Easy To Kill by Agatha Christie

 Easy To Kill

Easy to Kill Agatha Christie - 1974 Cover

- Agatha Christie - 

Agatha Christie is a name that is synonymous with mystery and intrigue. She is one of the most famous authors of all time, and her books have been read by millions of people around the world. I've read a good dozen or so and really enjoyed each one. My latest, and one of her lesser-known works is "Easy to Kill." If you're new to Agatha Christie's work, "Easy to Kill" is a great place to start. It's a quick read that will introduce you to her unique style of mystery writing. And if you're already a fan of Christie's work, "Easy to Kill" is a must-read.

To me it this book was a classic Christie mystery, which usually entails:

• A seemingly perfect crime is introduced and investigated.
• The wrongly accused suspect is at the center of the investigation.
• The bungling of dim-witted police is a common theme.
• The detective has greater powers of observation and a superior mind.
• The startling and unexpected denouement, in which the detective reveals how the identity of the culprit was ascertained.

The 'detective' in this book is not a Poirot or Miss Marple, but the retired police officer Fitzwilliam is one sharp tool (not much of a personality though).

The plot is well-crafted, and the characters are interesting and engaging. It starts right from the beginning with a quote from an old lady, "It's very easy to kill - so long as no one suspects you. And you see, the person in question is just the last person anyone would suspect." That got me engaged and wondering who seems innocent.

The story is full of twists and turns, and the ending is satisfying with the the last person you would suspect. It was a bit of a surprise to me. I guess I got a bit fooled by all the red herrings. With this book, Christie created one of her creepiest, most disturbing villains, proving that revenge is a frightening dish best served cold.

Mystery book meme

It's amazing to me that Christie books are still so good to read, considering this one was written in the 1930s. I read A Murder is Announced a little while ago, and loved that book too. Check out my review and thoughts on how Christie is still relevant almost 100 years later.

The other amazing thing about Christie books is that I often find them for cheap, cheap, cheap prices. My local thrift store sells these books for only 50 cents. And Easy To Kill, I found at a 'fill-a-box-for-$5' sale. I'm sure I only paid a quarter for it.

SYCAMORE ROW - JOHN GRISHAM

SYCAMORE ROW

John Grisham - Sycamore Row

- John Grisham -

Just finished this massive 500 page tome, and loved every page of it. We are back to the meat and potatoes of Grisham, his legal thriller.

This installment has a wealthy man committing suicide and leaving a last minute hand written will...in which he leaves his millions to the black maid. In the small, racist, Mississippi town this does not go over well. Grisham takes us through the ins and outs of the legal topic of the last will and testament. Does a hand written will trump an expensive lawyer written will? This scenario is the main legal battle of the book. However, Grisham adds way more layers into the story; a long lost brother, a racist town, a drunken husband, greedy children, twists and turns galore...what seems like a solid easily winnable case is thrown for a loop by some shady lawyers and misinterpretations. Grisham keeps you guessing right to the end. Which is why I love his books. You are pretty sure it is all going to work out in the end, but you can't be certain. 

AGATHA CHRISTIE - The Queen of Psychology

Agatha Christie 

Boy did she know human nature. And, funny thing, is even after 50 or 75 years, her books still resonate because they are relatable. The characters act like modern day folk. They are motivated by the same kinds of things. It may be slightly less technical, but it's still people being people.

MURDER IS ANNOUNCED

Murder is Announced

I read this book late last year and commented that Agatha knows human nature. In this story an advert is taken out in a local newspaper (one with little content except local gossip). The ad says there will be a murder at a neighbours house at 6:30 on a Friday. Well, all the characters read the paper and of course are so curious (and nosey) that they just happen to show up at this neighbour's house on the said Friday at exactly 6:30. They have a variety of reasons from that once a year evening stroll to the letting the dog get loose and having to chase it down.

I could see that happening today. The ad might not be in a newspaper, but it would be on some social media platform. If I put a big old post of Facebook saying there will be a murder at my house on Friday I bet some people will come out of the cracks and happen to be walking by. People I haven't seen in person for years, no doubt. 

BY THE PRICKING OF MY THUMB

By the Pricking of my Thumb

I just finished this eerie book and again the beginning scenes ring true. In this case the main characters have a cantankerous old Aunt in a nursing home. They feel guilty for her and plan the once a year visit. They let this old hag get away with being rude to the wife. Heck, they even applaud her for it - shows she still has life and spirit. Can't you picture yourself in the exact same position? The nursing home might be more medical, full of doctors and nurses instead of ill trained maids, but the same idea.

Her books may be old, vintage, antique almost...but the writing, the stories, the situations, the characters, even the murder methods, all still have a relatable feel to them. Christie's books are timeless. 

Buy Agatha Christie Books

SLEEPING MURDER - AGATHA CHRISTIE

SLEEPING MURDER

Agatha Christie

Right to the end, Christie keeps the secret right to the end! Ah, such a great book. One of those classic cozy mysteries where she peppers clues along the way and by the last page you are thinking, "why didn't I see that!"

Sleeping murder is a strange story involving a young woman who moves into a house and remembers a murder from when she was a toddler. It turns out she lived in this house when she was young, however due family circumstances she moved to New Zealand and was adopted by relatives. She returns and by coincidence stumbles upon this house - that is when she wakes up a sleeping murder!

There are three or four prime suspects that keep you guessing to the end. They all have good motives. They all have some sort of weakness that makes them seem likely murderers. They are all at the scene of the murder on the night. I love reading through a book like this and thinking, he's got to be the killer. Then a chapter later my theory changes and I suspect another fellow. Ah, great reading.

This is a Miss Marple case, but she doesn't play a big role in it. More of a mentor than a detective in this story. The clues are mostly found by the hard work of the young lady and her husband. Marple only makes a few suggestions at the end of the novel to tie things together. I didn't mind this, as I'm not a Marple fan boy, I'm a Poirot fan boy for sure, but I could read less Marple and be fine.

Poriot vs Miss Marple

THE BURGLAR DIARIES - Danny King

 THE BURGLAR DIARIES

The Burglar Diaries

- Danny King - 

I love books like this that take you into a world you would never be part of. In this case the world of a career burglar. You ever wonder how breaking and entering works? How doing it day after day, like any other job, would work? Danny King brings you the scoop, the inside view, he pulls back the curtain...and it's pretty entertaining.

King takes us along as he breaks into houses and steals their TVs and VCRs (yes, it's a bit dated, but still you get the idea). For the most part it seems very boring, like most jobs. King would find out about someone leaving town, or knows they will be out of their house on a specific date, and he would plan on breaking in. Him and a fellow burglar (he liked to work as a team) would knock on the door to make sure nobody was home, then usually break into a window around the back. They would look for all the regular items of value (TV, VCR, CDs, etc) and pile them by the door. Then they would load up a van and drive away. In and out in five or ten minutes. Sounds pretty boring eh?

Well just like any other job their are irregular days and events that make things interesting. King takes us through a few of those situations, like when they get caught by a big burly fireman. They try to escape by locking themselves in the bathroom and going out the window. The man catches Danny and gives him a good beating before his partner whacks him with a shovel. Another time his B&A partner has to take a BM...he craps in the bathroom and finds out there is no toilet paper. There are plenty of funny mishaps that happen over the years.

King also gives us some insight into the techniques the pros use to find houses to break into. They sometimes just drive around and look for houses that seem empty. Sometimes they look for a big party and then break into the neighbours house. Usually they have some sort of tip off. It can come from some low life who overheard a conversation to an ex lover who wants to get some sort of revenge on their previous partner.

The characters in this world are a laugh. Most of them are dim witted idiots who eventually end up in jail, but there are also surprisingly clever pros who study the art of break and enter. It's a crazy world out there.

By the end of the book I'm actually liking King, even if he is a life long criminal. He shares some of his life problems, his work problems, his relationship problems...and he seems like a nice guy. He is one of the classier burglars, if that can be a way to describe crime, who try to cause the least amount of damage possible. He doesn't do things like leave the taps running, steal wedding rings, break things just for the fun of it. He treats the robbery like a job and tries to be as professional as possible. Which is kind of endearing...he does use a lot of crude language though, which is hard to read at times. But, other than that, a great book.

Burglar Diaries - Danny King

I'm on a role reading books by KING. See my latest Stephen King book review HERE

GRAY MOUNTAIN - JOHN GRISHAM

GRAY MOUNTAIN

Gray Mountain - John Grisham

- John Grisham -

I'm a Grisham fan. You caught me. This book caught me too. I pick up every Grisham I see...at yard sales, thrift stores, and from that free take-a-book-leave-a-book shelf where I work. Through all those avenues I've managed to read almost every one of his books. I've loved them all. From The Client to Playing for Pizza. I think The Broker was my favourite. Anyway, getting off topic.

Gray Mountain. That pretty much describes the book:

Gray, as in a great neutral tone to paint a room. Not very bright, but not too dark. 

Mountain. A long climb where the trees get sparse and you get a great long view of things, but no details.

That's the book for you in metaphoric terms.

Gray Mountain - the title describes the book

A young lawyer is quasi-forced to volunteer at a legal aid clinic in the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia. Coal mining country. She helps a few sad poverty stricken clients, but she quickly escalates up the food chain and is part of cases that are suing the big bad coal companies for millions, perhaps billions of dollars. There are cover ups, bugged phones, murder, and some 'lovin' by the fireplace. All the makings of a page turning thriller...

I put the ... because I'm implying that the 'thriller' part never really took off. It was the gray tone and lack of details that caused this. Grisham takes a route with his writing that tells us all about how coal companies are stripping the land to mine coal, ruining beautiful country and leaving a desolate hill behind. How the coal companies, over the years, have done terrible things like take down the unions, covered up workers health problems like the dreaded black lung, and poisoned the water supply. 

This is all great info, interesting to read, but it took pages away character development, storyline details, etc. Unlike the mountains left over after the coal mines are through, the novel was not destroyed but it wasn't a typical Grisham thriller. This was no Runaway Jury or The Firm. Even my favourite part of thriller and action type books - when the characters are being tailed by spies - were rather lackluster in Gray Mountain.

The one high point, not counting the mountains (bad Dad joke), was that the main character was a woman. Smash that glass ceiling. Unfortunately, Samantha was a gray character. She was there, added some tone to the room, but wasn't a splash of colour. She was reluctant to do anything. It was a constant fight by the other characters to get her to do anything other than read contracts and do paper work. Yes, there was some character development, going from a shallow big city girl who only cared about making partner in a big law firm, to a lawyer that had a heart and wanted to help genuine good people (and even the environment). I didn't particularly like her, but I didn't not like her. I guess the best way to describe my feelings is that I hope Grisham doesn't make a series with her as the main character.

John Grisham tells BIG COAL to take a hike in Gray Mountain

This book will not make my library book shelf as a keeper. But, I didn't consider it a waste of time. It wasn't 'typical' Grisham, but that's okay with me. I like when people take a stand for something and that is what John was doing in this book. I've read a few other books about the poverty in the Appalachians, but also how resilient the folk are - like the book Rainbow Pie (see my review), and I always find them very interesting. Anyway, onto something completely different, a Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King) book...I've never read Bachman, so this should be interesting too. Oh, I love books.

DR. NO - JAMES BOND NOVEL

DOCTOR NO

James Bond #6

- Ian Fleming -

If you only read one Bond novel, make it this one! Dr. No is that great mix of action/adventure, an out of this world eccentric villain, and of course a happy ending with a 'Bond Girl'. As an added bonus, any Austin Powers fans will get a real kick out of Dr. No, who is no doubt the inspiration for the movie's Dr. Evil.
This bond adventure is even more unbelievable than his other assignments. In this book he discovers a madman (Dr. No) has been building a secret hideout on an island in the Caribbean. The twist is that the island is made of bird excrement (no joke).
Turns out the crazy doctor likes to do experiments on people. His forte is testing pain thresholds and things of that nature (ie he has a huge torture fetish).
Yet, as in classic spy novel style, Dr. No is a highly civilized man who treats his captives kindly, providing a nice meal and luxurious accommodations before he does his experiments. He has a very impressive parlour where he entertains Bond, a room that has a window into the sea, a window that cost "1 million dollars!" (again, no joke!).
There are many strange and eccentric henchman, impossible sounding vehicles, unbelievable Dr. No pain experiments, and action packed misadventures that make you want to keep turning the pages of this book.
I was overjoyed with this book and to make things even better I had picked it up at a yard sale for fifty cents! It was that classic cover in the pic above too. You don't have to wait for a yard sale, you can order it on Amazon right now - Doctor No

LIVE AND LET DIE

LIVE AND LET DIE

James Bond #2

- Ian Fleming -

This is more along the lines of what I thought the Bond books would be like. There was an insane football-headed villain, some poisonous fish and shark attacks, an unbelievable plot centered around a long lost pirate treasure of gold coins. All we were missing was a car equipped with a hidden gold detecting radar system.
However, my expectations of Bond were disappointed again. He was no superhero. He barely survived this adventure and he almost ruined the whole operation. He was also constantly getting caught by the bad guy, who did the whole Dr. Evil villain thing and revealed the outlandish way he was going to kill Bond. This time he was going to drag him behind a boat across some coral reefs and let the sharks eat him piece by piece.
I guess I was expecting  the death count to be 32 for Bond, 2 for Evil guy...but, Bond never even got a shot off before he was caught. Also, he fell for this episode's 'Bond Girl' again and let his feelings ruin his judgement. Bond is a very troubled character.
But, as it turns out, that is a good thing. His flaws, mixed with some fast action, and an extravagant plot make reading Bond books enjoyable. You never know what is going to happen.

RATING : READ

THE RACKETEER

THE RACKETEER

- John Grisham -

This was another Grisham book handed down to me by my in-laws. Yes, they like Grisham...and I do too! Which is a bonus for me since I never have to buy a Grisham book, or take a smelly old one out of the library, and I always have the newest one sitting on my shelf. So, thank you in-laws.

I'm going to start from the end of this book, since The Racketeer ends on such a high note. The entire novel comes together in the last fifty pages and that last chunk of the book you are speed reading and thinking over and over again, 'aaah, I should have guessed this would happen'. Of course, I am not going to tell you exactly what happens, but, I will say Grisham does a spectacular job of sending the reader down one road only to be veered of course to another, and finally ending up on yet another road. If you follow my directions, the story takes three turns - three unexpected turns...at least I didn't see them coming.

It starts off with a southern lawyer complaining about the prison system. Typical Grisham novel so far. This lawyer, however, is the one in prison (innocent, or so he says). He claims to have some information on a high profile murder of a Judge and will give it up if he is given a get out of jail free card. Once out of prison the plot thickens; his story changes, another murderer is found, he goes into hiding from the FBI, there is a treasure trove of millions of dollars on the line...it gets a bit complex at one point, but, by the end the entire story makes sense. You almost want to read it again, just to see how many hidden hints are given along the way.

It kind of reminded me of The Runaway Jury, when you find out at the end the extreme lenghts they went to get someone on the jury to take down the gun industry. The Racketeer is like that. Starts out simple. It appears this lawyer just wants to get out of jail. Not, get out of jail, get others out of jail, 'steal' millions of dollars, trick the FBI, save the planet, cure cancer...you get the idea that I'm trying to say the story gets big.

Overall, highly enjoyable read. If you've like other Grisham books, you'll like this one too.

RATING: READ

*My only complaint is that I read the hardcover edition. Not only is it big, bulky, and awkward, when you take the dust cover off the book is a bland grey...and easily stains when you spill tea on it. But, really can you complain about free?

If you liked this review, or Grisham books in general, I've read a couple in the last year or so, see my wonderful reviews:
1) Skipping Christmas
2) The Confession

A GOOD HANGING

A GOOD HANGING

- Ian Rankin -

A Detective Rebus collection. Not a novel, but a collection of 'shorts'. It is one of those books you grab in haste because of the author. Or, you are a really really big fan and need to have everything the author has ever written.

Even though I have enjoyed many Rankin books in the past, I am in the 'haste' category.
I picked this up at a booksale. The booksale where you fill a box for $5. The sale is a mad dash into an overly crowded barn with two rows of tightly packed books. You have to fight your way, with your box, into the melee where you grab anything and everything. You see the name of an author you slightly recognize? You grab it! You see a cover of a book that looks slightly interesting? You grab it! You find the fantasy section? Grab everything! After your box is overflowing, or hitting the fifty pound mark and getting to heavy to carry with one hand (because you need the other hand to grab books and fend of others going through your box), you take the box aside and go through it. This is where you realize you've picked up two copies of the same chic-lit book, book 12 and 15 from the same fantasy series (which you've only read book 1 and 2), and a microwave cookbook which you though by the cover picture was some funny memoir about the 80's. You toss these rejects and head back for more...you want to get your $5 worth, right?!

After you get home and start analyzing your box of books you run across things like A Good Hanging. It was picked up because of the author's name. It made it through the barnyard toss, unlike that microwave cookbook, because it appeared to be a worthwhile novel - a real gem. But, upon closer inspection it turned out to be a collection of short stories. One of those books authors seem to put out to get that last little bit of coin from the most die hard of fans. Unpublished and unfinished sorts of things tend to end up in books like this. If you've ever read anything like this you'll nod your head in agreement that the quality of these things tend to be a bit shoddy. Sometimes there will be an anecdote or two that stick with you for years, but, for the most part it's in one ear and out the other.
What you'll find with A Good Hanging is reminiscent of what Sherlock Holmes' I've read; tiny, one off, mysteries that are quickly solved by that magic piece of evidence or through a tricked confession. For the most part entertaining and interesting to read, but, lack the substance of a novel. What I really found strange was the lack of a sidekick, no Siobhan in this book. All Rebus. As long as you know this going in, you should find this book ok. Not one to write home about, but, solid enough to buy for under a dollar.
And, I believe as intended by Rankin, reading this book made me recall that I really enjoy this Detective Rebus. But, what I really like is the non-crime related part of him, where he hangs out in seedy bars and coerces ratfinks to give him bits of underworld info with a 20 pound note (or an arm twisting). This is the stuff you learn about when you read an entire novel, not just the shorts...so, I hit up the Rankin section at my library.

RATING : READ

Ghost In The Wires

- Kevin Mitnick -

This books makes computer hacking sound super cool & full of action packed adventure (both in the virtual world and the real world). It is a mix between a crime novel and a computer hacker how to guide - great for a geek wannabe like myself.

This is a biography, which means it's laid out from Mitnick's point of view and chronicles his life, obviously paying special attention to the computer hacking parts...which you will find out made up about 110% of his life anyway. It starts out with Kevin's boyhood, which sounded pretty typical for a 'tech-hall' resident - learning the ins and outs of the telephone system to make free calls, modifying your HAM radio to jam the local McDonald's drive thru speakers, driving your computer science teacher nuts by constantly breaking his passwords.

These stories made me root for him to succeed. It was like him against the system, the man, the world...whatever term you use. Using his wits, and dorky knowledge, he managed to pull off lots of small pranks that would never really hurt anyone. Soon it seemed like all Kevin was doing was trying to find ways to get free phone calls, get free Internet, and hack into restricted files. Again, still nothing earthshattering. But, he was getting caught, kicked out of schools, off college campuses yet still he would try to find ways around this - he would just never follow the rules.

Eventually, he went just a bit too far and was rounded up by the FBI and tossed into jail. Since he had been doing this hacking thing for awhile and was very very successful at it he had gained a bit of a reputation. However, his reputation was getting him pinned for crimes he didn't commit. Every big hack the FBI would suspect Mitnick. This rep ended up putting him away for a lot longer than he really should have, had it been another person...oh well, that is how it works sometime right?

So, when he is released do you think he learned his lesson? No, of course not. He continues to hack until he is caught in dramatic fashion and put behind bars for another few years.

The best part of the book was Mitnick explaining exactly how he managed to hack into apparently secure systems. He wouldn't use just his computer, as I would have thought. Most of the time he 'social engineered' (his term) people, i.e. he tricked them into giving him information or access. He had many tricks. It would start by finding out tons of info on whatever company he was going to hack. He'd call and gather a few bits of jargon he could use, or a name of someone important he could use later. Then he'd keep calling different people and trick them into giving passwords. For eg, he'd call someone and say he was from the IT dept, throw in a bunch of internal jargon, mention a name, and find out whatever he needed. "Hey it's Bob from ESIT, the BPS is down and we need to run the BOPS. John Doe (a Sr. Executive) needs the system up for an big client meeting. I see your BOPSS system is running, but I'm getting an error while trying to patch in a fix. Is your password still 1234?....no? Ok, let me know what it is and I'll patch in the fix and call you back". Mitnick had this whole ingenious system for tricking people, oh sorry 'socially engineering'.

The overarching story was the whole FBI tracking him and trying to arrest him. Mitnick keeps coming across bits of info that eventually lead him to the FBI. He finds out they are about to arrest him so he runs for it, changes identities and stays on the run for years. The whole story is almost too surreal to believe, which of course makes for great reading!

Overall, a great geeky read.

RATING : READ

THE CONFESSION

The Confession

- John Grisham -

Like a stick of dynamite. That's how I'd describe this book. Just like the dynamite stick in cartoons, with the really long fuse, then it disappears, and just as you think the dynamite will not explode...it blows off Wylie Coyote's head! This book is like that, only in a good way?

It starts off with a confession, as the title implies, and the clock starts ticking.

We are given a situation, a young black man on death row who's execution date is a few days away. A minister is told a confession from a sketchy serial rapist that he was the one who actually committed the crime, hence, the young man who is about to die is innocent. The clock ticks as the minister convinces both the real criminal to come clean and the innocent man's lawyer to believe the crazy story this hardened criminal is telling. Sounds like it could be a real nail biter of a story. However, I found it reminded me of a lazy Sunday afternoon. The story slowly revealed itself and progressed, but, at a drawn out easy pace. It seemed very predictable; it would come down to the last minute but everything would be fine in the end.

But does it all work out?

No!

What?!

That is when all heck breaks loose. The story explodes with every angle coming together in a brilliant climax. The lawyers, the victims, the courts, the judges, the angry mobs, the Texas Governor...everyone and their dog is involved! What made the reading really interesting is all of the different ways all of these people were effected.

What I like about John Grisham books is that they typically focus on one legal issue. After finishing a book you feel just that much smarter, because you now know all the details around whatever legal aspect the book took on. By smart, I mean lawyer smrt (sic)...that makes one feel good inside.

The Confession was all about the death penalty. How the inmates are treated on death row. How the appeals work. How the Governor can stop the executions right down to the last minute. After reading this book you will probably leave with that prolife feeling because the story takes on the worst possible scenario - an innocent man is executed.

Rating: Read