Agatha Christie +

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

First of all, does anyone read older books with a dictionary tab open, or has my vocabulary atrophied and condensed from years of not stretching it?  At any rate, I love Agatha Christie!  I read my first Christie mystery last year and want to read more, so much more. 

My favorite quotes from this one:

"Mrs. Cavendish, however, was a lady who liked to make her own plans, and expected other people to fall in line with them, and in this case she certainly had the whip hand, namely: the purse strings."

"Poirot was an extraordinary looking little man.  He was hardly more than five feet, four inches, but carried himself with great dignity. His head was exactly the shape of an egg, and he always perched it a little on one side.  His moustache was very stiff and military. The neatness of his attire was almost incredible.  I believe a speck of dust would have caused him more pain than a bullet wound." 

(I have read this quote to anyone who would sit still to listen to me this week 😉)

And finally a partial quote, because I love the way it lodged in my mind as I continued through the end of the story:

'And she is on the side of justice.  Let the cost be what it may." And with these words she walked firmly out of the room.'  

Poirot is my favorite, favorite detective!  It may be because we have listened (and listened and listened) to David Suchet give a dramatic reading of the book of Mark.  And even though I have never seen any episodes, I know he plays Poirot (in the television series "Agatha Christie's Poirot") and that is just exactly how I picture Poirot (especially after reading the above description). 😂  But, more likely it is simply her writing that draws me to her.  She is SUCH a great writer.  

A Soul as Cold as Frost by Jennifer Kropf

I feel like the only thing I need to do to convince others to read this book is to share the first lines of the book...

"A prayer is how this story begins.  

 ‘Twas a thought no larger than a button, no tastier than honey or hope, slipping out into the midnight hush by the mouth of a mother before she passed. A gust skated through a crack of fractured glass in the window of the house—where not a thing stirred, not even a mouse—and caught the prayer into a lift. The window whistled its amusement at the sight, ruffling the worn pewter curtains; its chalky web of cracks creating the tiniest peepholes into a home once complete, now plagued with hollow corners where things ought to be."

That was all the encouragement I needed, this was such a captivating book.  

I LOVED it.  I read it to fulfill a Brighter Winter challenge, but now I want to read the entire series (I think there are three or four more)!