I am back!!!!

This is where I belong…amidst books.

After a hiatus, I am back. It’s been ten years since I started this blog. Much to my dismay, I have abandoned this blog on and off. Fortunately, I have always come back.

I always come back mostly in the month of December. I re-discover my passion for crime thrillers always in the month of December. And years ago, I was also born in December. That’s why the month holds special for me.

When I started off, this blog was called ‘Diary of a budding book reviewer ’. Now, I have loads of review copies in my kitty to review. I should pat my back for that, right…

Mary Higgins Clark has always helped me to re-discover my passion for crime thrillers. But this time, it is James Patterson.

I will soon come up with its review.

- Shalet Jimmy

Peril at End House by Agatha Christie

Someone wants Nick Buckley to be killed and she had survived four death threats….

But things appear not too bleak as the famous detective Hercule Poirot with his best friend Hastings is in the vicinity.

But what perplexes Poirot is the lack of a substantial motive to kill Miss Buckley. The ‘ End House ’ she owns is already in debt and he could see no other motives which actually want someone to make an attempt on her life.

But a murder was destined to happen. Even the foolproof arrangements made by Poirot could not prevent someone from getting murdered at the End House. Unfortunately, it was Maggie Buckley, her cousin who came to be with Nick gets killed. As she had worn her cousin’s shawl, the murderer easily got confused her with Nick.

But the lack of a motive continues to perplex Poirot and it goes to such an extent that even Hastings who has strong faith in his friend’s ‘ grey cells’ starts thinking that this case will be written off as Poirot’s unsolved mystery.


‘End House’ is considered as the one of best works of Agatha Christie.
From the beginning, I knew the culprit. But it might be just because of the tendency to pinpoint the most unlikely person as the murderer. Besides, being an ardent fan of her plots I, now want to acquire her skill of adeptly joining the dots that leads to the murderer.

If you are an Agatha Christie fan, this is a must read.

By Shalet Jimmy

A Few quotes from Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles -

“Instinct is a marvelous thing. It can neither be explained nor ignored.” 

“Sometimes I feel sure he is as mad as a hatter and then, just as he is at his maddest, I find there is a method in his madness.” 

“You gave too much rein to your imagination. Imagination is a good servant and a bad master. The simplest explanation is always the most likely.”


“When you find that people are not telling you the truth---look out!” 

“You know, Emily was a selfish old woman in her way. She was very generous, but she always wanted a return. She never let people forget what she had done for them - and, that way she missed love.” 

“Everything must be taken into account. If the fact will not fit the theory---let the theory go.” 

“Every murderer is probably somebody's old friend.”

“An appreciative listener is always stimulating.” 

“They tried to be too clever---and that was their undoing.”

“I did not deceive you, mon ami. At most, I permitted you to deceive yourself.” 

“Hasting - There are times when it is one's duty to assert oneself.”