Welcome to Litsy!

Hercule Poirot receives a letter begging him to travel to Merlinville-sur-Mer immediately. The writer of the letter, millionaire Monsieur Renauld, is worried about something that he doesn't do more than allude to & Poirot's curiosity is piqued. When Poirot & Hastings arrive at the Renaulds' estate, they are shocked to hear that their mysterious letter writer was murdered the night before. (continued)

Completed the full board for #WinterClearDown with a few days to spare!
Thanks to @puddlejumper for hosting.

Hungary in 1929 saw the exposure of over a hundred deaths which were linked to a small group of people in a village called Nagyrev. For over a decade, Auntie Suzie, the local midwife, had helped local women get rid of inconvenient relatives by means of poison. They came to be known as The Angel Makers.

Given the source material this should have been an interesting read, but it turned out to be a chore to get through.

One early morning sees Dolly Bantry wake up to find the dead body of a young woman in their library. Neither Dolly nor husband, the Colonel, have seen her before but it's not long before the local gossip starts up. Dolly knows this could end up ostracising them from the village so she reaches out to long-time friend, Jane Marple, for help & her enquiries see them head off to the Majestic hotel for a short stay. (Continued)

Although a great deal of the original contemporary documents & files have now been lost, those that remain are here examined to see what they tell us about the thoughts of those investigating the crimes at the time. It follows the murders chronologically with a great deal of cross-referencing to provide an objective look at the killings. This is not a seamless narrative of the crime that reads like a novel. (continued)

The first book to feature Hercule Poirot is told from the point of view of Arthur Hastings, a soldier on leave from the Front in WWI. Hastings visits an old friend, John Cavendish who lives at Styles Court owned by his stepmother, Emily Inglethorp. John's wife, his younger brother, Lawrence, & a family friend, Cynthia Murdoch also live there, along with Emily's new husband, younger man, Alfred Inglethorp. (continued)

Having discovered Jessica Redland last Christmas and enjoyed her books since, I was keen to jump into this book about Tabby setting up a Cat Cafe, which seems a novel concept. Unfortunately just before opening her partner deserts her and if that isn‘t enough she also is suffering from the debilitating condition of fibromyalgia. There also seem to be people around her that want to stop the cafe opening.

Here's how I did with #wintercosy, #wintercleardown, #longdarknights and #brightcolddays bingo cards in the month of December! #wintergames #snowangels

I still have January to work on finishing #wintercleardown but I thought I'd post my progress.

Thanks to @Emilymdxn and @Puddlejumper for hosting these challenges!

#WinterClearDown bingo card so far for #WinterGames
Thanks to @puddlejumper for hosting.

#HollyJollyReaders @Laughterhp

I used to get this book out from the library, but this year it seemed like it had been lost or culled. So I bought myself a copy as a present. It‘s such a great book to dip in and out of on those weird days around Christmas and New Years. And I‘m happy to have my own copy that I can highlight and fall asleep with.