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The Blue Geranium (Miss Marple)

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: Agatha Christie

December 06, 1999
"The Blue Geranium" contains the last six stories of the book "The Thirteen Problems" ("The Blue Geranium", "The Four Suspects", "The Companion", "A Christmas Tragedy", "The Herb of Death" and "The Affair at the Bungalow"). "The Bloodstained Pavement" includes the first seven stories of the book.
You can actually buy an audiobook by Mistery Masters Series from amazon.com that includes both parts and is much cheaper (shipping and handling included, especially if you do not live in UK), by the name of "The Tuesday Club Murders", also read by Joan Hickson, although there's a small problem with the labelling of the cds, which is mostly wrong (the stories are interchanged but in order).
Again, I do wish Amazon would include number of discs, ... Read More:

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A Is for Alibi

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: Sue Grafton

April 12, 2002
Sue Grafton's Alphabet series has been going for about 25 years now (I think 'T is for Trespass' has just been released) and I had been bought the A-J boxset for Christmas, so thought I'd start at the beginning with 'A is for Alibi'.

The story introduces the lead character, Kinsey Millhone. 32 years old, twice divorced and a private investigator. Kinsey is approached by a woman who has been wrongfully imprisoned for 8 years after being charged as guilty for the murder of her husband, a cheating, divorce lawyer who it seems everybody wanted dead. Kinsey is hired to find the truth behind his murder and also comes across another murder of a young woman who knew the victim and died in exactly the same way.

The plot is very tight, ... Read More:

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The Affair at the Victory Ball: And Other Stories (Poirot)

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: Agatha Christie

March 20, 2000
Sue Grafton's Alphabet series has been going for about 25 years now (I think 'T is for Trespass' has just been released) and I had been bought the A-J boxset for Christmas, so thought I'd start at the beginning with 'A is for Alibi'.

The story introduces the lead character, Kinsey Millhone. 32 years old, twice divorced and a private investigator. Kinsey is approached by a woman who has been wrongfully imprisoned for 8 years after being charged as guilty for the murder of her husband, a cheating, divorce lawyer who it seems everybody wanted dead. Kinsey is hired to find the truth behind his murder and also comes across another murder of a young woman who knew the victim and died in exactly the same way.

The plot is very tight, ... Read More:

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Fourth Estate

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: Jeffrey Archer

May 07, 1996
Sue Grafton's Alphabet series has been going for about 25 years now (I think 'T is for Trespass' has just been released) and I had been bought the A-J boxset for Christmas, so thought I'd start at the beginning with 'A is for Alibi'.

The story introduces the lead character, Kinsey Millhone. 32 years old, twice divorced and a private investigator. Kinsey is approached by a woman who has been wrongfully imprisoned for 8 years after being charged as guilty for the murder of her husband, a cheating, divorce lawyer who it seems everybody wanted dead. Kinsey is hired to find the truth behind his murder and also comes across another murder of a young woman who knew the victim and died in exactly the same way.

The plot is very tight, ... Read More:

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Paul Temple and the Geneva Mystery: BBC Radio 4 Full-cast Dramatisation (BBC Radio Collection)

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: Francis Durbridge

May 06, 2002
When our eyes are otherwise occupied, or even closed, and we have a liking for a good thriller or murder mystery, there is nothing better than listening to one or other of the Paul Temple cases reissued from the BBC archives. At least four components account for this. They were written by Francis Durbridge, they were produced by Martyn C Webster, the theme music was "Coronation Scot" by Vivian Ellis, and the part of Steve, Paul Temple's wife, was played for more than twenty years by Marjorie Westbury. Durbridge kept to a reliable formula: a mystery somehow comes to the notice of journalist/writer Paul Temple, and solving it will bring numerous visitors to his Mayfair flat, including Scotland Yard personnel, and involve Paul and his wife Steve in numerous ... Read More:

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Banker

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: Dick Francis

April 30, 2001
This work brings the world of racing (always a feature of Dick Francis books) into the world of banking. The narrator is Tim Ekaterin of the Paul Ekaterin Merchant bank. The story begins quite mildly with small problems within the bank such as competitors taking over companies that Eketarin’s were setting up. There is little doubt that someone inside the bank is passing on confidential information. Over the next three years the issues increase until the final solution to the puzzle. As usual Francis gives a very easy to read thriller.

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Twice Shy

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: Dick Francis

December 04, 2000
This book is a great study in the differences between the two brothers. After fourteen years, the bad guy has also aged and changed, making this book an insight into age and character, in a way that Dick Francis doesn't normally get to explore. I would definately recommend that you read the companion book first, as it will help greatly in your enjoyment.
In standard Francis fashion, the good guy is gritty, determined and stubborn, and the bad guy gets his come-uppance, although it isn't quite what you would expect.

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The Holy Thief

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: Ellis Peters

August 21, 1995
Ideally, read all the preceding books in the series, in order, before reading this one. At a minimum, first read #1 (A MORBID TASTE FOR BONES, the story of how St. Winifred's reliquary came to the abbey) to avoid spoiling the end of that book, and THE POTTER'S FIELD, which introduced the Blounts of Longner. If you're interested in an audio edition, check that you're getting the unabridged recording narrated by Stephen Thorne.

In the summer of 1144, Geoffrey de Mandeville - after more than a year of running the Fens as his own private robber kingdom - was shot almost by accident during a siege, and died from the infected wound. His lengthy death gave him no chance to receive absolution - only the Pope could have absolved one guilty of the seizure of ... Read More:

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The Cat Who Played Brahms (Cat Who...)

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: Lilian Jackson Braun

May 15, 2002
There are some big changes looming in the life of Jim Qwilleran and his two Siamese cats, Koko and Yum Yum. Qwilleran is tired of being the restaurant critic for the regional newspaper and yearns to become an investigative reporter - a not unreasonable wish for a man who has solved an number of murders, though his superiors at the Daily Fluxion seem less convinced. On top of that "Maus Haus", his cherished home, is being sold, and so Qwilleran decides to take Koko and Yum Yum up north to Pickaxe in "Moose Country" where long-time family friend "Aunt" Fanny has offered him the use of her summer cabin. The peace and quiet of this idyllic rural retreat are exactly what Qwilleran needs to write his long dreamed-of book.

But peace and quiet are the last things ... Read More:

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The Moving Finger: Unabridged

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Crime- Thrillers and Mystery
by: Agatha Christie

July 20, 1998
Agatha Christie is an English prodigy. She is able to transform some banal and particularly obnoxious situation into some kind of normal banality. And Miss Marple is the old spinster she uses most of the time to do this. Urban bleakness will go to Hercule Poirot, the continental and Belgian private eye, the very challenger of Sherlock Holmes. The bleakness of a village where everyone is locked up in set roles they have to play day after day and forever. Let some new character appear and everything is prone to tilt over without even showing what is really happening. Since one cannot get out of his or her role, he or she is going to correct the problem to his or her advantage and without anyone knowing about it. So let's have a smoke screen to cover up in advance what is ... Read More: