The Agatha Christie Book Club

The Agatha Christie Book Club

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Honestly, their behaviour to one another felt a lot like going back to high school - sniping at each other, competing with each other, going behind each other's backs - considering they'd all barely met, who would put up with that?

Agatha Christie

Not me, that's for sure. And then there was the sleuthing. I am more than willing to cut cozy characters some slack for being buttinskies and sticking their noses where they don't belong, but the stuff Alicia pulled simply beggared belief! The number of times she managed to get people to talk to her and let her in to their homes after she accuses them of murder or other crimes just wasn't believable to me. I feel like people would have slammed their doors in her face at best, and punched her in her face at worst.

I just couldn't buy that she would be able to convince people to continue to talk to her after a certain amount of accusing. Maybe it's me and that is normal behaviour that people will actually put up with over and over, but I couldn't buy it. I give the author points for a clever connection between her story and Christie, which is all I will say to avoid spoilers.

However, as annoying as Poirot could be at times, there was still a charm and quirkiness in his behaviour and approach that I always found endearing. That just didn't come across in this book's characters, most especially for me in Alicia. I found her strident, pushy and thoughtless and I just couldn't like or connect with her. I won't be continuing with this series.

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Aug 08, Pete F rated it it was ok Shelves: I quite enjoyed this book but I found it a bit predictable, so for that reason only gave it two stars. Being an Agatha Christie fan the title of this book attracted me, so I downloaded it to my Kindle. I felt a little disappointed at the anti-climax of Alicia's meeting with the missing lady she had been looking for. I could see what was happening long before the amateur detectives of the Agatha Christie Book Club.

For someone who is an avowed Agatha fan, and who should have known something of the I quite enjoyed this book but I found it a bit predictable, so for that reason only gave it two stars. For someone who is an avowed Agatha fan, and who should have known something of the background of the author, I am surprised that Alicia Finlay didn't cotton on before she did about Barbara's disappearance.

The clues were staring her, and us, in the face. It was obvious that the hydro referred to in the story was a spa and not a hydro-electric station. I hope by this review I haven't given the plot away too much but frankly, there isn't much to give away. Real-life Agatha fans will nod knowingly early on in the plot and question the competence of Alicia's little grey cells. The subplots could have done with being beefed up, too.

These criticisms aside, I really did enjoy the book but if there is a sequel, the author should make the clues harder, the characters more rounded and less like cardboard cutouts, and add some atmosphere. Just because it is set in modern day Australia rather than the England of the s and 30s, it doesn't mean that it can't be atmospheric. The real Agatha Christie novels had all these ingredients in abundance, whether setting them in a country estate, a seaside boarding house, a nursing home, an archaeological dig or a London hotel. Apr 06, Jeannie and Louis Rigod rated it it was amazing.

My usual and normal method of reading is not to read the reviews prior beginning a new novel and especially a new, to me, author.

Review - The Agatha Christie Book Club, C.A. Larmer

Saying this I did break my routine and noted several 'Goodreads' reviews. The word that sprung out at me was 'predictable. Eleven Missing Days in the true life of Agatha Christie. I knew vaguely of that occurrence, not any details.

Discussion List

Be My usual and normal method of reading is not to read the reviews prior beginning a new novel and especially a new, to me, author. Being in ignorance, I began this novel. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I did have a bit of 'thinking' to do regarding the Australian slang words, unknown to me, but I substituted American words and was off to the races. I found myself liking the main characters, Alicia Finley, and her sister, Lynette. I was intrigued by the mixed group of fellow book club members found through the old method of 'mail. My Grandmother took an instant 'dislike' of her.

Thought she was 'above herself. This novel was entertaining for me. I had no inclination to hold it up against the Queen of Mystery's novels. It was not written to be compared with her books. I suggest readers keep an open mind and approach this book with the intention of reading a good, humorous mystery that happens to be set around Agatha Christie's books. Dec 16, Sheri rated it it was amazing. This was such a fun book to read. I'm an Agatha Christie fan myself and wish there was a book club near me dedicated to her books! I loved the setting of Australia, the cast of characters were fun and diverse and the sisters reminds me of my sister and I when we were younger.

I liked the touch of anticipatory romance - I look forward to see how it develops. The ending was intriguing.

