Review of Rules of Murder by Julianna Deering

I'll admit I am a great fan of Agatha Christie. I love cozy mysteries and the historical ones set in the 1920's to '50's are favorites of mine. Ms. Deering has done a fantastic job of writing a Christie-esque style murder mystery. In fact, there were times I became so intwined in the story and writing that I thought I WAS reading a Christie, and then a character would bring out some Biblical or Christian point, and I was reminded I was reading modern Christian fiction. Very well done. (By the way, the Christianity is not overdone, quite subtle overtones.)

I enjoyed the first novel of this new mystery series. Drew Farthering in the main sleuth intent on solving the double murder especially as it happened on his own estate and one of the victims was his own mother. The story included a great cast of characters who fit perfectly in this 1930's world.  Nick is his right hand man and friend while Madeline is his love interest but also at his side trying to solve the crime as well. Drew and Madeline reminded me a lot of Tommy and Tuppence in their first book together (Agatha Christie characters). I look forward to seeing all these characters in the following books and how the relationship between Drew and Madeline develops. 

Overall I found it to be a riveting novel, well-researched, with a mystery and writing voice perfectly suited for the time period. 5 stars. 

Agatha Christie Project: a Body in the Libray

It's Friday! Time for an update on my Agatha Christie Project. This week I watched and read A Body in the Library. Now I had watched this one a couple years ago so I was familiar with it from the onset. After rewatching this one and seeing the ending, I was pretty sure that this was not the way Christie had written it and I boy was I right.

The blurb: “Those quiet ones are often the worst.  Jane Marple says so.” Miss Wetherby

Dolly Bantry wakes in her beautiful home in the quiet village of St Mary Mead; everything is perfect until the shocking discovery of a body in the library. Who is the murdered young girl and who could possibly have killed her? Suspicion falls on Dolly’s husband, a man with a reputation as a flirt, who swears he never met the young woman – but why was she found in his library?

Dolly calls on her friend, Miss Marple to help them in their time of need. Can she find the killer or is village gossip about Colonel Bantry true? Nothing seems certain, then another body is discovered…

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What I really enjoyed about reading this one is that a murder is once again discovered in the quiet hamlet of St. Mary's Mead where Miss Marple is a resident.  Here we are again brought into the lives of many of the characters from Murder at the Vicarage.  The gossipy matrons, the vicar (who was the point of view character in the previous novel) and his wife, and of course Miss Marple.

In this novel, the perspective is 3rd person with a fairly omniscient narrator as opposed to the 1st person in the previous novel. I love that Christie does not limited herself in the way that she tells a story. Within the same series (Miss Marple, Poirot, etc), the perspective and the narrator can change.

Of course, I loved the book and finished it rapidly with eager anticipation. As for the comparison-- novel to film-- the ITV 2004 version of the novel does fairly well in its adaptation. They do leave out Inspector Slack and I'm not sure if they're casting choices and depiction for Colonel Melchett and Superintenddent Harper were exactly right; however, I did enjoy seeing Jack Davenport (probably you might remember him from the Pirates films) in the role as Harper.  There were several big names in film that you might recognize especially if you love British tv  as I do such as: Joanna Lumley, James Fox, Ben Miller, Tara Fitzgerald, and Simon Callow. It was very enjoyable.

The problem with this adaptation is that they switched some things around from the original including exactly who done it. The two who fell in love and committed these murders were not exactly the same couple from the novel-not even the same gender. I found that unsavory and unsatisfactory. I suppose they were trying to spice things up for a modern generation, but again I have to ask why? The original plot would have no problem holding the attention of today's readers. If not then why is Christie still so well-read? So why wouldn't that hold true with a tv viewing audience? I'll leave it at that.

Agatha Christie Project: Murder at the Vicarage

Blurb: "Anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe would be doing the world at large a service.” --Reverend Clement

The tranquillity of St Mary Mead is shattered when Lucius Protheroe is found dead. A thoroughly unpleasant character, there is no shortage of suspects with a motive for murder. Could it have been his unfaithful wife?  Her artist lover? The daughter, set to inherit?  Or even the mild-mannered vicar? Inspector Slack is at a loss. Perhaps Miss Jane Marple, the local village busybody, can help...

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I just finished reading the novel about a week ago, and it was just as enjoyable as I had imagined. With my busy schedule, I have had very little time for reading purely for enjoyment. This Agatha Christie project to compare the books with the British ITV television series has been great fun! 

This is the first Miss Marple novel and it was written in first person from the perspective of the Vicar. I enjoyed the prose and style of the novel and found the need to keep reading at each sitting longer than I had planned. Finishing a whole novel in 2 days is quite a feat for me these days, but that just goes back to the splendid writing of this author. I haven't had a chance to read a Christie mystery in a couple years so this was pure pleasure for me. 

When ITV decided to reboot Miss Marple back in 2004, this was the first book they revisited in film which makes sense as it is the first Marple novel. I must say that the screenplay was overall quite faithful to the text. Sure, they gave more screen time to Miss Marple than is given to her in the book. In the book, as the point of view character is the vicar, everything is experienced through his eyes and so Miss Marple in many ways seems more like a secondary character. The plot carries through much as the book did and the guilty parties were the same as in the novel. Overall, I was pleased with the film adaptation and Geraldine McEwan's performance as Miss Marple.

An audio introduction to the novel:

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