Turn a new page and READ everyday. Wish you all my blogger buddies a HAPPY 2017

May your coming year be filled with MAGIC and 

DREAMS and GOOD MADNESS. 

I hope you READ some Fine BOOKS and KISS 

someone who thinks you're WONDERFUL, and

don't forget to make some ART.

- Unkown

The Cinderella Murder - Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke

Mary Higgins Clark

Alafair Burke

So this is the final book of the year and I read only four. Very unlikely of me. Last year, it was 30 books.

But I hope, next year would be different and I am happy that I chose Mary Higgins Clark to end this year with.

We will now move to the story review.

Susan Dempsey was a young girl who wanted to make it big as an actor. Definitely, she had the looks and the talents to make it to the league and finally, the D-day had arrived. She was thrilled to get an audition for a role in a film which was to be directed by Frank Parker. Susan was excited to the core and called her mother to inform that due to the audition she would not be able to attend her father’s birthday party.

But much to her parents’ shock, the next morning, young Susan was found murdered in a park, not too far away from the Director, Frank Parker’s house. Though Parker came under the scanner of the police, there was no substantial evidence to prove his guilt. Because he had a solid alibi.

Twenty years had passed by. Susan’s murderer is still at large. Her father passed away even without knowing who killed his young and only daughter.

But “ the Cinderella story” as named by the press got a revival when Laurie Mauran, the TV producer decided to feature Susan Dempsey’s murder case in her show “ Under Suspicion”. Prior to it, she could solve a similar murder case through her show. Susan’s mother was long waiting for this and pinned every hopes on Laurie. She saw it as the final opportunity to know who killed her daughter.

When I started off, I could not feel like I was reading a MHC book. Maybe, I was too judgmental as it was co- written by Alafair Burke. The MHC books had their own way of putting the readers on tenterhooks right from the first page, just like Agatha Christie books. But that was found missing in the Cinderella Murder case.

I don’t know whether I was being judgmental as there was someone else who contributed to the book. My love for her work was so huge that I could not think of reading a book which she had co-written with her daughter. I know I am being flimsy.

I found a wide disconnect all through the story. There were ingredients that could make it a super thriller. For instance, even after completing a major portion of the book, they did not leave a single clue which could direct us to the murderer though all through the story they introduced many deviant characters capable enough to commit a murder. When the murderer was caught, eventually not in the remotest corner of my heart did I think that person could be the murderer. ( Do I have to warn spoiler alert here ! ). A ideal situation that can make a work a best thriller but unable to sent shivers down my spine.

Is it because, it was a simple plot. Besides, I am not convinced of the reason given to commit the murder.

Something about me.

I have been reading murder mysteries for many years and I always used to boast that I could identify the culprit even before it was revealed by the author. Much to my annoyance, I realised it recently that I was just going for a person or persons who seemed unlikely to commit that murder as there lies the suspense of the story. That was my simple logic.  Though I could identify the person, I never made any attempt to offer logical reasoning on why I suspected that person.

This time, I have deliberately refrained myself from focusing on anyone.

Instead, I decided to wait until I come across somebody who had the motive to do so and I could not fix my scanner on anyone.

As I always mentioned in my blog, Mary Higgins Clark’s books always helped me to break my reader’s block. But this time, I was pretty slow while reading the book. But I do not know whether it has got anything to do with the book, my reader’s block apart from the reason mentioned above - Being Judgmental.

An imaginary interview with Agatha Christie by Rosalba Mancuso

 pic courtesy : www.agathachristie.com

I stumbled upon this website while searching for the list of Agatha Christie books.

An imaginary interview - the idea sounded interesting. Asking all those questions to the author whom you admire the most.

All these answers would not have been new for a reader who follows “ The Queen of Crime” meticulously but would be a revelation to those who have just known her by her fame.

Though I liked the questions and answers  I firmly believe think  ‘ Dame’ Agatha Christie would have maintained more prudence in the language. But it is pardonable as Rosalba started reading English books only in 2010. The website says she is an Italian freelance journalist who after having worked with Italian newspapers, magazines started this blog to promote literature in two languages - English and Italian.

You can read the full interview here http://www.advicesbooks.com/index.php/interview-agatha-christie/

 It might be interesting to go through this site as she has also interviewed William Shakespeare and Jesus Christ.

IMAGINARY INTERVIEW WITH AGATHA CHRISTIE

She is regarded as the Queen of crime and mystery. She is also the most famous writer in the world after God (who wrote the Bible) and William Shakespeare I interviewed a month ago. I am discussing about Agatha Christie, the second female novelist I met through an imaginary interview. During last months, indeed, I have mostly interviewed male famous novelists and I believe that a major room must be left to famous writer women, also. For this likewise important reason, ladies and gentlemen, I interviewed for you, by disturbing her in the heaven, Mrs. Agatha Christie, the writer who invented  mystery and unforgettable detective  Hercule Poirot.

Rosalba: Mrs. Christie, I am very happy for this interview. I know you dislike publicity and gave few interviews in your life and for this, thank you so much for accepting to being interviewed by me.

Agatha Christie: I dislike publicity, it is true, but I like to meet foreign writers and reviewers like you, my dear Rosalba.

Rosalba: I read your biography and I know you used the last name of your husband in your novels, namely Christie. Which was your true name?

Agatha Christie: My former husband, you should say. But I’ll talk about this later. My true name was Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller. I was born on 15 September 1890 in Torquay, Devon, South West England.

Rosalba: Hence, you are a perfect British writer and a native speaker! Now, I hope you’ll correct my mistakes in English.

Agatha Christie: It will always be a pleasure for me. To tell the truth, I feel to be a French speaker, too.

Rosalba: And why do you feel this?

Agatha Christie: When I was five years, my family spent some times in France, where they rented a house with a French governess, Marie. I learned my erratic French, thanks to her.

Rosalba: Is true that your parents would prevent you to learn reading and writing until you were eight years old?

Agatha Christie: yes, it is damned true. But I got my revenge in my life: first because I learnt at five years, thanks to my siblings who helped me to read secretly from our parents and second because I became a novelist!

Rosalba: Why did you choose to write by using the surname of your husband?

Agatha Christie: Although I was born in a wealthy middle class family, during the previous years the first world war, my mother relocated in Egypt with me and my siblings. They left in 1910 after my father’s death for a chain of deadly heart attacks. There , in 1912, I met my first husband Archie Christie, a qualified aviator who had applied to join the Royal Flying Corps. The first world war, however, separated us, him in France and me in my hometown (Torquay) to work as a voluntary nurse at a war hospital. They were the years that helped me write my first crime stories. In 1916, I wrote, indeed, my debut novel The Mysterious Affair At Styles . The main character was detective Hercule Poirot. I used the surname of my first husband because I was married to him when I wrote my debut novel that would make me very famous later. I can only say I left this surname as a talisman and then because easier to use for my publishers.

Rosalba: I know you debuted very soon and before writing your first mystery with Hercule Poirot.

Agatha Christie: yes, I started writing my stories at 18 years old. Furthermore, you must know my mother was a good storyteller and a passionate writer and, obviously, I became a passionate writer, as well. Mine were short stories that were published revised only in the 1930s.

Rosalba: How long did you take to find a publisher for your first novel?

Agatha Christie: Much time. I took much time to write and later to find a publisher. My debut novel was published at the end of the war when my husband reached me in England and I sent my manuscript to four publishers. The fourth, John Lane of The Bodley Head accepted my manuscript and insisting to make some changes, hired me for other five books. He also proposed me to set the conclusion of my mystery in a library. Then, other famous novels followed such as The Secret Adversary and The Man in the Brown Suit. Since my publisher offered me unfair terms to release the books, I decided to find a literary agent who found a new publisher: William Collins and Sons, namely HarperCollins.

Rosalba: You also wrote very exotic mystery novels, the most famous are also set in the Middle East, such as the unforgettable Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile

, Murder in Mesopotamia and Appointment with Death. Where have you found the inspiration for these novels?