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I could feel the betrayal and disappointment of the book club. I've already downloaded book 2! I definitely recomme This was such a fun book to read. I definitely recommend this book. Aug 02, Valerie rated it it was ok. I was not impressed with the book club. For avid fans of Agatha Christie I felt as though none of them learned anything about sleuthing techniques.

Sep 27, Sharla rated it really liked it. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. The characters are fun and I enjoy the book club angle. The whole thing ties up with Agatha Christie brilliantly. The ending is especially intriguing. I hope the next one is as good. Sep 01, Yorky Caz rated it it was amazing. You had me at the title As soon as I saw the title I was in.

Excellent book anyone but the adition of Christie references and Poirots little comments made this perfection for me. Bring on the next. Apr 30, Kat Lebo rated it liked it. Larmer I was drawn to the book by the title. It did take me a little bit of time to sink into that cozy mystery mindset, but once I did this book read pretty smoothly, considering the differences in terminology and spelling between American English and Australian English.

The story takes place in Australia, so, of course, it is filled with idioms common in the spoken language. Usually, I could deduce the meaning of the idiom by the context in which it was used. In fact, I found it kind of enjoyable. I particularly liked that one. A couple, however, stopped me. One was quiff location That one I had to stop and look up, which means I was completely out of the story during that time.

Evidently it refers to a s pompadour like hair style — that was the definition that seemed to fit the context. Seemed unnecessary, even if it is a common Australian idiom, especially since the entire word is used earlier in the same paragraph. Some spellings differences between what one would see in Australia and what one would see in the U.

I expected — use of ou where we would use just the o, as in favour and favor. The ones that stopped me involved the use of a form of the word jewel. That word itself was spelled as I expected to see, but the terms jewellery and Jeweller , as opposed to jewelry and jeweler, did throw me. As both those terms are used often, it meant I was stopped often. There were a couple of editing problems, but just a couple. Not a smart idea to piss off your readers when making the job tedious can be done without disdaining the subject matter itself.

All that aside, It was a fun read. There was an interesting premise, with much of the action having a parallel in the writings of and the actual life of Agatha Christie. Reading about the book club choices reminded me that I need to reread some of my old books and maybe look at one or two I never got around to. To me, they showed the most real emotion and reacted the most normally of all the characters. I liked the premise, liked the use the novels as clues, liked reading about Agatha Christie in any form.

I absolutely loved the uncovering of what happened to Barbara and the confrontation between the antagonist and protagonist. Maybe I knew too much about the Christie novel plots and about Christie herself. What seemed obvious to me might not seem so obvious to someone not as familiar with the author and her works. View all 4 comments. Oct 28, Melanie rated it it was ok. It had a good synopsis and sounded like it would be an enjoyable cozy. What could be better than an Agatha Christie book club!

Unfortunately, I just never really got hooked. May 31, Paige rated it it was ok. I am an Agatha Christie fan, which is why this book intrigued me when I bought it months ago. I recently got around to reading it because I was in the mood for a good mystery and it seemed it would fit the bill. The premise of this book was promising and it did start off that way as well. However, early on, it became very jumbled. Another factor was the constant changes in the points of views.

This was not a seamless change, sometimes o I am an Agatha Christie fan, which is why this book intrigued me when I bought it months ago. This was not a seamless change, sometimes occurring in the very same paragraph. So in some spots it was hard to keep up. The writing style also seemed to change in the middle of the book, to the point of almost being corny or juvenile.

There were also red herrings galore, which is to be expected in a mystery. While I know this was done to make the mysteries more intriguing it came across as annoying after a while. The characters were all stereotypical archetypes. This made it hard to get to know or really like them.

What few pieces of insight into their character that were shown seemed out of place when they were revealed and came across as trying to be filler. I am not inclined to read the rest of the series to see if these get further developed. This was also a bit of a "meh" book for me. This is a book that I likely will not read again. Dec 21, Kerry Tolson rated it really liked it Shelves: I was drawn to this book by its cover which is different from the one pictured here at the Byron Bay Writers Festival which was promoting self-published writers for the first time.

At the time I didn't buy it as I'm not a reader of crime, but when I came across the book at another writers event, I couldn't resist and I'm so glad I didn't. What a fabulous and delightful read! I believe the genre is called 'cosy crime' and cosy it certainly is. From the moment I read the first line, I was I was drawn to this book by its cover which is different from the one pictured here at the Byron Bay Writers Festival which was promoting self-published writers for the first time.

