Happy new year (very, very belated, lol)! I started the year reading some old friends.
Might as Well be Dead by Rex Stout Nero Wolfe is hired by James Herold to find his missing son, Paul, but everyone is startled to find that Paul Herold, under a different name, is on trial for murder. This was a great start tot he new year, as I enjoyed this Nero Wolfe a lot. I thought the pacing was good, the story interesting, and the characters a little more fleshed out than normally for this classic series.
In the Best Families by Rex Stout Nero Wolfe refuses to take on Mrs. Rackham's case when appeals to him. She wants to know where her younger and penniless husband has suddenly money that he's flashing around as it hasn't come from her. She doesn't want to confront him; she doesn't want a divorce. She just wants to know where the money is coming from. Nero finds this case too salacious and not his style at all, so Archie volunteers to help Mrs. Rackham out. Then Mrs. Rackham is murdered while Archie is at an event with her, and Nero Wolfe finds himself involved in the case after all. I enjoyed this one, too, as the originating premise was a bit of a twist (of course, it's a Nero Wolfe--we know someone is going to die).
Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie (1969) Ariadne Oliver is attending a Hallowe'en party when one of the children attending is found dead. Mystery writer Ariadne is convinced it was murder and not an accident as the police conclude. She enlists her friend Hercule Poirot to find out what happened. In some ways, this is one of Agatha's darker mysteries as it centers on the murder of a child, but Mrs. Christie never shied away from killing people the reader likes. I always like Ariadne Oliver short stories, so I enjoyed this mystery a lot. And I had no sympathy for the murderer whatsoever, which I sometimes do with some Christie murderers. This one is villainous through and through. If you think Agatha Christie mysteries are all tame country house murders, think again.
Towards Zero by Agatha Christie Lady Tresillian invites her nephew and his second wife to her house, Gull's Point, for their annual holiday. But his first wife, Audrey, who is very fond of Lady T of whom Lady T is quite fond, is also there on her annual visit. This is a most uncomfortable arrangement and an arrangement ripe for something unhappy to occur in. A visitor to the area, Mr. Treves, is delighted to discover that Lady T lives nearby as he knew her late husband. Lady Tresillian is equally delighted and invites Mr. Treves to dinner, and the two have a lovely evening reminiscing. Thomas Royce, longtime family friend, is in England on holiday after years away and staying nearby, and he attends the small dinner party, and then walks Mr. Treves back to his hotel. The next day, Mr. Treves is dead, and although at first it's not suspicious (he did have a severe heart issue), Thomas begins to wonder if the mysterious "Oout of Work" sign on the elevator was deliberately put there to make Mr Treves take the stairs. Mr. Treves had regaled the party with a dinnertime story of a young child who killed another child accidentally with a bow and arrow. Is one of the party that child, now all grown up?
The Twelve Jays of Christmas by Donna Andrews Do not visit Meg Langslow and her family at Christmas. They are a magnet for murder any time of the year, but the holiday season is particularly dangerous in Caerphilly. This time, Meg and Michael are not just hosting her crazy, extended family; they are also hosting wildlife artist Roderick Castlemayne, who is bunking down in the library after Meg's grandfather kicked him out of the zoo. Roderick is painting 12 different bird species for a book her grandfather is writing. He prefers to draw from live specimens, but has the bad habit of letting them loose, perhaps not so accidentally, so he's been banished to Meg's. He's unpleasant, arrogant, and a terrible houseguest, and it's no surprise when he gets murdered since everyone who knew him hated him. As the Gentle Reader knows, I've been enjoying revisiting Meg and her clan, and always recommend them.
The Penguin Who Knew Too Much by Donna Andrews More Meg shenanigans, although this is one from early in the series. Meg and Michael are still renovating the rambling Victorian house they bought, but the basement hasn't been addressed yet so they let Meg's dad house some penguins from the Caerphilly Zoo. The zoo is suddenly bankrupt, and everyone in the county has been stepping in to house and feed some of the animals while the erstwhile zoo director is tracked down. No one has seen him for several days, and everyone thinks he's skipped town to avoid the mess. Meg's dad decides to dig a small pool in the dirt floor of the basement to build a pool for the penguins. Naturally, he finds a body, and Dr, Meg's Dad, a devoted mystery reader, admits to being unseemingly delighted to have finally found a murder victim of his own. Meanwhile, Meg and Michael are planning a secret elopement to avoid the big wedding both their mothers want.
Death on the Downs by Simon Brett This is the second in the Fetherington series, with Carol Seddon and Jude Nichols as our unlikely amateur detectives. The two neighbors and friends are as unlike each other as night and day. Much of the stories is usually told from Carole's perspective, and I don't really like her--she's very set in her ways, she's judgmental, she's unimaginative, but she has a dog and Jude likes her. Jude is impulsive, free spirited, and mysterious in Carole's eyes. Their friendship fascinates me. In this book, Carole is exploring the downs when a sudden downpour sends her scuttling to find whatever shelter she can find. That turns out to be a ramshackle, abandoned barn. While Carole is waiting for the storm to end, she's horrified to discover human bones falling out of an old bag. Is the body that of a young local girl, Tamsin, who disappeared many months ago? When Jude and Carole uncover the identity of the dead person, will Carole become the desperate murderer's next victim?
I'd recommend all of these books to any mystery devotee. All are well written, engrossing, and while some are lighter in tone than others, they are all excellent.
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