Agatha Christie: In my life, my greatest ambition was to travel on the Orient Express. I had the opportunity to travel on this charming train in 1928. Thanks to this journey, I went to visit the archaeological area in Baghdad and I met archaeologist Max Mallowan who became my second husband. On the train, we loved talking very much and just for these wonderful trips on this marvellous vehicle I got the inspiration to write my novels.

Rosalba: Where you got the inspiration to create the character of Hercule Poirot?

Agatha Christie: First of all, from my childhood in France and then from my experience as a nurse at the war hospital during the first world war. During the war, there were Belgian refugees in most parts of the English countryside, Torquay is no exception. Although Poirot was not based on any particular person, I thought that this Belgian refugee, a former great Belgian policeman, could become a perfect detective for my stories. Moreover, as a nurse, I learnt to use many poisons and this is another reason that inspired me to write crime novels.

Rosalba: What advice would you like to give to modern and aspiring writers?

Agatha Christie: I believe tips and suggestions are evergreen and without time. I can suggest the one I was told by author and family friend Eden Philpotts when I started writing: “The artist is only the glass through which we see nature, and the clearer and more absolutely pure that glass, so much the more perfect picture we can see through it. Never intrude yourself.”

Rosalba: How did you write your novels?

Agatha Christie: I always wrote stories about things I knew, namely my life, my experience, the places and the people I met. Sometimes, to sketch a story in my block notes it was sufficient a talk, a discussion or opinions I heard at a dinner party, for instance. My grandson always described me as a person who listened more than she talked, who saw more than she was seen.”   Another my fictional characher, for instance,  Miss Marple ,  was based on the description of my elderly aunt.  Plots come to me at such odd moments, when I am walking along the street, or examining a hat shop…Suddenly a splendid idea comes into my head”. I wrote always by hand and then I dictated my written words to a secretary who typed with a machine called Dictaphone.

Rosalba: Yes, you were a great novelist and rewarded with a great career. What do you feel to say at this moment?

Agatha Christie: What can I say now? Thank God for my good life, and for all the love that has been given to me. I wish the same to my colleagues.

Fore more information about Agatha Christie, see this website: http://www.agathachristie.com I used to get the image and information about the writer.

Please also see my translation sample into Italian of Evil Under the Sun, another famous  Hercule Poirot mystery by Agatha Christie

 

A cry in the night - Mary Higgins Clark

Book: A Cry in the night
Author: Mary Higgins Clark
Publication Date: 1982

This is my 20th book of Mary Higgins Clark, my favourite author. 20 more to go. 

 Jenny met Erich during one of his exhibitions. He was a renowned painter. And that tryst changed her life forever. Before meeting him, she was a single mother who was struggling hard to make both ends meet. Her two daughters were her world. Though divorced, she was also shelling out money to her ex-husband Kevin, who was dreaming of making it big in acting.  

Clark’s simple way of putting things has always helped me to walk with the characters and this time too, it is not different. Jenny got married to Erich in a hurry thinking that she had finally found the right man. What allured Erich to Jenny was her uncanny resemblance to his mother, Catherine. But was he her right man?

Things started going awry when she moved with him to his big mansion in Minnesota farm. Her happiness was short-lived. It all started with Erich insisting Jenny wear Catherine’s gown which is aqua green in colour. After that, a series of incidents happened one by one which started straining Jenny’s sanity. Was she losing it?

The end was not unexpected. But what caught my attention was the way Clark delved into the psyche of Jenny. When each time she shuddered at various happenings in the mansion, I too shuddered. Mary Higgins Clark's daughter Carol Higgins Clark played Jenny in a movie that was made based on this novel

I would give 4 stars for the book.

- by Shalet Jimmy

Keeping the Dead - Tess Gerritsen

This is the first story of Tess Gerritsen which did not excite me or scared me. Long and short, I did not like it and I also did not like how Dr Maura Isles is portrayed as a pining woman for a ' Daniel'.

Still, I will be her fan. Because she is the one who has actually scared the shit out of me through many of her other works.

Welcome Tess Gerritsen

Two years ago, I bade adieu to Tess Gerritsen with a heavy heart.
 Why so? I loved her books and when you part with something you loved, you will be obviously, sad. 
The gruesome details she explained in her books were something hard to digest. Her books would send shivers down my spine. 

