Christiescapers

The Secret of Chimneys | Agatha Christie

The #ChristiesCapers discussion for this month is posted! You can find the 5 questions either on my feed, the book‘s feed, or by searching the group‘s hashtags.

Next month we revisit Poirot and dive into one of Christie‘s best novels and ranked as one of the best mysteries of all time: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Official post tomorrow! #AgathaChristieClubR3

janeycanuck, suvata, Aims42, MallenNC, Soscha, Cuilin, kspenmoll, BarbaraJean, PurpleyPumpkin, JenlovesJT47, Lizpixie, MariaW, elkeOriginal, AnneCecilie, Gissy, OutsmartYourShelf, mrp27, Larkken, Suet624, Cailey_Mac, Deblovestoread, ferskner, Marmie7, MaleficentBookDragon, majkia, Bookwormjillk, StayCurious, Teresereading, Laughterhp, Sace, RainyDayReading, Skygoddess1, Morr_Books, PathfinderNicole, dabbe, tdrosebud, MaGoose, kelli7990, TheAromaofBooks, Tineke, PageShifter, willaful, kimrenee, AnishaInkspill

Deblovestoread I‘m about halfway I think. Will pop in when I‘m done. 52m

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Librarybelle

The Secret of Chimneys | Agatha Christie

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5. Though Herzoslovakia is fictional, the 1925 publication of this novel, and the placement of the country in Eastern Europe, alludes to the unrest in the Balkan region of Europe. Christie also introduces some of her experiences during the Grand Tour in Africa in this novel--think, for instance, the novel's opening in Africa.

Wikipedia article on the Balkans' history below. How aware were you of this? #ChristiesCapers #AgathaChristieClubR3

Librarybelle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Balkans#20th_cen... 6h

MallenNC I had limited knowledge of the Balkans, with a little more knowledge about how World War I started and then the war in the 1990s. I assume the readers at the time of publication would have had more of that knowledge in mind than I did reading it now. 4h

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Librarybelle

The Secret of Chimneys | Agatha Christie

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4. We'd be very remiss to talk about Herzoslovakia, Christie's fictional Eastern European country that will later appear in two Poirot stories. In prior discussions, we discussed the casual racism found in the books; this one is no exception. Christie barely discusses the country itself, but we the reader get a sense that the people from Herzoslovakia are suspect, to say the least. Any comments? #ChristiesCapers #AgathaChristeClubR3

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Librarybelle Here is a link to an article found in the Journal of Literature, Culture and Literary Translation that discusses all of the nuances of Herzoslovakia, including Christie's take on the place and the people: https://www.sic-journal.org/Article/Index/406 6h

MallenNC I think this came out the most in the way Boris, the servant, was described like an animal. Thanks for sharing the article. 4h

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Librarybelle

The Secret of Chimneys | Agatha Christie

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3. Speaking of main characters, Anthony Cade is the true main character in this novel and presents a less-than-serious approach to the story. While some reviewers call this a thriller (see question 1), reviewers also comment on the levity in the book, considering this more humorous than Christie's previous five books. Do you agree/disagree? #ChristiesCapers #AgathaChristieClubR3

MallenNC I liked Cade as a character and some parts were funny but that didn‘t really stick out to me as I read. I admit I was confused/surprised by the twists his character was involved in 4h

BarbaraJean I‘d agree—Cade and Virginia and Bundle especially are much more lighthearted characters. There‘s quite a bit of banter, which adds to the humor. Secret Adversary also had both those things but the overall tone/situations there felt more serious. 2h

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Librarybelle

The Secret of Chimneys | Agatha Christie

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2. Christie moves away from Poirot again to introduce Inspector or Superintendent Battle, who will appear in four other works. What do you think of Battle? Why do you think Christie chose to introduce another non-Poirot main character? #ChristiesCapers #AgathaChristieClubR3

MallenNC I was wondering that myself as I read, why didn‘t she just make this a Poirot mystery. I wonder if she didn‘t want to get stuck in only one series or if she just wanted to present the solution without her really clever Poirot involved 4h

BarbaraJean Because this feels less like a traditional murder mystery, it made sense to me that she introduced a new main character. Although it felt a little like with Colonel Race, where he wasn‘t exactly the main character! 2h

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Librarybelle

The Secret of Chimneys | Agatha Christie

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1. The Secret of Chimneys has been categorized by reviewers as another work that is more thriller than traditional mystery (think Poirot). Overall, what did you think of the book? Would you agree/disagree that this is more thriller than traditional? This is the sixth book we have read...how did it measure up to the past five books? #ChristiesCapers #AgathaChristieClubR3

MallenNC It definitely read more like a thriller than a mystery for me. There were a lot of secret identities! I always miss Poirot in these books without him (unless it‘s Miss Marple). 4h

BarbaraJean I wouldn‘t have called it a thriller, just because the tone was more lighthearted (though maybe I didn‘t get thriller vibes because thrillers today have a quite different tone!). But it does feel more thriller than traditional if compared to Poirot. It‘s not really a spy story, either, but maybe intrigue would be a better word? 2h

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kelli7990

The Secret of Chimneys | Agatha Christie

I just started this week‘s short story for the #christiescapers buddy read. I like it so far. I won‘t be finished in time for the discussion on Sunday but I hope to finish this story before the end of the month.

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AllDebooks

World Atlas of Coffee: From Beans to Brewing -- Coffees Explored, Explained and Enjoyed | James Hoffman

#MidsummerSolace

Grab a ☕️ and join in the #Chatterday chitchat.

All are welcome to join in. No topics are off the table. This is a safe place to share your thoughts, feelings, plans, and experiences. Just as you would with a friend in the real world.

Wishing you all a fab weekend. 🌞

Librarybelle Good Morning! It‘s a foggy morning in my area this morning, and my head is certainly feeling the weather. This is a quiet weekend for me, so hopefully my usual reading and naps, as well as prepping for #ChristiesCapers and #LiteraryCrew discussions. 1d

AllDebooks Wishing you a peaceful weekend x 1d

dabbe Thank you for your special words today and all you do to make Litsy so special every day. 🩵💙🩵 23h

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kelli7990

The Complete Sherlock Holmes Short Stories - Unabridged - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, the Return of Sherlock Ho | Arthur Conan Doyle

This month is almost over and I just looked at the reading schedules for #christiescapers and #noplacelikeholmes and I saw that I need to start reading the short stories for both buddy reads while trying to finish the ARC I‘m reading for The Smuthood PR. I have to post my ARC review by July 1 so I only have 4 days left to finish reading my ARC and 3 hrs left in the book. I can probably finish my ARC tonight because I usually stay up late.

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Deblovestoread

The Secret of Chimneys | Agatha Christie

#ChristiesCapers

This kindle edition of the tagged book is weird. On page 36 there was an author pic of Agatha and I thought ‘sloppy editing‘. Now there are different pics on pages 79 and 114, does that mean it‘s intentional? Is so, I don‘t think I like it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Librarybelle

Librarybelle That is so bizarre! I would not like that either. 4d

Bookwormjillk I had a copy of the Bell Jar that was funky like that once and Amazon took it away and refunded my money because they said it was unauthorized! 4d

Deblovestoread @Bookwormjillk Interesting! 4d

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kspenmoll That is weird & so distracting!!!!! 4d

RaeLovesToRead Agatha: oh hello, are you enjoying the book so far? 4d

quietjenn So odd! 4d

Pruzy @RaeLovesToRead love this! 4d

AnnCrystal 🧐 That's odd?? 4d

Bookwomble I was just reading about the first publication of the Sherlock Holmes stories in book form following their original serial publication in the Strand magazine, which said that because the formatting was changed from double to single column, the publisher had to move the illustrations around and they ended up not being on the same page as the passage they depicted. Maybe something similar here? 🤔 3d

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