Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie #ReadChristie2024

I enjoy the Christies that feature Ariadne Oliver, the occasionally ditzy mystery author who dislikes the fictional detective she has made so popular, Sven Hjerson. 

She usually avoids public appearances but in this book she has agreed to attend a literary lunch where she is accosted by a stranger who asks about Mrs. Oliver’s goddaughter, Celia Ravenscroft, and says:

"I want you to tell me, because I’m sure you must know or perhaps have a very good idea how it all came about. Did her mother kill her father or was it the father who killed the mother?"

Third Girl by Agatha Christie #ReadChristie2024

Very little can dent Hercule Poirot’s self-confidence but he is surprisingly distressed when a young woman comes to him for help, worried that she “might have committed a murder,” then says sadly that he is too old to help, and leaves.

Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie – #ReadChristie2024

Two years ago, Jacko Argyle was convicted of murdering his adoptive mother, despite his denial. He died in prison. His family is still recovering from the horror of these events when they are visited by Dr. Calgary, a geophysicist who has just returned to England and explains that he was Jacko’s alibi: the young man was innocent! 

Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie #ReadChristie2024

Gordon Cloade’s family has always relied on his wealth and generosity so they are appalled when he marries an attractive widow less than half his age. Weeks later, he dies tragically in the London Blitz and his new bride, Rosaleen, inherits everything. 

The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie #ReadChristie2024

Title: The Murder at the Vicarage
Author: Agatha Christie
Publication: Dodd, Mead & Co., hardcover, first published in 1930
Genre: Mystery/series

Description: When Colonel Protheroe, a domineering retiree in the village of St. Mary Mead, is murdered, there are many suspects. For weeks, the church ladies have been gossiping that Mrs. Protheroe is a little too friendly with a handsome young artist, Lawrence Redding.

The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie #ReadChristie2024

Title: The Mystery of the Blue Train 
Author: Agatha Christie
Publication: Dodd, Mead & Co., hardcover, originally published in 1928
Genre: Mystery
Setting: France and England

Description: An American millionaire, Rufus Van Aldin, has purchased priceless rubies for his only child, Ruthie, which distracts her temporarily from annoyance with her philandering husband. She is heading to France to rendezvous with her first love (dismissed as a fortune hunter by her father years earlier) and takes the famous Blue Train, which brings affluent travelers to the Riviera.