I remember going to the library and forcing myself not to look at her books kept in the shelf.
When the yearning to read her books goes out of control, I would go to my parents home and ask my mother to sleep in my room until I finish it off. Now, mustering all the courage, I have decided to read her books one by one. A challenge to battle to my own fears.

Soil for my roots – Minal Sarosh

This book throws an important question – How could one preserve one's own roots in a cross-cultural society? Or rather, can one retain his/her individuality in a cross-cultural society? When some characters in the book could retain it, some utterly fails in it. Unfortunately, the latter did not even realise that they do have one. 

This is Minal Sarosh's first book of fiction. The story progresses through Angela, the protagonist, a Gujrati Christian. The story happens in Nasik and from there extends to Ahmedabad. Ask what is unique in her book? It is her meticulous descriptions of place and events. You could feel the pulse of places and emotions narrated here.

Minal opens the story with Angela's ( protagonist) childhood and talks at length about the social scene which existed then. Gujrati, Tamilian, Malayalee – everyone stayed together, she says. But as years flew by, the transformation occurs - the secular scene slowly turns into communal. Amidst these social changes, there are some who steadfastly hold onto their beliefs. Even for a moment, they are neither ready to budge from it nor ready to put themselves in others' shoes. But there are some who dares to delve into their inner self to know their identity and roots and one such character is Sarah.

 Though the protagonist is Angela, my thoughts always lingered around Sarah, Angela's cousin. I felt she is the one who could be called 'liberated' in the real sense. When Angela just went with the flow, Sarah showed some courage to know to her roots. Being a Christian does not stop her from participating in the Gharba dance or many such things which she was not allowed to do just because she is a Christian. It's also strange that Sarah was finally let free by a superstition.  I could relate to her strongly.

Unravelling Sarah would have offered the reader many a revelation. I wish Minal had delved a bit more into Sarah's character. I still want to know more about her. Apart from it, how people responded to the earthquake that hit Gujrat once,  the gruesome Godhra carnage and also the riots that followed subsequently were also dealt with.  She has got a beautiful language that her words could paint vivid pictures of everything for the readers. 

I give her three stars. For a time fiction writer, she did well. 

Minal Sarosh started her literary career as a poet writing in English. She won the commendation prize in the All India Poetry competition 2005 organised by the Poetry Society (India) Delhi. 

Ends

Want to delve into a mystery or just be a reader

I have been reading Mary Higgins Clark books continuously for about two months and thought would write a review only when I think I should write one.  Then I read “ No place like Home”'. And it's time to write something. What I am writing will not be a typical review.

Before explaining further, I would just write a few words on “ No place like home”- First off all, I loved it. A husband buys a plot for his newly wedded wife ( Celia Nolan). He keeps it, a secret until she is brought to the house as he wants to surprise her. And the house shocks her. It is her house where she had killed her mother years ago. She was a little girl, then. But did she kill her mother deliberately ? For that you will have to read the whole story. She was Liza Barton then and now her new identity is Celia Nolan. Then there comes a twist in the tale - The real estate agent who gets them the house is killed.

 I am not going any further. Because, any more information would kill the real joy of reading it. 

As I said above, it was an interesting read. But right from the beginning of this story, a name popped up in my mind – the name of 'who dunnit'. There was no hint strewn in any part of the story. But sometimes after reading years of thrillers and who dunnits, you  somehow garner that trait where you could tell who is the culprit. Many times, your guess would go wrong too. But that trait gets rooted, eventually.

Another logic also works behind it. If you want to have the real impact, the villian should be somebody whom you might not have thought about in your wildest imagination . And a reader like me, then start looking for someone who seems quite unattached with the murder. 

It gives a sense of satisfaction and thrill when you could identify him/her from a great writer's book. And this time, I was right with this book. But there is another point to ponder :  When you get a cue on the culprit, the culmination of final thrill is lost somewhere. I was mesmarised by the ending of ' The Murder in the Orient Express” by Agatha Christie. Could anybody have guessed that ending?

