Prime Suspect

Christie, Agatha (Author)

 

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller, Lady Mallowan, DBE (15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976), more commonly known as Agatha Christie is the Grand Dame of the Mystery Novel. With over 4 billion (!) copies of her novels sold, Agatha along with Shakespeare are the 2 most recognized English writers in human history.

Agatha is widely credited with creating the mystery novel we know today. She mastered plotting, suspense, and characterization (giving us character psychologies that would credibly explain motivations for murder).

Agatha Christie's Sleuths:

(David Suchet as "Hercule Poirot")

Hercule Poirot. The Belgian private detective that used his little grey cells to solve complex mysteries. Agatha grew to hate Poirot. She said, ‘[Poirot is a] detestable, bombastic, tiresome, ego-centric little creep’. But the public disagreed and she continued to write Poirot novels until the end of her (and his) life.

1. The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920)
2. Murder on the Links (1923)
3. Poirot Investigates (1924, short stories ’ss’)
4. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
5. The Big Four (1927)
6. The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928)
7. Black Coffee (1930 play – novel adapted from play published in 1998)
8. Peril at End House (1932)
9. Thirteen at Dinner (1933) also published as Lord Edgware Dies
10. Murder on the Orient Express (1934) also published as Murder in the Calais Coach
11. Murder in Three Acts (1935) also published as Three Act Tragedy
12. Death in Air (1935) also published as Death in the Clouds
13. The A.B.C. Murders (1936) also published as Alphabet murders
14. Murder in Mesopotamia (1936)
15. Cards on the Table (1936)
16. Death on the Nile (1937)
17. Poirot Loses a Client (1937) also published as Dumb Witness
18. Murder in the Mews (1937, ss) also published as Dead Man’s Mirror
19. Appointment with Death (1938)
20. Murder for Christmas (1939) also published as Hercule Poirot’s Christmas and A Holiday for Murder
21. The Regatta Mystery (1939)
22. Sad Cypress (1940)
23. Patriotic Murders (1940) also published as One, Two, Buckle My Shoe and Overdose of Death
24. Evil Under the Sun (1941)
25. Murder in Retrospect (1942) also published as Five Little Pigs
26. Poirot Knows the Murderer (1946, ss)
27. Poirot Lends a Hand (1946, ss)
28. Murder after hours (1946) also published as The Hollow
29. The Labours of Hercules (1947, ss)
30. Taken at the Flood (1948) also published as There Is a Tide
31. Witness for the Prosecution (1948, ss)
32. Three Blind Mice (1950, ss)
33. The Under Dog and Other Stories (1951, ss)
34. Mrs McGinty’s Dead (1952) also published as Blood with tell
35. After the Funeral (1953) also published as Funerals are Fatal
36. Hickory Dickory Dock (1955) also published as Hickory Dickory death
37. Dead Man’s Folly (1956)
38. Cat Among the Pigeons (1959)
39. The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (1960, ss)
40. Double Sin and Other Stories (1961, ss)
41. 13 For Luck! (1924, ss)
42. The Clocks (1963)
43. Third Girl (1966)
44. Hallowe’en Party (1969)
45. Elephants Can Remember (1972)
46. Poirot’s Early Cases (1974, ss)
47. Curtain (written about 1940, published 1975)

 
(Joan Hickson as "Miss Jane Marple")

Miss Jane Marple. Miss Marple lives in the picturesque village of St. Mary Mead. It would be a nice place to live, but the murder rate is crazily high. Luckily, Miss Marple is able to put the pieces together to solve the puzzles, and put the killers behind bars.

1. The Murder at the Vicarage (1930)
2. The Body in the Library (1942)
3. The Moving Finger (1943)
4. A Murder is Announced (1950)
5. They Do It with Mirrors, or Murder With Mirrors (1952)
6. A Pocket Full of Rye (1953)
7. 4.50 from Paddington, or What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw (1957)
8. The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side, or The Mirror Crack’d (1962)
9. A Caribbean Mystery (1964)
10. At Bertram’s Hotel (1965)
11. Nemesis (1971)
12. Sleeping Murder (written around 1940, published 1976)

 
(Francesca Annis & James Warwick as "Tuppence Cowley" & "Tommy Beresford")
 
Tommy & Tuppence. Husband & wife sleuthing team. Unlike Miss Marple and Poirot who never seemed to age, Tommy & Tuppence aged in “real time” over the five novels and short story collections that featured them.

