REVIEW: The Lace Widow

 The Lace Widow
Author: Mollie Ann Cox

Alexander Hamilton is dead, killed in a duel with Aaron Burr. His widow, Eliza, is doing her best to put her life back together. She has no choice. She has eight children to raise by herself. 

One night, her carriage is stopped on the street and she witnesses a murdered man's body being dragged out of the river. Later, her son becomes a suspect in the killing because he was seen arguing with the man. Then another man dies. Eliza sees a pattern and believes the deaths are tied to her husband's death. Eliza jumps into investigating the deaths to prove her son isn't a murderer and to clear her late husband's name. 

This was an interesting read and a good historical mystery story. I had a bit of a rough time reading, as I don't like the way women were treated in that era. 

The mystery moves along at a good pace, the historical aspects are very interesting, and the story is well-written. 

Definitely a book I would recommend to those who enjoy historical mysteries.

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Crooked Lane Books. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

REVIEW: Death by Demo

 Death by Demo
Author: Callie Carpenter

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. New series and new-to-me author -- a combo I love! 

The basics: When Jaime's marriage crumbles she finds the only thing she takes away from the divorce is also crumbling. A victorian house. A house in terrible repair that needs a huge amount of restoration work. But Jaime has mad skills when it comes to restoring and decorating homes. And she really needs a project. But even her skills can't help when she knocks down a wall and finds.....

A dead body. 

This book is a fun read. I really like the characters, the setting, the background story! I will definitely stick with this series. I love the idea of renovating an old house like this (minus the dead body though, thank you). I lack the skills Jaime has though, so I will just enjoy reading about demo and construction/renovation projects. The book has just the right mixture of humor and amateur sleuthing. A cat. And lots of interesting characters. Definitely a cozy series I will enjoy!

The cover art is cute and colorful. Love it! 

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Crooked Lane Books. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

REVIEW: The Lost Tomb

 The Lost Tomb
Author: Douglas Preston

Douglas Preston is one of my favorite authors. He reminds me a bit of Clive Cussler -- an author who wrote exciting, thrilling books and also did The Things in real life. Having been an investigative journalist, Preston has looked into, researched and written about all sorts of weird, mysterious, and downright scary events and places. I love how he (and co author Lincoln Child) weave some of these real occurrences into their Agent Pendergast and Nora Kelly books, adding their own twists to make the story their own. 

I read Preston's 2017 non-fiction book The Lost City of the Monkey God with fascination when it came out. I could only imagine the excitement and uncertainty of searching the Honduran rain forest with LIDAR to find a legendary lost city. 

When this book - The Lost Tomb - popped onto my radar before its publication, I knew I had to read it. I read part of the digital arc I requested from the publisher -- and stopped. Not because I didn't want to finish the book, but because I was enjoying it so much I wanted to wait....to slow down....to wait until I had the audio book to listen while reading the words, and a bit more time to read/listen, look up facts on the real events online as I read, and just savor this book. I have a almost obsessive love for mystery, the unexplained, and the strange directions real events can take. And, this collection of stories hits all the buttons for me. I didn't want to just read this for pre-publication review purposes -- I wanted to completely enjoy this book! 

So I stopped reading. And waited. Christmas holiday. Several days off of work. No place I need to be. And, I loaded up my digital print copy of this book and bought the audio book. 

I was ready to enjoy Douglas Preston's stories. 

I'm glad I waited. 

The stories are from journalistic pieces he researched and published, and tales he and Lincoln Child wove into their books. Everything from an Italian serial killer case that spanned decades to Dyatlov Pass - the stories are varied and each as interesting as the next. 

For readers who love mysteries, interesting and intriguing tales and books like the Agent Pendergast and Nora Kelly series -- you really need to read this book! 

Loved it! And, Douglas Preston is firmly situated right at the tippy-top of my favorite authors list. Not only that, I think he would be an interesting person to spend time with, to have dinner with, to have real conversation with. An interesting person, who has led an interesting life. I've met a number of authors in my years as a reviewer. Most were very nice people who I enjoyed speaking to and spending time with...and a couple were incredible douchemeister asshats (not naming names). My intuition tells me that Preston would be a wonderful member of the former, and not the latter. If he ever does an event near Denver I will be there to thank him for his work, and to also see if I'm right. :) 

I'm definitely in line for his next non-fiction book. He has me hooked! 

The audio book is just over 12 hours long and narrated by Will Collyer. This is the first audio book I've listened to that was narrated by Collyer. He has a pleasant voice, reads at a good pace, and is easily understandable. Great job of narration! The audio book is very enjoyable! 

I highly recommend this book! I bought a copy, so I don't have to add a disclaimer that I received a free review copy and that all opinions are strictly my own, yadda yadda yadda....but I will just out of habit....

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Grand Central Publishing. All opinions expressed are entirely my own**

REVIEW: The ABC Murders

 The ABC Murders
Author: Agatha Christie

Out of the large number of Agatha Christie novels I have on my bookshelves (nearly all of them), this is one that I don't have. I recently re-organized my bookshelves and put all my Agatha books in publication order since that is how I am reading them. And I was caught by surprise that I didn't have this one. It is one of the more well-known Poirot stories. I guess I never came across an old paperback version of this one over the years, or I owned it at one time and it was lost or borrowed and not returned. Who knows? But, luckily in the digital age this was a much easier problem to correct than it was when I started collecting Christie paperbacks back in the 80s! 

Within seconds -- thanks to my lovely public library system -- I accessed a digital print copy and an audio book to do my usual read-listen combo. I chose an old hardback edition of this book that actually includes two other Christie novels: Murder Go Round: Thirteen at Dinner, The ABC Murders, and Funerals are Fatal published by Dodd, Mead & Company in 1972. The audio book is from HarperAudio, released in 2012. I like to compare older print versions to the newer audio books to see if there are any changes. I only read The ABC Murders from the physical book. I have already read and reviewed 13 at Dinner. And, Funerals are Fatal (After the Funeral) was published in 1953, so it's a bit further ahead in my publication order reading. The audio book features Hugh Fraser as narrator. He played Hastings in the long-running BBC Poirot television show. He always does an outstanding job as narrator. The audio is 6 hours long.

The ABC Murders was originally published in the UK on January 6, 1936. US publication followed on February 14, 1936, under the same title. 

 This story was excellent! As I read, I was more and more confident that I hadn't read this book before. Definitely classic Christie! I did not see the ending coming! I enjoyed every minute. 

There were very few differences between the printed book and the audio book. The biggest one was the addition of a story recap at one point -- it was in the audio book and not in the printed book. I don't feel the addition was necessary.

This story is so clever. ABC not only refers to the names of some of the murder victims, but also an old

Railway Guide that was readily available in the UK at the time. I liked how Christie wrote the story. Portions of it were written as a narrative of events from Hastings, Poirot's sidekick, and other sections are specifically identified as not being part of Hastings' memories of events. Normally, I don't like point of view changes like that, but Christie pulls it off wonderfully.

There have been several adaptations of this story over the years. In 1948, the radio drama Suspense had an episode based on the book. In 1965, Tony Randall starred in a film, The Alphabet Murders. In 1992, the show Agatha Christie's Poirot aired an episode. BBC radio did an adaptation in 2002.  A French series, Les Petits Muertres d'Agatha Christie, featured this story in 2009. And in 2018, the BBC did a miniseries starring John Malkovich and Rupert Grint. 

Suspense: I easily found this episode searching on Apple Podcasts (Yay for OTR podcasts! I love them!) It is also available on YouTube. This version stars actor Charles Laughton. The story is condensed into about 30 minutes, so there are a lot of changes/omissions. In fact, Hercule Poirot doesn't make an appearance in the episode at all. The episode is still enjoyable and some parts of Christie's story are there. I was a bit disappointed that they took Poirot out, but I think it was so that the episode could be trimmed down for time. 

The Alphabet Murders (1965): This movie stars Tony Randall as Hercule Poirot. It takes (steals and ruins, rather) small bits of Agatha's plot, but that's where the resemblance stops. The writers tried to make this a comedy, but it's cringe-worthy. First off, Tony Randall is not the correct casting for Hercule Poirot. He was a wonderful actor -- but what were they thinking? Agatha Christie did not watch this movie and wrote in 1965 that her friends and publishers told her "the agony would be too great."  And they were right. I suffered through 1 hr and 26 minutes of this drivel. They took a wonderful, complex story by Christie and turned it into.....whatever the hell I just watched. Miscasting. Terrible script. Bad all the way around. But, I am not above letting others suffer with me. So here is a link to this terrible movie. Should I say enjoy? :) It's on YouTube --  https://youtu.be/zwrT0GvdWAk?si=8jqwPGjnj15PC2xn      I am so glad that Christie never watched this steaming pile of poo. It is by far the worst screen adaptation of Christie I have ever seen.

Agatha Christie's Poirot (S4, ep 1):  This episode was first broadcast on January 5, 1992. There are some minor changes to the story to shorten and adapt it for the show, but the main plot is intact. To me, the casting for this episode was perfect! And, David Suchet was wonderful as Poirot, as usual. Hugh Fraser is excellent as Hastings, as well. Loved it!

The ABC Murders (2018): I was not sure what to expect from this 3-episode miniseries. John Malkovich as Hercule Poirot? And, I was excited to see Rupert Grint (Inspector Crome) in something other than Harry Potter movies. I went into it with a totally open mind, without reading any reviews or commentaries beforehand. This movie is available to stream on Amazon Prime. I did notice immediately that the actress playing Rose.Marbury is the same one that played Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter movies. The voice was unmistakable. There were some unnecessary sexual and violent additions to the plot, which were just completely ridiculous. The aging of Poirot and Malkovich's appearance is all wrong for the part. Poirot was fastidious about his appearance, especially his hair and mustache. And Malkovich's look is unkempt and his mustache is all wrong -- messy and bedraggled looking in his person and his dress.On top of that, his attempt at the accent is frightful. So NOT Poirot. Wrong, wrong, wrong! After I had a fit about that....I calmed, made a cup of tea, and came back to see how the plot held up. And had to see Rupert Grint, of course. :) The plot engaged me after I calmed from the initial shock. The tone is very dark, and the murders are made much more gruesome for effect.  They changed Hercule's character and added a backstory that Agatha Christie never intended. The movie was interesting, compelling and dark....I enjoyed watching it. But it was not Agatha's story. Too many changes. [Rupert Grint was great! Very well acted on his part!] 

BBC Radio Adaptation: I am really enjoying these radio versions. BBC did 70 of them! I found a list of them here: https://fourble.co.uk/podcast/bbcradio7. The adaptation of The ABC Murders condenses the story down to a 90-minute episode.It sticks pretty closely to Christie's plot, with the changes being made obviously for time. I really enjoyed it! 

On to the next! Murder in Mesopotamia! This is another Poirot story I haven't read before! And, one I didn't have in my personal library. But my local library came to the rescue once again with a digital and audio copy! Woot! 

 

REVIEW: Death in the Clouds (Death in the Air)

 Death in the Clouds
Author: Agatha Christie

Death in the Clouds was first published in the UK in March 1935. It was published as Death in the Air in the United States in July 1935. The story was first serialized in magazines in both countries and later came out in novel format. So many of Christie's works were first published in magazines in serial form. Oh what I wouldn't give to see a copy of any of those magazines!! I'd love to see the formatting, the illustrations and even the accompanying advertisements, and the rest of the articles, etc. Someday!!

As is my habit during my trip through Christie's writing in publication order, I listened to an audio book of Death in the Clouds (Harper Audio 2012) while reading a paperback copy of Death in the Air (Berkley 1986) to see if there were any differences. I didn't notice many changes and most were minor. For example, in Death in the Clouds, the poison used in the murder was named as hydrocyanic acid and in my old paperback copy of Death in the Air, the poison was called Prussic acid. Two names for the same chemical, but not sure why the change was made. I did some reading on the subject and discovered that the poison is also called cyanide - a term I was much more familiar with. Ah, the morbid and scary things Christie lovers have in their search history! 

The basics: Hercule Poirot is a passenger on an airplane along with several other people. As the flight prepares for landing, it is discovered that a passenger is dead, a suspicious small puncture wound in her neck. It is of course murder....and Poirot must discover which of the 10 other passengers is the killer. 

I enjoyed this story immensely! This is the first time I have read this book. I've had the old paperback on

my shelf with my piles of Christie novels for years, but never read this one. So glad I did! Very enjoyable Poirot mystery. Can you even imagine being on a flight....just as the plane gets ready to land, you discover someone on board killed another passenger? Yikes! I've been on some crappy flights before -- but never one that bad! 

There have been several adaptations of this story. It was adapted for an episode of Christie's Poirot in 1992 and in episodes 36-39 of the anime-style animated series Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple in 2005. Plus, BBC Radio 4 did a radio dramatization of the story in 2003. And, as usual, I hunted up all 3 adaptations and watched/listened to them all! 

Agatha Christie's Poirot: (S4, ep2. 102 minutes) I watched this episode on BritBox (which requires a subscription), but it is available other places like YouTube if you search. I love David Suchet as Hercule Poirot! This episode changes a few things to make it more dramatic and paced for television, but the story is basically intact. Enjoyed it!

Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple, Episodes 36-39 (English subtitles version) - This animated version of the story sticks pretty close to the mystery portion of the book. Some characters are added and some are changed in small ways, like Inspector Japp is renamed as Inspector Sharpe (for obvious reasons), and Jane Marple and Hercule Poirot know each other. Mostly the changes were to allow the show to combine stories featuring both detectives and add in some anime touches like a niece who has a cute pet duck, while condensing things to fit into four 30-minute episodes. I found the episodes on YouTube. Here's a link to the first one: https://youtu.be/WSqrxZtBkjo?si=2iz-_SpfmBSG1H2e  I found all four episodes by searching a bit on YouTube.  I really enjoyed this version. It made some very minor changes and the theme song had absolutely nothing to do with the topic, but it was very entertaining to watch! I'm going to watch more episodes as I read my way through the rest of Christie's stories. I had no idea this show even existed! 

BBC Radio 4 audio Drama:  Broadcast in 2003. John Moffat voices Hercule Poirot. This audio drama condenses the plot down to just about 1.5 hours, and does a relatively good job of it. The voice actors are wonderful, as is usual in this series. You can enjoy all of these BBC radio productions at:https://fourble.co.uk/podcast/bbcradio7

Bonus: There is a really cool reference to Death in the Clouds in the Doctor Who episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp," (Season 4, episode 7) at the end of the episode. :) The episode is completely awesome for any Agatha fan. And, for me, the best part is the book reference at the end! All of the seasons of the newest series are on Max for streaming, or I'm sure you could hunt them up elsewhere. Definitely lovely watching!

REVIEW: Murder in Three Acts (Three Act Tragedy)

 Murder in Three Acts (Three Act Tragedy)
Author: Agatha Christie

I have been happily meandering my way through Agatha Christie's writing in publication order for a couple of years now. I was very happy when Murder in Three Acts came up next on the list because I hadn't read this one before. 

Murder in Three Acts is the US publication title of Three Act Tragedy. This story was first published in the Saturday Evening Post in six installments using the American Title in 1934. And, the book was published in the United States about a year before it was published in England. I discovered that the English version of the story actually differs somewhat from the American version, and I was incredibly curious. So, I got an audio version of Three Act Tragedy and a paperback version of Murder in Three Acts. At first, the differences were slight - a maid's first name was changed from Doris to Alice; some paragraphs were added and some left out with very little effect on the overall plot; the chapters are numbered differently, and some basic wording here and there was changed. But, when you get to the last chapter....the reveal.....the culmination of Hercule Poirot's investigation....the motivation of the killer is totally different. While the change didn't require vast changes in earlier chapters, it surprised me that the US and British copies of the story would really need to change the killer's reason for killing. Seems an odd choice. 

 I had to think for awhile on which version I liked better. My guess is that the British version is what Agatha Christie preferred, so I'm going to go with that one. Most of the changes were in the last half of the book and most changes were minor, but if Agatha preferred her story told a certain way, I'm going to side with her. My guess is the publisher had something to do with the way the book was introduced, and after all, a writer lives by selling their work so she went with the flow. 

 I'm glad I read both versions. Very interesting to compare the two. I didn't realize at first there was a reason for the changes so I had to stop and read up on the book before continuing to read/listen. At least I was able to stop fuming regarding editing of Christie's book....it explained why there were minor differences between the audio book and the paperback I was reading! 

I had such a great time reading/listening to this story! Not only was it fun to find the differences in the two versions but the story is very much classic Hercule Poirot. Even though Poirot doesn't really play a part in the first half of the book, he comes in later with true Poirot style and finishes up with flair. Very enjoyable classic Christie! 

The audiobook I listed to is from Harper Audio and narrated by Hugh Fraser who played Captain Hastings in the series Agatha Christie's Poirot. His voice is quite pleasant, he reads at a good pace and is easily understandable. Definitely an entertaining listen, as usual! 

There are a few sentences in this book that caused me some concern....little jabs at races / classes of people I have found are sprinkled through Christie's writing. Things that were ok to say 100 years ago do not necessarily translate into being ok today. Examples: Servants being stupid, commentary on Jews or Latins, or upper class characters being quite outspoken regarding their superiority. Most of the things that concerned me were done for character building not social commentary, but it makes me wonder if some have been removed or edited in more modern releases of the book. I noticed a couple sentences regarding race were not in the 2012 audio book version. My paperback is from 1961. I don't mind edits to freshen up certain things like this. When it fundamentally changes the story I have an issue with it.

I did learn that Christie's stories were only different between the American and British versions twice -- in this book, and in The Moving Finger. I'm glad I know about The Moving Finger ahead of time....I will be sure to read both versions of that story as well! 

This book has been adapted for film twice. In 1986, a movie version starring Peter Ustinov was released. And in 2010, the story was included as an episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet playing the detective (Season 12, episode 1). It has also been adapted for French television, BBC Radio did an audio play in 2003, and in 2022 a Swiss publisher came out with the tale in graphic novel format.   

Murder in Three Acts movie:  Oh dear. This 1986 movie starring Peter Ustinov as Poirot is just almost unwatchable, in my opinion. Too many liberties taken with the story. Hastings is in the cast, even though he does not appear in the book. The setting is moved to Acapulco for whatever silly reason and the main characters are all Americans. Character names are changed. The chemical used to kill the victims is changed. The story is set in the 1980s. And, the acting is really bad. Hastings is made to look like an idiot. The main characters are in Mexico, but can't speak Spanish. The costumes are ridiculous. Just....terrible. I tried to watch the whole thing but gave up and skipped to the reveal which was horrid. Bleck. Why film an Agatha Christie story if you are going to make it ridiculous?Some of the 1980s made-for-tv movies based on Christie's stories are enjoyable. This one is just garbage, in my opinion. They ruined the story.

Agatha Christie's Poirot:  The episode makes some changes.Because the show is about Hercule Poirot, a main character in the book, Mr. Satterthwaite, is removed and Poirot is there investigating from the start. In the book, Poirot really doesn't enter into the story much until the last half. It also adds some commentary/characterization of some key players that isn't in the book and moves some key parts of the investigation to earlier in the story. I think this was to build the story quickly as the time frame from start to finish was only 90 minutes, so things had to move along at a faster pace. The episode does remain true to the main story and uses the British ending mixed with just a hint of the American version.

BBC Audio Play: Out of all of the adaptations, the radio play by BBC Radio is by far the most true to the original story. I loved hearing some of the exact lines from the book included. The radio drama is just a bit over 2 hours long and is available online here:https://fourble.co.uk/podcast/bbcradio7 along with a list of other Agatha Christie audio dramatizations from the BBC. The voice actors were all wonderful and I liked the sound effects. Just enough effects to add to the story and not enough to detract from it. 

I enjoyed this story immensely! I had an old paperback copy of this book on my Christie shelf for years and never read it. I'm so glad I finally read this Poirot mystery! 

On to the next: Death in the Clouds! 

REVIEW: 28 Day FAST Start Day-By-Day

 28 Day FAST Start Day-By-Day
Author: Gin Stephens

I've been a book reviewer for both indy and traditional publishers for about 9 years now. I don't often review the self-help, health or diet genre. Just kinda shy away from those, as over the years I have tried so many diet plans. And, none worked. Some made me literally sick. Others I just couldn't follow long term because they were so restrictive, or I just saw no results. I made a pact with myself after my last failed attempt (Keto) -- no more diet books!

In the past, the one lifestyle / eating change that did work for me long term was Intermittent Fasting. I did IF for two years and felt amazing. Then life happened. I was in a bad place in my personal life and IF was just not sustainable for me. 

But I got offered a review copy of Gin Stephens newest book at exactly the right point in my life to revisit IF. I accepted the review copy -- and started reading. 

OMG! The 28 Day FAST Start Day-By-Day is the first book by Gin Stephens I have read. I didn't even recognize her name when I first started reading. I did IF previously using books by Bert Herring. I started reading this new book....and it was like Gin was talking to me. And I believed what she had to say as she backs it up with science and logic. I read a bit in this new book. Then went directly to my library to check out a copy of her previous book: Fast, Feast, Repeat. I went back and forth between my review copy of 28 days and FFR, feeling more and more motivated to jump back in to a fasting / IF lifestyle. 

And, I did it. Right then. Set my type of Fast Start on a Saturday afternoon, and started my 28 days on Sunday. I'm going into the last week of the Fast Start now, and this is amazing! I already feel better. I can see changes in the way I feel, my skin is clearing up, and my weight is going down. I have more than 100 lbs to lose...so this is just a start to the journey. 

But, I can honestly give this book a resounding positive review because I'm actually following the steps and doing the things. 

I have actually messaged with the author several times. She is a genuine, lovely person and knows her stuff. This book is for real. It doesn't make empty promises, and IF is a lot of work. But it's worth it, and makes a huge difference if you put in the work and dedication it requires to fast clean, stick to an eating window, and change your relationship with food. 

The daily reading in this book is wonderful. The real life examples are motivating. And you can even keep a daily journal about your IF FAST start right in your copy of the book. I highly recommend this book for anyone starting an IF journey! Just be aware that you really need to also read Fast, Feast, Repeat as part of this 28 day FAST Start. Buy both books. You will not be sorry!

Love it!! 

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from St Martins Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

REVIEW: Where It All Began

 Where It All Began
Author: Lucy Emblem

I have no idea which author came up with it first. I just know I love prequel novellas that introduce readers to the characters, setting and back story of a series! As a reviewer, I read many of these. And, I enjoy each one. Nothing like a quick jaunt through the basics of a series (especially a cozy mystery series) to make me want to pick up the first book and start reading!!

Even better than a prequel novella for a new to me series is a prequel novella for a new to me series written by an author who is also new to me! Love, love, love! 

And, I'm happy to report I just got to have that experience. 

I read Where It All Began, an intro to Lucy Emblem's Tamsin Kernick Cozy English Mysteries series!

The basics: Tamsin takes a job house sitting for a rather eccentric man, famous for being an arctic explorer. She loves the mountain scenery of the Malvern Hills, the local village, and even the two unruly dogs she is taking care of while their master is off exploring. She helps her two new dog buddies, meets some new friends, and makes some important life decisions.

There are no murders or strange events in this intro novella. It's an introduction to the characters and the setting of the series, and includes some important character development for Tamsin (and the dogs!). 

With only 11 chapters, this is a quick read but it definitely had the desired effect! I want to read this entire series! And, the front cover is so cute!!

I already have book 1 loaded up on my Kindle and ready to go! 

**I got a free copy of this intro novella from a holiday themed BookFunnel Giveaway. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**