Long and short, If you want to be a good reader, stop guessing, And if you want to be an excellent writer, delve, delve and delve.

pic courtesy - google

Mystery writers discuss their favorite summer reads

Going to read ' Gone Girl'. This is my first Gillian Flynn book. I was thinking of getting acquainted with a new crime writer every month. I, of course started it with ' Harlan Coben'. But as I got a transfer to other city and could not take many books with me. 'Harlan Coben' is safe in my own home in the other city. I will finish it, once I get back there. Now I have' Gone Girl' with me. I read great reviews about it, online. Hence, I thought I would go for it. Let's see how many days, I will take to complete it.  

Make No mistake – Nancy Drew series- Case No 56

I read Nancy Drew after along time. I never thought I could relish it just the way I had done about 12 years ago. Why I went for a Nancy Drew? I got a transfer to a new city and was trying my level best to cope with it. And I was not in a situation to go for a book which is heavy. Mary Higgins Clark would have broken my reading block. But I could not get hold of her book that fast here and did not have any in my collection which I have not read. For a change, I thought, I would go for Mills and Boons. I bought one and there, when I chanced upon a Nancy Drew, I just grabbed it. 

Nut shell

Matt Glover who disappeared some years ago returned to River Heights.  He said he had amnesia and memory returned when he saw his father's obituary in a paper. This aroused suspicion in many. At the same time, there was nothing which could prove that the one who turned up was an imposter. But Nancy could not just take in that one fine morning Matt returned. At the same time, there were many external elements which also seemed like wanting to obliterate Matt. Because if he did not return, there were many organisations which could be privileged by Matt's father's money. So his will states. For Nancy, the case becomes a hard nut to crack when Matt passed a lie -detector test.

My comment

I just loved it. Maybe because, I just cannot hate Nancy Drew.

Anita Desai and Jhumpa Lahiri

I have entered names of two more authors for the Reading challenge ( Not for the general reading challenge 2015). There is no stipulated period to complete the challenge. The reading challenge consists of Anita Desai and Jhumpa Lahiri's books. To be frank, I have already completed Jhumpa Lahiri's books. I entered her name as I did not want to miss my favourite author's presence in my book blog. Regarding Anita Desai's books,  I have started off with ' Fire on the mountain'.  I am so captivated by her style of writing that I am sure I would love her books, the way it was with Lahiri's . The two other authors, I have entered earlier were Agatha Christie and Mary Higgins Clark. I believe I am progressing with their books.
Agatha - 9 books and Clark - 12

Daddy's Little Girl - Mary Higgins Clark

Book: Daddy's Little Girl
Author: Mary Higgins Clark
Publication Date: 2002


Daddy's little girl – Yet another Mary Higgins Clark book. I enjoyed it. But if you think, if it's a typical who dunnit? It's not. It is written in a first person's account.


Just one sentence and I could easily give away the story. So let it be a suspense. I know that there would be only a few who have not read her books, especially this one. But I would like to believe that there are exceptions like me.  The title always intrigued me. I could not read as I could not get it anywhere, neither in the libraries nor in the book shops. Eventually, when I caught hold of that book, I am sorry to say that the story did not live up to the title. But I enjoyed reading it. I do not know how that strange phenomenon happens.

Ellie Cavanaugh, a journalist lost her sister when she was just seven years old. Her elder sister was 17 at the time. Robson Westerfield, a 20-year-old was put in prison as she had given testimony against him. Is he the real culprit?  After 22 years in prison, he is out and Ellie just wants to prevent her sister's murderer from roaming free. And her struggle makes the whole story.

Keeping the mystery part away, I started brooding over the relationships that fell apart due to Ellie's sister's murder. Emotions are a rarity when it comes to any suspense thriller.  Ellie's was a close knit family. But they drifted apart after the murder of their eldest daughter, Andrea.  

Though I have enjoyed the book, one question still looms in my head. Why did the murderer kill that girl?  Did I miss anything in the story?. When I close every MHC book, I never asked such questions. I would like to believe that I missed something substantial in the book and hence the doubt.

- by Shalet Jimmy