he find out who killed the girl.....and what murder she saw? 

This is my favorite Hercule Poirot novel. My favorite holiday is Halloween and it was one of the first Poirot novels I read as a child, so I'm sure that has something to do with it. Is it the best Poirot mystery? Nope. Is it an incredible example of Agatha Christie's talents? Nope. It's formula at best and at this point in her career, Christie seemed to be pretty much just releasing books on a schedule. And I think she may have been tired of her most famous characters. But....I have a warm spot in my heart for this book anyway. 

My old paperback copy of this book was on my shelves for decades. I bought it brand new at a Waldenbooks in Kansas City. Funny the things you remember....I have no idea why I remember the exact purchase of this book after so many years, but my brain filed it away. The paperback had major shelf wear and after being read so many times, the pages were beginning to fall out. 

I enjoyed one more read.....and put the book in the recycle bin. I will re-read it in October this year....using a copy from the local library. 

Adaptations:

Radio Drama: In 1993, BBC Radio first broadcast an audio drama based on this book. John Moffat returned as Hercule Poirot and Stephanie Cole played Ariadne Oliver. These radio dramas are always so good! I love the full-cast stories and sound effects/music. Very entertaining! The story was trimmed for time, but I enjoyed listening.

Television: The long-running show Poirot adapted this story for an episode in 2010. [Season 12, episode 2] There are some minor changes, but the plot stays mostly true to the original novel. Loved this episode! Zoe Wanamaker is outstanding as Ariadne Oliver!! 

Television: The French television show Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie based an episode on this  novel in 2014. The setting is moved to France and French detectives investigate.This show is very entertaining. If your local library offers Kanopy, that site has the entire series. 

Graphic Novel: HarperCollins published a graphic novel version in 2008. 

2023 movie:  This Kenneth Branagh film changes the title to A Haunting in Venice. This was my first viewing of this movie. Because I was in the process of reading all of Agatha Christie's mysteries in publication order, I waited  until I got to this book to watch. And.....I will just be honest....I don't like Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot. He does not fit the character, the mustache is ridiculous, and they butcher the plots. As this is my favorite Poirot novel, I was determined to watch.  So.....I decided to go into it with the mind-set that this film version is completely separate from the novel. I enjoyed the horror aspects of the movie, but it is only loosely based on the original story. 

I have officially finished reading all of the novels and short stories. But I got behind on watching/listening to adaptations. I'm on PTO for a week, so catching up on things to officially close out my Agatha Christie reading challenge. I've been at it since 2020.....it's been a fun journey! Almost done!!  

 

REVIEW: Endless Night

 Endless Night
Author: Agatha Christie

Ok....the minute I start thinking that I don't like Agatha Christie's books written after 1950, I come across one that is incredibly suspenseful and entertaining. So, I have to change my thoughts just a bit -- I don't like MOST of Agatha Christie's books written after 1950.

I loved this one. 

Endless Night was first published in the UK in 1967 and US publication followed in 1968.

I was out of Hoopla credits for the month, so just read my paperback copy of the book, rather than listening to the audio book while reading. I think I expected this to be another dud, like several of the later Marple and Poirot books that I really didn't enjoy. But.....it surprised me!!

This was my first time reading this book, and I'm so glad that I took the time to finally read my copy! 

The basics: A working class man meets and marries an heiress. They buy a property and build a house on it, despite rumors that the land is cursed. Soon after they move in and start settling into life together, the wife is found dead under strange circumstances. Are curses real? Or.....was Ellie murdered?

This book has such a spooky, dark vibe. I was completely sucked into the plot quite early, and was hit upside the head by the twistiness of this plot! Loved it! 

This story does not involve any of Agatha's well-known characters like Marple or Poirot. The fact that the plot is outstandingly bizarre and wonderful tells me that Agatha may have been tired of writing formula classic mysteries with her established detectives. She definitely put her heart into this one! Great book!

Adaptations:

1972 movie: A movie version starring Hayley Mills and Britt Eklund had a short release only in the UK. The film did not do well. Even Agatha Christie herself expressed disappointment. I didn't get a chance to watch this movie. It wasn't available to stream on any platform I subscribe to except Amazon as a rent/buy option. Not paying for what is potentially a bad movie. If I see it pop up on streaming in the future, I will watch it. 

Radio drama: A one hour episode based on this book broadcast as part of Saturday Theatre on BBC Radio 4. I was able to find the episode online. So good!! Full cast with sound effects. Loved it! 

Graphic Novel: HarperCollins published a graphic novel based on the book in 2008. 

Television: Agatha Christie's Marple adapted this story as an episode of the popular television show. Miss Marple is not in the book, but the story is based on two prior short stories (The Case of the Caretaker and The Case of the Caretaker's Wife), one of which does include Miss Marple.  I'm always surprised that this show adapted several stories that did not include Miss Marple, but didn't make episodes based on all of the ones that did include the elderly sleuth.  The episode makes some changes to fit the story into a television episode, but it was very entertaining! 

 I read online that a television series and a movie based on this book are in the works as of 2025. I can't wait to watch!! I will be eagerly awaiting both! 

On to the next! Well sort of anyway.....the next book is a Tommy & Tuppence story (By the Pricking of my Thumbs). I don't like Tommy & Tuppence...so I am giving myself permission to skip past it to Hallowe'en Party.