1. The Secret Adversary (1922)
2. Partners in Crime (1929)
3. N or M? (1941)
4. By the Pricking of My Thumbs (1968)
5. Postern of Fate (1973)

Other Mysteries & Sleuths

∙ The Man in the Brown Suit (1924) Colonel Johnny Race
∙ The Secret of Chimneys (1925) Battle
∙ The Seven Dials Mystery (1929) Battle
∙ The Sittaford Mystery (1931)
∙ Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? (1934) Bobby Jones and Frances Derwent
∙ Murder Is Easy (1939) Battle
∙ Ten Little Indians or Then There Were None (1939)
∙ Towards Zero (1944) Battle
∙ Death Comes as the End (1945)
∙ Sparkling Cyanide (1945) Johnny Race
∙ Crooked House (1949)
∙ They Came to Baghdad (1951)
∙ Ordeal by Innocence (1958) Arthur Calgary
∙ The Pale Horse (1961) Ariadne Oliver
∙ Passenger to Frankfurt (1970)

Rimington, Stella (Author)

 

At Risk is a fast-paced thriller hitting on every global hot topic. Written by Stella Rimington, the former head of UK’s MI5 (the internal security force), the story takes us from the desolate borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan to the desolate marsh lands of Norfolk, England as we follow two terrorists as they execute their plan to blow up a target in England.

MI5 Agent Liz Carlyle is in charge of the counter-terrorism investigation. She’s smart, devoted, and strong. She is able to collate disparate chatter into a firm conclusion that the terrorists have made their way into the country. With each new piece of information, it is fascinating to see how the security forces work together (and at times against each other) in order to stop a terrorist attack. Rimington admits that Liz is mostly autobiographical. As a reader, it is nice to know that what we are reading is (most likely) what really happens – mistakes and all.

The story is filled with many great characters including the slimy MI6 Agent Mackay, the Englishwoman turned Islamic Jihadist, and Wetherby, Liz’s surprisingly kindly boss. Even smaller characters are well developed. Particularly Denzil Parrish, a quiet, shy college kid who hates to admit he likes birdwatching because he thinks it might hurt his chances with the ladies.

In Secret Asset, after recovering from her last case (you have to read At Risk to find out what I mean), Liz gets information from her informant that there is a new terror attack in the works. But before she gets involved in following up on the info, she is given a new assignment and a new partner. The partner is a young go-getter named Peggy Kinsolver and the assignment is to find an IRA mole working for MI5. While working the case, Liz realizes that she has to uncover the mole fast because what she really needs to be doing is stopping the terror threat that is spiralling out of control.

This book is more polished than the first which is good. Fascinating tidbits about spycraft and memorable characters are also plusses. On the downside, it is also a little too much “inside baseball” which is bad.

Illegal Action Liz is given a simple assignment: infiltrate a Russian billionaire’s household and make sure he isn’t assassinated by the Russian government. This plot is based on a true “ripped from the headlines” story: Alexander Litvinenko, an real ex-Russian agent and a fierce critic of Putin was poisoned in London. Once Liz gets into the house, she soon finds that her job isn’t going to be that simple. Everyone, it seems, in the house isn’t who they say they are. So Liz along with her team do lots of intelligence gathering. Liz finds the assignment sort of boring and lets her guard down, which almost gets her killed.

But in the end, Liz and her team (well, almost all of her team) are successful in keeping their Russian alive. But was that the real assignment? Or was it all a ruse (pun intended) for something even more villainous? You’ll have to read it to see.

Stella gives us lots of interesting insights into the sometimes monotonous assignments that MI5 agents must contend with. But she has a way of making the most boring surveillance or information gathering seem so fascinating and suspenseful. Much improved writing and plotting in her third outing.

Liz Carlyle MI5 Spy Novels

1. At Risk (2004)
2. Secret Asset (2007)
3. Illegal Action (2008)
4. Dead Line (2008/UK, 2010/US)
5. Present Danger (2009/UK, ????/US)

Publishers:

• Hutchinson, Random House UK, London. (2004-2008)
• Quercus, London. (Current)
• Knopf, Random House, New York.

Thomas & Charlotte Pitt (Sleuths)

Anne Perry’s Thomas & Charlotte Pitt are a married couple living in Victorian London. Thomas was a detective for Scotland Yard before moving over to Special Branch. While Pitt is from a working class background, Charlotte comes from loftier heights which allows her and Thomas entry into aristocratic drawing rooms that Thomas would be otherwise barred. The Pitt’s maid helps with the lower classes, and Charlotte’s sister’s Aunt by marriage, Vespasia Cumming-Gould, helps with those personages that even Charlotte would call her betters. A wonderfully evocative Victorian Historical series. Highly recommended.

More on the novels at Anne Perry's website here.

     
  
Thomas & Charlotte Pitt Novels

1.The Cater Street Hangman (1979)
2.Callander Square (1980)
3.Paragon Walk (1981)
4.Resurrection Row (1981)
5.Bluegate Fields (1984)
6.Rutland Place (1983)
7.Death in Devil’s Acre (1985)
8.Cardington Crescent (1987)
9.Silence in Hanover Close (1988)
10.Bethlehem Road (1990)
11.Highgate Rise (1991)
12.Belgrave Square (1992)
13.Farrier’s Lane (1993)
14.The Hyde Park Headsman (1994)
15.Traitors Gate (1995)
16.Pentecost Alley (1996)
17.Ashworth Hall (1997)
18.Brunswick Gardens (1998)
19.Bedford Square (1999)
20.Half Moon Street (1998)
21.The Whitechapel Conspiracy (2001)
22.Southampton Row (2002)
23.Seven Dials (2003)
24.Long Spoon Lane (2005)
25.Buckingham Palace Gardens (2008)

Publishers:

• Random House, London.
• Random House, New York.

Steve Cline (Sleuth)

       

If you are as sad as I am about the death of Dick Francis and wonder what we will read now that he has passed, I would like to introduce you to Kit Ehrman's Steve Cline Mysteries.

Steve comes from a prominent Baltimore family who drops out of John Hopkins to find himself. And he finds himself by working with horses and solving crimes, much to his parents’ and brother’s chagrin.

The first book, At Risk, takes place at a horse stable where Cline is the barn manager. In the first paragraph, Cline gets into some very serious trouble that almost costs him his life. And as the story progresses and he gets closer to solving the mystery, he puts more than himself in danger. The second book, Dead Man’s Touch, takes place at a race track and involves race fixing. The third book, Cold Burn, has Cline working at a breeding ranch and searching for a friend’s missing brother. The forth book, Triple Cross, sends Cline back to the world of horse racing.

Steve is a great sleuth. He’s young, volatile, smart, and desperately wanting to do the right thing. But he isn’t always able to do the right thing and that’s when everything starts to go haywire and often puts Steve in life or death situations.

Ehrman’s details about horses, horse racing, breeding, etc. are fascinating. We learn so much about what it’s like to work with horses that you can almost smell the stables and feel the power of these wonderful animals.

To read more about the books or Kit (like how she quit her government job after reading Dick Francis's books to work on a horse farm!), click here.

Steve Cline Mysteries

1. At Risk (2002)
2. Dead Man’s Touch (2003)
3. Cold Burn (2005)
4. Triple Cross (2006)

Publisher:

• Poisoned Pen Press, Scottsdale.

U.S. Book Publishing Silliness

I was checking on Amazon to see when a book I pre-ordered would be published. The book is THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST by Stieg Larsson and is the 3rd book in his amazing Millenium Trilogy.*

But what is so silly is that in order for me to read the American version of the novel, I would have to wait until May 25, 2010. But the novel has been available in the UK since October 2009. And on the same page that tells me that I have to wait until May, I am also given the option to order it from the UK. So that's what I did. It may cost more than what I would have paid for a hardcover US version but it is still cheaper than the US list price even with the shipping from England.

This isn't the first time I've encountered this. I've bought the entire series of John Flanagan's exciting teen adventure/fantasy series, THE RANGER'S APPRENTICE being the first, from Flanagan's native Australia. As of today, there are only 7 of 9 published in the US. 

I wonder when American publishers will realize that book buying no longer stops at the US border. Avid readers no longer have to wait to read the next book in a series at the time the US publisher wishes to oblige us. We can as easily click the 1-Click button on Amazon for the non-US version.

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*I'll write more about the trilogy once I've read the third book.