I spend way too long creating the titles for these posts

So as I mentioned in the last post I really love Agatha Christie (particularly her Hercule Poirot mysteries) so predictably I zoomed through The Clocks. This was written very differently and the plot development was unique also. For starters, the narrative voice changed several times from third person to first person (and it wasn't Poirot as first person either). I thought at first this might create problems like with time jumping but after a few chapters the transitions felt familiar and smooth. Secondly, Poirot never set foot on the crime scenes and he never spoke to any of the suspects. From what I've read, this is the only time Christie employed this tactic and it was mostly to show that it was possible for the Belgian detective to accomplish such a feat. As per usual, I thought I had the whole thing figured out only to discover that it was all a pile-up of red herrings and I'd been duped again. Oh, Agatha!

And because I felt like I just needed more Poirot in my life I checked out a short story entitled Wasps' Nest which I thought might keep me occupied for a few days. However, when it said 'short story' it meant incredibly quick. I finished that bad boy in about 15 minutes on the train home this evening. It was so short I have no idea how to even review it. Basically, there's a man named John Harrison (Star Trek Into Darkness, anyone?) who Poirot visits out in the country. He tells him that he's on a murder case...a murder that hasn't been committed yet. Dun Dun DUUUUUN. Yeah go and read it. It's a quick, delightful read (and I was still surprised by the conclusion because apparently Christie is a wizard).

Then I decided that I wasn't done with mysteries, detectives, and crime because I resurrected a book I had started a zillion years ago but got too distracted to finish: The Sherlock Holmes Handbook by Ransom Riggs (see Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children & Hollow City for more by him). This book is the Holmesian-How-To-Manual (that sounded ultra cool in my head) which explores the methodology of the fictional detective as well as current forensic science practices. Basically, if you're a Sherlockian then this is the book for you. We shall soon see!

I'm concerned I might actually BE Bridget Jones

Not that there's anything wrong per se with being like Bridget Jones but you can't say that she really has her life together can you? If you've seen the film adaptation of Helen Fielding's The Bridget Jones's Diary then I have no clue why you wouldn't give the book a shot. They really stayed true to form with the film and it's even funnier on page. Bridget is a Singleton who really just wants to find a guy who is less of a f***wit and more of a Mr. Darcy a la Pride and Prejudice. (Sidenote: It amuses me more than I can say that the characters actually talked about the BBC adaptation with Colin Firth and it was this same man playing Mark Darcy in the film adaptation of Bridget Jones's Diary. Yes, I AM easily amused.) The book is written in true diary format and at the header of each day's entry Bridget obsessively calculates weight, alcohol units, cigarettes, calories, lottery tickets, etc. I enjoyed the bawdy humor and the writing style of Fielding very much. If you're looking for a quick read that's sure to make you laugh then I highly recommend this one.

I ordered a few Halloween-y books which I was hoping would arrive before I had finished Bridget Jones's Diary but unfortunately they haven't come in yet. No matter! I snapped up a Hercule Poirot mystery, The Clocks, written by the indomitable Agatha Christie (of which I'm a huge fan). This mystery revolves around a murdered man who is found surrounded by you'd never guess it clocks. Poirot is challenged to solve the murder without ever visiting the crime scene or talking with witnesses. Is it possible to solve a crime using the little grey cells and nothing else? Well, I guess we'll shortly find out!!