A sharp decline

The fact that I am keeping this notebook with lists of authors who I have several books from seems to be really working eh.... Well, anyway... Digital Fortress is on its way to pastures new and that leaves me with only a teeny weeny amount of books to be read: 150.

Since my last post I seem to have got on quite well on the reading front. Not only have I finished 4... yes indeed... FOUR. I think that it is the whole being made redundant scenario that has given me not only more time to read but also more of an excuse. Job hunting is something I do every day but do not something I do all day. There are only so many different vacancies on so many different sites and in deciding whether I want to apply for a position as Project Manager or Client services Manager there seems to be plenty of space to get in a book or two.... or four. Mind you, this find a job thing is proving to be a lot of hard work! But... it seems to be finally moving in the right direction. A few things on the go now and hoping to be getting back to some kind of gainful employment soon.
But now, without further ado... number 1.


##### SPOILER ALERT ####

4.50 From Paddington - Agatha Christie
This is another one from one of my favourite authors and it does not disappoint. Clever, good pace, nice characters and unexpected twists galore.
At the start of it you think that no way is this crime is ever going to get resolved. All the odds are against it. A crime is witnessed by a lovely, dapper, interfering (aren't all stereotypical old ladies in most novels?) and tight fisted old lady (ask the porter), she has just woken up from a nap and then looks over at a passing train only to see a woman being strangled in one of the compartments. She only sees the man who is doing the strangling from behind. Naturally the lady does her civic duty and reports it. It is investigated by the "proper authorities" but nothing comes of it. She also happens to tell her friend Miss Marple about it. Miss M ponders it has a few half baked attempts (or so they seem) at finding out some information and doing a bit of sleuthing but again nothing comes of it initially. By the use of logic Miss Marple determines where the body should be and engages a young lady to do her legwork work her. This is part of the beauty of the story. Miss Marple must have taken some serious lateral thinking pills when she was younger as her ingenious kind of logic gets the results. To be honest, you would have to beat me round the head with the facts to arrive at the same conclusions having been presented with the same information that she has.
The first twist comes when you realise that Miss Marple is not even intending to visit the crime scene (okay kind of hard as it is a moving train and we do not really find out what specific physical train it was) or even the place where eventually the body of the woman is found. She solves this one almost completely with out ever near the scene and relies on other people describing the scene, clues and people involved to her. An amazing feat on a good day but especially as she is presented as being a bit of an ageing sleuth. Fortunately for us she is still sharp as a tack!
So, we have a body and a locations and plenty of people around who have opinions on who she is and why she ended up where she did. Initially we are faced with the task of  finding out who the lady is. A few options are presented but all discounted. Thankfully it seems that everyone who lives in the estate has an opinion on who she was or why should would have ended up dead there. It makes or some cracking reading and all the time I know I am getting fooled by red herrings, suitable suspects and side plots. Plenty of characters have a motive for wanting to kill someone but who would want to kill a woman and why. Do I mind? Absolutely not! I love it. 
The story flows well. The characters you meet are pleasant and although not very fleshed out they are as usual very recognisable. We have the dowdy old lady, the irascible and bitter old man who is head of estate he will never own himself, the good son, the wayward son, the dead son and the saintly sister. Also we have a family doctor and a potential illicit affair with potential offspring. Then we have the clever help in the household (placed there by Miss M) - young, cunning, clever and very capable. The policemen are pleasant enough and have dealt with Miss Marple before so know when to step aside and let her do her thing. 
As usual I was completely wrong about who-dunnit and again I forgive Christie wholeheartedly. She has amused me for all of the 190 pages of the book and I will be revisiting her stories again and again. Great read.... want more!

Title: 4.50 From Paddington
Author: Agatha Christie
190 pages
Fontana
ISBN #0-00-615762-9

Books to be read: 149