From the moment I read the first line, I was hooked and thoroughly enjoyed being taken on a mystery hunt with delightful characters, and wonderful references to Agatha Christie, great vintage clothing, foodie tib-bits some of which left me salivating, as did the description of some of the clothes Clair was wearing!

And although I picked the culprit part way through I was still turning those pages in anticipation for another twist. This is a book that is sure to leave the reader wanting more of the members of the Agatha Christie Book Club well after the last sentence is read.

I'm looking forward to reading more of C. May 14, Lucile rated it really liked it Recommends it for: This is what I would consider a light summer read. You won't need a dictionary or a notepad when reading this mystery. Although several Agatha mysteries figure into this book you lose anything if you haven't read them--but you may want to put them in your "to read" pile.

Alicia is disenchanted with her current book club and drops out to form a new book club set up to read and discuss all the Christie books. But the new group has a mystery of their own to solve when a member of their group disapp This is what I would consider a light summer read. But the new group has a mystery of their own to solve when a member of their group disappears under suspicious circumstances.

Using some advice from Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple the group works to find their new member and get to the bottom on 2 or more crimes. This is a fast and easy read that is both engaging and steeped in the books and history of Agatha Christie. I would recommend it to Christie lovers and people who have never read Christie. You won't regret it. Feb 16, Mary Biblophile rated it liked it Shelves: While this book had some flaws, I enjoyed the many Agatha Christie references throughout this fluffy cozy mystery.

Although anyone familiar with Agatha's books and bio can follow the clues, it was fun to try and solve the mystery. The motley cast of characters were entertaining and I look forward to more in this series. Jun 08, a. I didn't enjoy it, I thought with my love for Agatha Christie it was a natural choice, but it was pretty awful. The characters were poorly done.

The plot was boring, I wanted to skip chunks of the book just to get it over with. Nov 14, Dallass rated it liked it Shelves: Picked this up on a whim, and was pleasantly surprised by how fun and fast paced this book was. The mystery itself was well thought out, and amateur sleuthing undertaken by the ACBC was fun to follow. Will definitely be picking up the following books in the series. Jul 21, Robyn Gaye-Murphy rated it it was amazing. The sisters are devoted readers to Mysteries and Alicia decides to start a book club to find other like minded individuals.

She does that, and falls headfirst into a mystery of their own when one new member disappears. It is an interesting book full of hints, dead ends, and even murder! Alicia began more than she had ever imagined but made friends in her own book club that are enjoyable to read about. I enjoyed this mystery novel very much and am sure others will too. Jun 03, Justine Peroni rated it it was amazing. Loved every aspect of this book! Such a brilliant concept as you really can't beat a novel by Agatha Christie. So this book really did call out to me!

The characters were brilliantly depicted and loved the idea of the club. Am avid reader of Agatha Christie and liked how her novels helped figure the disappearance and murder that took place. I don't like to give too much away but it is most worthy of a read. I did figure some of it half way, but again am not giving anything aw Absolutely loved it! Jump aboard for the latest adventure of the Agatha Christie Book Club, a beloved group of friends who include devoted sisters Alicia and Lynette, poisons expert Dr Anders, ditzy librarian Missy and vintage queen Claire.

This time there's a new member lurking in the wings, a barman with a bad attitude and a secret worth keeping. Can you solve the murders before they all do? This book follows British English spelling and usage, and contains some Australian slang. Evil Under The Stars: This time a woman is discovered dead on a blanket during a moon-light screening of Evil Under The Sun, with hundreds of witnesses and not a suspect in sight.

How did no one see the killer strike? How did no one hear the victim scream? And how could the book club be lounging nearby and miss the whole event?! When local detectives hit a brick wall, the amateur sleuths channel their inner-Miss Marple to investigate. What eventuates is a battle of wits between the beloved friends and the Homicide Squad, with newcomer Inspector Liam Jackson caught firmly in the middle.

A fun, fast-paced adventure for those looking for a well-written, contemporary whodunnit with plot twists and turns and an ensemble cast you can fall in love with. Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review. There's a problem loading this menu right now. Learn more about Amazon Prime. Get fast, free shipping with Amazon Prime. Get to Know Us. Amazon Music Stream millions of songs. Amazon Advertising Find, attract, and engage customers. Amazon Drive Cloud storage from Amazon. Alexa Actionable Analytics for the Web.

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