Springing into April with a couple of book hauls

While it still feels like winter outside, spring is definitely in the air,folks, and since my birthday happens to be in April, the prefect excuse to get more books is almost gift wrapped there.

To be practical, I made my bimonthly trip to the library and have already started one of my selections, Anne Claire’s Dead and Gondola, which is the first in a new series called A Christie Bookshop Mystery.

Ellie Christie and her sister Meg are not related to the famous author (apart from their cat Agatha) but do enjoy many a mystery read at their family run bookstore named The Book Chalet in the small ski resort town of Last Word, Colorado.

When a strange man interrupts their book club meeting and leaves behind a satchel that contains a Mary Westmacott novel(a known pen name that Agatha Christie used), Ellie and Meg take the first chance they get to return to him. That opportunity occurs on a ski slope gondola but before they reach the bottom, the man is found dead from a knife wound.

Since neither sister saw anyone else enter that gondola with him, it’s the ultimate locked room mystery to solve. Ellie takes the lead on finding out whodunnit before anyone else is bookmarked for death.

So far, this is a light and breezy read that makes me want to spend more time with these characters. Here’s hoping that this series (book two, Last Word to the Wise, is due out by October!) becomes a binge worthy delight for bookish fans everywhere:

Along with a foodie romance (Ramon and Julieta by Alana Quintana Albertsons), I added One Italian Summer  to the mix.

Rebecca Serve’s novel focuses on Katy, a thirty year old woman trying to get over the death of her mother. Feeling burnt out, she decides to take a trip to Positano, Italy, a plan that Katy and her mom made together yet never got the chance to go.

While there, she meets Carol, who not only shares her mother’s name but most of the same personality traits as well. Is this younger version of her mom just wish fulfillment projecting or is Katy getting an otherworldly opportunity that she shouldn’t squander?

I’ve been hearing good things about this book and borrowing it from the library was the perfect way to take this emotional journey from the comfort of my home. Plus, the summer in Italy vibes  emanating from this story are too strong to resist :

Of course I can’t resist a good sale, especially when Better World Books has a copy of something Agatha Christie themed that I’ve been wanting to read for awhile now.

Marple is a collection of modern day writers such as Ruth Ware, Alyssa Cole, Jean Kwok and Leigh Bardugo to name a few, who each give their own take on Christie’ s Miss Jane Marple for this set of short stories.

I do confess to preferring Miss Marple to Poirot (nothing against him, just find her a bit more fascinating) and this sounds like a great way to check out some new-to-me authors such as Bardugo, Ella Griffiths and Naomi Alderman.

Plus, the titles of some of these stories sound so awesome-“Miss Marple Takes Manhattan” or “Evil in Small Places” for example.  Not to mention the artwork for this book is elegantly lovely to boot. Really finding it hard to not dive into this ultimate reading group experience:

Since I do need to read more Miss Marple books as well, pairing this collection with A Murder is Announced certainly felt fitting.

The title event starts with a newspaper advertisement that is invites the residents of Chipping Cleghorn to attend this potentially lethal gathering.

Most of the attendees think this is some sort of odd joke or publicity stunt but when the lights go out and someone is indeed dead, it is most fortunate that Miss Marple is in town for a spa treatment. Hopefully her insights into logical actions and illogical people can lead the authorities to the killer before another demise is advertised.

I’m glad to read more classic Christie and yes, I did hear of the recent decision to reprint many of her works without certain poorly aged terms included. 

This is not as new as some might think (look into the original title of And Then There Were None to see what I mean) and as long as the plot points are the same, updating the text is not an absolute negative in this regard.

If it brings newer generations to enjoy the craft of Christie’s crime solving and detectives like Miss Marple, so much the better. Jane Marple might be old fashioned in some ways but when it comes to discovering the truth behind a terrible crime, no one truly does it as subtly savvy as her:

All of this before my Book of the Month club selections are available (I am supposed to be getting a free book for my birthday from them, yay!) and my latest readathon starts this upcoming weekend, my literary dance card is full for sure!

I will try to keep things steady on that fictional front but when it comes to my current taste for old school mysteries, I suspect that I’m not alone in wanting some less stressful crime solving these days.

A great example of that is one of my newest favorite shows, So Help Me Todd, which stars Marcia Gay Harden as Margaret Wright, a newly single lawyer who tries to aid her wayward son Todd(Skyler Astin) by giving him a low level job at her legal firm. My pitch for this series is “Psych meets Murder She Wrote” as this dynamic duo both cleverly and charmingly save the day.

The show has been renewed for a second season and it is definitely worth your time to check this meeting of the generational minds for some excellent prime crime time viewing. Plus, you can catch up on your reading during the commercials: