Tag: #Classics

Posted in #Classics

A Murder Is Announced: A Miss Marple Mystery

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn, including Jane Marple, are agog with curiosity over an advertisement in the local gazette which read: ‘A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6:30 p.m.’ Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, a crowd begins to gather at Little Paddocks at the pointed time when, without warning, the lights go out …


Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn are agog with curiosity when the Gazette advertises “A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30 p.m.”

A childish practical joke? Or a spiteful hoax? Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, the locals arrive at Little Paddocks at the appointed time when, without warning, the lights go out and a gun is fired. When they come back on, a gruesome scene is revealed. An impossible crime? Only Miss Marple can unravel it.

From AudioFile

Rosemary Leach provides an animated narration of this Christie classic. Leach’s versatile portrayals of the townspeople hold the listener spellbound as she introduces men and women of all ages and weaves her voice through a full range of dialects, accents and brogues. B.L.W. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Posted in #Classics

Sleeping Murder: Miss Marple’s Last Case

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

In Agatha Christie’s classic, Sleeping Murder, the indomitable Miss Marple turns ghost hunter and uncovers shocking evidence of a perfect crime.

Soon after Gwenda moved into her new home, odd things started to happen. Despite her best efforts to modernize the house, she only succeeded in dredging up its past. Worse, she felt an irrational sense of terror every time she climbed the stairs.

In fear, Gwenda turned to Miss Marple to exorcise her ghosts. Between them, they were to solve a “perfect” crime committed many years before.


Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Soon after Gwenda moved into her new home, odd things started to happen. Despite her best efforts to modernize the house, she only succeeded in dredging up its past. Worse, she felt an irrational sense of terror every time she climbed the stairs.

In fear, Gwenda turned to Miss Marple to exorcise her ghosts. Between them, they were to solve a “perfect” crime committed many years before.

From AudioFile

Gwenda and Giles Reed buy a lovely Victorian house. When she begins refurbishing the house, Gwenda discovers that tearing out a wall, putting in steps to the garden, or choosing new wallpaper for the nursery are actually restoring the house to an earlier appearance, one she couldn’t possibly know about. Then she has a vision of a dead woman lying at the foot of the stairs. Certain she is losing her mind, she turns to Jane Marple for help. Rosemary Leach becomes Miss Marple, flawlessly performing that clever lady, as well as Agatha Christie’s myriad other delightfully drawn characters. Leach switches in and out of a variety of British accents with assurance, and as Gwenda her hint of New Zealand is appropriately subtle. SLEEPING MURDER, Christie’s final novel, never disappoints. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine– Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Posted in #Classics

Murder in E Minor (The Nero Wolfe Mysteries Book 1)

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Iconic sleuth Nero Wolfe returns to track down the murderer of a New York Symphony Orchestra conductor in this Nero Award–winning mystery.
Ever since disgraced associate Orrie Cather’s suicide, armchair detective Nero Wolfe has relished retirement in his Manhattan brownstone on West Thirty-Fifth Street. Two years after Cather’s death, only a visit from Maria Radovich—and the urging of Wolfe’s prize assistant, Archie Goodwin—could draw the eccentric and reclusive genius back into business. Maria’s uncle, New York Symphony Orchestra conductor Milan Stevens, formerly known as Milos Stefanovic, spent his youth alongside Wolfe as a fellow freedom fighter in the mountains of Montenegro. And now that the maestro has been receiving death threats, Wolfe can’t turn his back on the compatriot who once saved his life.
Though her uncle has dismissed the menacing letters, Maria fears they’re more than the work of a harmless crank. But before Wolfe can attack the case, Stevens is murdered. The accused is the orchestra’s lead violinist, whose intimate relationship with Maria hit more than a few sour notes in her uncle’s professional circle. But Wolfe knows that when it comes to murder, nothing is so simple—especially when there are so many suspects, from newspaper critics and ex-lovers to an assortment of shady musicians.
Now, in this award-winning novel that carries on the great tradition of Rex Stout, the irascible and immovable Nero Wolfe is back in the game, listening for clues and ready to go to war to find a killer.
Murder in E Minor is the 48th book in the Nero Wolfe Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A loving, knowledgeable, mightily pleasing recreation.” —Kirkus Reviews “Wolfe in all his glorious splendor. . . . The book plays strictly by the rules that Stout established.” —Chicago Tribune “It is fun once again to enter the brownstone on West 35th Street. . . . [Wolfe] is as insufferably omniscient as ever.” —The New York Times

About the Author

Robert Goldsborough (b. 1937) is an American author best known for continuing Rex Stout’s famous Nero Wolfe series. Born in Chicago, he attended Northwestern University and upon graduation went to work for the Associated Press, beginning a lifelong career in journalism that would include long periods at the Chicago Tribune and Advertising Age.

While at the Tribune, Goldsborough began writing mysteries in the voice of Rex Stout, the creator of iconic sleuths Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin. Goldsborough’s first novel starring Wolfe, Murder in E Minor (1986), was met with acclaim from both critics and devoted fans, winning a Nero Award from the Wolfe Pack. Nine more Wolfe mysteries followed, including Death on Deadline (1987) and Fade to Black (1990). His most recent book is Archie in the Crosshairs (2015).

Posted in #Classics

The Moving Finger: A Miss Marple Mystery

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

The indomitable sleuth Miss Marple is led to a small town with shameful secrets in Agatha Christie’s classic detective story, The Moving Finger.

Lymstock is a town with more than its share of scandalous secrets—a town where even a sudden outbreak of anonymous hate mail causes only a minor stir.

But all that changes when one of the recipients, Mrs. Symmington, commits suicide. Her final note says “I can’t go on,” but Miss Marple questions the coroner’s verdict of suicide. Soon nobody is sure of anyone—as secrets stop being shameful and start becoming deadly.


Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Lymstock is a town with more than its share of shameful secrets—a town where even a sudden outbreak of anonymous hate mail causes only a minor stir.

But all that changes when one of the recipients, Mrs. Symmington, commits suicide. Her final note says “I can’t go on,” but Miss Marple questions the coroner’s verdict of suicide. Soon nobody is sure of anyone—as secrets stop being shameful and start becoming deadly.

From AudioFile

James Saxon’s narration is like that of an old friend divulging a fascinating personal ordeal. Each personality reveals eccentricity with charming contrast and gusto. B.J.P. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Posted in #Classics

The Body in the Library: A Miss Marple Mystery

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

The iconic Miss Marple must investigate the case of a girl found dead in Agatha Christie’s classic mystery, The Body in the Library

It’s seven in the morning. The Bantrys wake to find the body of a young woman in their library. She is wearing an evening dress and heavy makeup, which is now smeared across her cheeks. But who is she? How did she get there? And what is the connection with another dead girl, whose charred remains are later discovered in an abandoned quarry?

The respectable Bantrys invite Miss Marple into their home to investigate. Amid rumors of scandal, she baits a clever trap to catch a ruthless killer.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

It’s seven in the morning. The Bantrys wake to find the body of a young woman in their library. She is wearing an evening dress and heavy makeup, which is now smeared across her cheeks. But who is she? How did she get there? And what is the connection with another dead girl, whose charred remains are later discovered in an abandoned quarry? The respectable Bantrys invite Miss Marple to solve the mystery . . . before tongues start to wag.

From AudioFile

Her old friend Mrs. Bantry has called Miss Marple in again. It seems that the body of a dead blonde lies on the library floor, much to the chagrin of the servants. Miss Marple is only too happy to help, as there’s nothing she likes better than nosing around in other people’s business. Stephanie Cole manages just the right tone for this breezy story of English village life of sixty years ago. Taking you back to a simpler time and place, Cole performs with a chatty intimacy that lets you feel you might be at the next table overhearing (in true Miss Marple fashion) some intriguing goings-on. A wonderful diversion for a long car ride or a quiet winter evening. D.G. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine– Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine