The Companion

So today marks a very important day, it is 130th birthday of Agatha Christie!

As always I review one of her mysteries. Last year I started going through the short stories from The Tuesday Club Murders AKA The Thirteen Problems.

I thought I would be done by now, but things happened so I’m still working through it. We are currently on the eighth book:

“The Companion” from The Tuesday Club Murder by Agatha Christie

Plot Synopsis:

So Miss Marple is an elderly woman who has lived in her village St. Mary Mead all her life. But even though she grew up in a small town, she has the observational skills of a hawk.

One night there is a gathering at Miss Marple’s home with: Miss Marple; Raymond West, Miss Marple’s nephew and a writer; Joyce Lempriére, an artist; Sir Henry Clithering, former commissioner of Scotland Yard; Dr. Pender, the elderly clergyman of the parish; and Mr. Petherick, solicitor.

They are enjoying themselves, when Raymond starts talking about unsolved mysteries.

Joyce decides they should start a club and meet every Tuesday and present a mystery, one they know they answer to and call it: The Tuesday Night Club. Every meeting Miss Marple blows them away as she figures out the solution before anyone else can.

So in the previous story, this is a new dinner party with the Bantrys (Dolly Bantry and Colonel Arthur Bantry), Sir Henry, Miss Marple, an actress Jane Helier, and a Dr. Lloyd. They discussed the previous mystery, The Blue Geranium, and Dr. Lloyd is asked to share another.

A few years ago on the Canary Islands, Dr. Lloyd went to recuperate from some health issues.

He was talking with someone who pointed out some very beautiful tango dancers and how they are full of life and things will happen with them. He points to a couple of women who he thinks are boring and destined to live boring lives.

Dr. Lloyd goes to look at the ladies who are English and forty. One is fair and plump, the other dark and lithe. No one would ever look at them twice, but Dr. Lloyd was amazed with how ordinary they are that he asked their names: Miss Mary Barton and Miss Amy Durrant of Little Paddocks, Caughton Weir, Bucks.

The next day the two ladies went swimming, one went out too far and got into difficulties-the other tried to save her but almost drowned herself and was just saved by a man boating.

Dr. Lloyd went to help the nearly drowned woman but didn’t recognize her until she was in her clothes. He then realized she was one the women he noticed the day before-a Miss Barton or Miss Durrant.

She cries out in anguish over the death of Amy Durrant, her companion. Ah, so she must be Miss Barton. Apparently, Amy Durrant was an orphan and has no family.

Dr. Lloyd wouldn’t have thought anything of it other than it being a sad story except a Spanish women said she saw the other lady go out to her and force her head under the water.

The doctor looked into Amy Durrant but she was just a nobody, no family, hardly any money, and the other lady didn’t seem angry or deeply invested in her death-why would she want to kill her?

There is no real “problem” with it, but the Doctor just continued to feel like something was off.

The other woman, Mary Barton, began to suspect the Doctor thought she did some kind of wrong doing. She grew plumper and committed suicide-leaving a note stating that she wished for Amy’s forgiveness. Her clothes were found by the shore but never her body.

Hmm…

Now Miss Barton had a lot of money, it would be suspicious if Amy Durrant had murdered her, but why would Mary Barton kill Amy? Miss Barton’s money went to her relatives in Australia and that seemed the end to a sad tale.

Or is it? The reveal is at the bottom.

Thoughts After Reading:

This is an interesting mystery, but I have to admit it wasn’t as good as her other ones as I figured out the ending right away. I feel like as a woman, I had a distinct advantage over Dr. Lloyd.

For more Miss Marple mysteries, go to The Blue Geranium

For more from The Thirteen Problems AKA The Tuesday Club Murders, go to The Thumb Mark of St. Peter

For more Agatha Christie, go to Motive v. Opportunity

For more short stories, go to Cat Crimes

For more strange occurrences at the full moon, go to Fool Moon

 

The Friday Society

The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress

This book takes place in steampunk Victorian London and covers the story lines of three women. Cora Bell was a street urchin who was adopted by Lord White and has grown up in his mansion becoming his assistant in all his scientific experiments. Lately things have not been going well as Lord White has been spending more time in opium houses than the lab and he hired a male assistant-one that knows nothing and is more interested in Cora than in doing the work. She unhappily goes with him to a gala.

I’m so disappointed.

Nellie Harmon is Irish and moved to England for a better life, She is a knockout and worked in a burlesque show, becoming the most sought after girl-but always protecting her maidenhood. She left that when she met the magician the Great Raheem and became his assistant. Their lives are changed when a dead man shows up on their doorstep, a scientist.They start trying to search who he is and why he’s there when they have to go to a gala (the same as Cora) where scientific things will be shown and perform. Afterwards, she and Cora share a cab.

Michiko Takeda is Japanese and all she ever wanted to be was a warrior, a samurai. She is extremely beautiful and when she saw her father was trying to plan a wedding she ran away. She then went on to be trained to be a samurai, but was never to be gifted a sword as she was a woman and not given the honor.

Michiko left with Lord Callum who uses her skills to train wealthy families. They attend the gala to perform and that night when she heads home she is attacked. Nellie and Cora come upon her and the three girls get wrapped up in the two mysteries.

So Mystery One-the dead man. Who killed the scientist and why? It turns out to be a huge political plot and one that must be solved before the city is destroyed.

Mystery 2 is someone is murdering flower girls and preying on lower class women. Who? Why? This man attacked not only Michiko but killed one of Cora’s friends.

The girls team up and start their own vigilante society to stop whoever these people are. Nellie with her acrobatics, climbing, and magic props, Cora with her laser gun, night vision giggles, and Michikio with her sword. The three ladies take it on upon themselves to fight evil and save the day.

Thoughts After Reading:

So the actual mystery plot made me think of Sherlock Holmes (2009)-similar with the machine that will destroy everything. The idea for this book was really good, but at times there were parts were the story dragged and the writing was not very good.

But the concept was fantastic and that kept me reading. I loved that the girls became these superheroes using things mostly from their time period. I really liked the different women and how they interacted with each other-although I wish Michiko had spoken English as a lot of the book she is limited in her interactions with the other ladies as there is a serious language barrier.

Everything else was very enjoyable.

For more not in a series mysteries, go to House of Salt and Sorrows

For more Young Adult mysteries, go to We Were Liars

For more Steam Punk mysteries, go to Hearts of Smoke and Steam