This week has seen me read only about 20 pages or so. I planned to read more but somehow life got in the way. I started going to the gym a bit more again so that meant that every two days I was in there cross training my little buns off. then i have stated to try and organise a get together with the cousins and that has taken up some time trying to figure out who can do what, where and when. Sitting down on the dreaded desk chair has made me back hurt a bit as well so I had to get the ice pack out on several occasions. Good news is the pain seems to settle down a lot quicker than it used to so it causes me less aggravation to get it back to relatively normal. Perhaps today will be a better day for reading? There does not seem to be a lot on telly so who knows?
#### SPOILER ALERT ####
Postern of Fate - Agatha Christie
I am very sorry to say that this is not one of my favourite novels of Agatha's. Normally I love her books as they are tightly plotted, well written, have entertaining characters and keep you guessing as to whodunit. This one does not really deliver on any of that... unfortunately.
It is about a husband and wife team, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford who have moved to a new house and stumble cross a mystery. It all starts with a coded message in a book and then wanders aimlessly on towards the end. Tommy and Tuppence are a retired couple who seem to have been in the spying game (as mentioned on several occasions at the back end of the book). Apparently this means that they are best placed to solve the mystery of Mary Jordan. Really?? It is a bit of a coincidence that Tuppence finds the message in one of the books in the first place. It is then even more amazing that someone apparently still knows about what was involved in the whole sage and would even go as far as to want to kill them for it now.
It feels like Christie was not at her best when she wrote this one as it rambles a lot. Some of the conversations do not seem to flow correctly (Tommy "speaks" when it should be Tuppence as it in response to something he has just said or vice versa), none of the characters are really vibrant or jump off the page at you. They feel tired and old. Only the village kids Tuppence seems to have a bit of life to them. The dialogue feels confused, drawn out and slow. At times the dialogue does not even seem to relate to the case Tommy or Tuppence are investigating. Unfortunately that meant for me that I lost interest in the story and its characters.
In the book people keep referring to Tuppence as someone who is good at finding things out. It sees to me that she seems to get rather confused with all the information she is getting handed on a plate. She does not seem to be doing a lot of finding out at all. Tommy wanders off to London to do some "investigating" every now and again but it all seems disjointed and irrelevant to the main mystery. Tuppence wanders round tea parties and shops in the village to get her info. The story then sort of meanders to a slightly unsatisfying end where they have this dinner with some guy (who seems to be in the know about "these things") Tommy met during the story and some others who were involved on the sidelines. You never really find out what the whole secret is and what exactly its impact is on the present. There is some attempt to make the story more interesting by introducing someone who is out to kill Tuppence for what she knows but it is obvious who the murderer is. Even I saw that one coming and managed to beat the dog to the punch!
Sadly I have to say not one of her best.
(Big sad face)
Title: Postern of Fate
Author: Agatha Christie
221 pages
Fontana/Collins
ISBN #0-00-615297-X
Books to be read: 150
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