The Shell Seekers (1987) by Rosamunde Pilcher #20BooksofSummer2025

🐚 The Shell Seekers is the title of a painting which hung on the wall of Penelope Keeling's abode. It was a wedding gift from his father, with herself as one of the shell seekers depicted in the painting. The story opens when Penelope is sixty years old, and has just been out of hospital and recovering from a heart attack. After that, the story runs parallelly between Penelope's past and present, giving us the view of how she had become what she is now, and why she does things that is incomprehensible to her children.

🐚 Penelope is the daughter of a bohemian parents; her father was a painter who married a much-younger French girl. And so, Penelope had been brought up quite unconventionally, and has an unconventional way of thinking too. For her, money means freedom. And it is money that created diversions between the mother and the three children: the bubbly, self-indulgent Nancy, the sensible, businesslike woman Olivia, and the selfish, greedy Noel. Nancy and Noel, especially, have been pestering her to sell The Shell Seekers and other paintings by grandpa Lawrence Stern, whose name had been resurfacing lately in art galleries. But Penelope was adamant, the paintings were hers - her father had given them to her only, and it's up to her what she'd like to do with it. She had done everything to make her children happy - she had even put up with her ill-suited and cheating husband for the sake of the children. And now it's her turn to make herself happy - free and happy. And I agreed with Penelope 100%.

🐚 I loved Penelope from the start, both as young girl and elderly lady. I always believe that when a child is brought up with love and trust, the child would be blooming to be unique, affectionate, and self-confident adult. I loved the relationship between Sophie - Penelope's French mother, and her daughter. Their relationship reminded me of mine and my mother - not that my mom's a bohemian, but she always put trust in me, and let me be what I want to be. Unfortunately for Penelope, only Olivia who has similarity to her mother; while Nancy and Noel must have inherited their father's character - money-oriented and petty.

🐚 I couldn't decide which part of the book I loved most - each had charm and interesting characters. Penelope's wartime story with, first, her husband, and then with the only man she ever loved, and also her friends who were evacuees, living at the family's house; or Penelope's story as an old lady living alone in the village, befriended the young gardener and a girl that acquainted to Olivia, 

Taken at the Flood (1948) by Agatha Christie

💜 It was during a raid in The World War II, that Hercule Poirot, sheltering in a club, had heard an interesting story from a Major Porter. He was reading a news about the death of one Gordon Cloade, and how his new wife would inherit his estate. He - Major Porter - befriended the wife's former husband, a man named Robert Underhay, who was believed to be dead in Africa, though Major Porter was sure the man wasn't dead, and surely, one day he would appear in England. The story quite intrigued Poirot, and he was reminded to it several months later when he was asked to identify a mysteriously murdered man.

💜 The Cloade family (the late Gordon Cloade's siblings and their family) had been dependent to Gordon; he financed their expenses, provided them with capitals to start a venture - in short, he always told them to never think about money, as his wealth would someday be divided amongst them all. And so, his sudden death left the family vulnerable, and in want of ready money for their household expenses, or to continue on their ventures. They started asking Gordon's widow - a young and naive Rosaleen - for money. Her brother David protected his sister like a lioness protecting its cub.

💜 One day a stranger called Enoch Arden came to the village's inn and blackmailed David that he knew how to find Rosaleen's first husband. This conversation was heard by the landlady, who then told one of the family members. The next day, the man was found dead with his head smashed. Of course, David was instantly suspected. He had the strongest motive, since, if Robert Underhay was found alive, his sister wouldn't inherit the estate after all. But was he the real murderer? And why did Rowley Cloade asked Poirot to find the whereabout of Robert Underhay? Has that something to do with the fact that Lynn Marchmont, his fiance, seemed to be attracted to David Hunter?

💜 All in all, it was an interesting case. I loved that Poirot was not involved in the case until about half the story. If gave Christie ample opportunity to focus on the family dynamic, giving each character (suspects) to reveal their true selves, but without giving up too much to keep us in the dark of the murderer's identity until almost at the end. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Missing or Murdered (1929) by Robin Forsythe

🤎 I have read two Algernon Vereker's mysteries before, and have enjoyed both. One thing that make them interesting is the friendly competition between Vereker - the amateur detective, and Detective Inspector Heather from Scotland Yard. I always enjoy their bantering, usually over a bottle of aperitif or beer at the bar. This book is the first in the series, and the one where they both met for the first time. I've been excited over this one, and in the end it proved to be satisfying!

🤎 Lord Bygrave from the Ministry office seemed to had vanished into thin air the day after he last left the office for a fortnight holiday in his country house. Detective Inspector Heather from Scotland Yard was in charge of the case, and Vereker, being Lord Bygrave intimate friend and executor, joins Heather in the investigation. The first thing to be established is whether Lord Bygrave is dead or alive, missing or murdered,  - hence the title. But that is difficult to determine. A lot of things were discovered, of course, such as the visit of a mysterious veiled lady shortly before the disappearance; bonds missing from his personal cabinet; a proposal to his beloved niece from a man he didn't approve of. In short, there are several possibilities, but very limited clues.

🤎 Like the usual Golden Age mysteries, it has several plot twists and red herrings, and we are continually wondering whether the man is missing or murdered. The story revolves around these possibilities with its many red herrings, till almost the very end. And that made it highly entertaining, besides the challenge between the Scotland yard and the amateur detective, of who could solve the puzzle first - each with his own strategy of pulling the other's legs, though with good sport, without jeopardizing the case.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Agatha Christie Short Stories 2025: Mini Reviews for May

The Million Dollar Bond Robbery

This is a Hercule Poirot story, where Poirot and Hastings were asked to investigate a bond robbery. The story opens with Hastings remarking how often one reads about bond robbery those days. Then a young woman came with exactly the same case. Her fiancee, a bank clerk, had been asked by his boss to take a packet of one million dollars of Liberty bonds on board a ship, for sale in the United States. The packet was placed in a trunk, of which, only the trusted clerk and two managers had the key. Later on the clerk found attempts to force-opening on the trunk, and the packet gone! The ship was thoroughly searched to no avail. Who the theft is, and how they did it?

Upon investigation, Poirot found that the bonds were instantly bought by a broker. And that fact convinced him of the solution to the mystery. This has been a straightforward case, and not hard at all to guess.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

The Affair of the Pink Pearl

The third story in Partners in Crime collection found Tommy as the star detective for a change! He has just bought a camera "for taking photographs of footprints and "all that sort of thing", while a client arrived. She's a young woman from Wimbledon, whose house guest had lost a valuable pink pearl. Her necklace had been laid aside on a table after the clasp broke, and she forgot to take it upstairs at night. The following day, the necklace was there, but without the pink pearl pendant. There's no doubt that someone inside the house had stolen it, but who? And how did they hide it so that the search revealed nothing?

As Tuppence questioned the servants, Tommy took photographs of the whole room. Both efforts weren't fruitless. Tuppence found a kleptomaniac who'd been hiding spoons on their muff, but Tommy deduced correctly the theft of the pink pearl. On the whole, it's a satisfactory story. I've been waiting to read one where Tommy outwits Tuppence, and here it is!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wish You Were Here (1990) by Rita Mae Brown #ReadingtheMeow2025 #20BooksofSummer2025

🐱 For the third and last book I read for #ReadingtheMeow2025, I picked a cat-mystery. Mrs. Murphy is the cat-detective; she's a tiger cat who lives with a divorced-postmistress named Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen as her companion. To complete the household, there's a Welsh Corgi named Tucker. They all live in a small town, where everyone knows about everyone else, and there's not such thing as secret. Harry - as the postmistress - has a habit of reading postcards not addressed to her. In one of these, she found one postcard with Paris cemetery image, captioned "wish you were here". Few days later, a citizen was murdered - the one who'd received the postcard. Then another death, with similar "warning". It was then that Harry realized the significant of the anonymous postcards. There's a murderer among them, and most probably he/she knew that Harry knew more than she supposed to.

🐱 Mrs. Murphy and Tucker don't really fond of humans - they're too slow on anything. Nope, humans don't concern them much. But when it comes to Harry, they'll do anything to protect her. And now, they must solve the mystery before the murderer could harm their beloved mom! One thing that amused me is that the animals in this story talk to each other, but not to the humans. There are a few secondary animal characters, like Pewter - the butcher's grey cat, who often visits the post office. With their helps, Mrs. Murphy and Tucker investigated every murder, and they found a strange smell always accompany the corpse - a smell like that of... turtles (what a turtle smell like, I wonder?...) Anyway, it was they who finally solved the mystery, and they tried hard to let Harry know, but how dense their mom always is - she always thinks they need foods or a few cuddles; like those are all that pets need! 

🐱 All in all, it was a delightful read, combining murder mystery with small town dynamic and cute but smart animals. I loved most of the characters - both humans and animals - though the name "Bonbon" is rather funny for a woman; it got me giggling everytime. As a cat book, this is a fulfilling one, since the cat (supported by its gang) is front and center as the mystery solver.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

Reading the Meow 2025

hosted by Mallika

20 Books of Summer 2025
hosted by Annabel and Emma

The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips (2005) by Michael Morpurgo #ReadingtheMeow2025 #20Booksof Summer2025

🐈 Lily Tregenze is a girl of about 13 years old, who lives in 1943 with her family in Slapton, a seaside village in England, during the World War II. Her father is away, but apart from her missing him, she's quite contend to live with her beloved cat, an adventurous one, called Tips. Everything seems generally good, and the war has not touched their village. Until one day it was announced that the villagers must evacuate, living their house - the lock-stock-and barrel situation - because the Allied troops will use it for practices, before invading France.

🐈 Just when they were about to move to Uncle George's house in nearby village, Tips - the cat - is missing. Lily and the family, helped by two young American soldiers whom Lily had befriended, searched for it without avail. The area around the farm would be barbed-wired, and nobody could enter it after that. But Lily couldn't leave Tips alone, she must find her. Her American soldier friends - Addie (short of Adolphus) and Harry, had promised her that they would keep looking for Tips, and that one day the cat would surely come home. They also warned the danger of being near the vicinity of the practice. But Lily must find Tips, so she made plans to cross the wire, into the danger zone. Would she find Tips - alive? And what would happen next?

🐈 It was a wonderful story of courage, resilience, love, and friendship during the war, which was written in the form of diary - Lily's diary. Sixty years after the war, Lily wrote a letter to her grandson, following her re-marriage and move to a new place. The diary was included in the letter. It told him of her extraordinary life, and how an adventurous cat named Tips had become the key that changed her life - during the war, and even sixty years later. 

🐈 I've actually expected this to be a story from a cat's point of view. Or perhaps a story about the cat's adventures during the war - the kind which tells you the horrible things brought by war but seen from a cat's view, so that it becomes less horrifying, and even comes as cute and sweet. But this one is different. Surprisingly, Tips, the cat, isn't the center of the story. It is an amazing story, but not of Tips - which was implied by the title - although the story wouldn't even exist without Tips. So, the cat here has a very important role. The ending is unexpected, and threw the whole story to another level - made it much more memorable than just an adventure of a cat.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

Reading the Meow 2025

hosted by Mallika

20 Books of Summer 2025

hosted by Annabel and Emma

The Dalai Lama's Cat (2012) by David Michie #ReadingtheMeow2025 #20BooksOfSummer2025

🐈 My first choice for Mallika's #ReadingtheMeow2025 has long intrigued me. I don't know why, but I'm always fascinated by Tibet. Reading Herge's Tintin in Tibet more than forty years ago might be the first trigger. Tibet has been some sort of magnet for me ever since. Then, when you add the cat element in it, how could I ever resist? Hence, it had been my first choice, and I'm not disappointed - it's simply delightful and inspiring.

🐈 I love it when an animal tells a story from its point of view. This story is that - the titular cat told the story of its wonderful life, from near death to the highest point that could possibly be achieved by a cat. She was rescued by the Dalai Lama when, as a kitten, she was being snatched from her mother by two naughty boys who wanted to sell her and her siblings. It was in the street of New Delhi, and Dalai Lama passed by in his car from a visit. She soon became Dalai Lama's pet. And people call her various names, from His Holiness' Cat (HHC) - by Dalai lama himself and his entourage; Rinpoche (meaning precious) - by a cafe owner who's a Buddhism enthusiast; Snow Lion; and The Most Beautiful Creature that Ever Lived - by Dalai Lama's chef.

🐈 Living with Dalai Lama, it's no wonder that HHC gets used to listening to many Buddhism lessons as she's always around when Dalai Lama receives visitors. She's even practicing (or trying to) meditation, in fact, she aspires to be a bodhicatva!🐱 And HHC has a lot of weaknesses to be righted; gluttony is one of them. With her status of His Holiness's Cat, there're people who want to please her. And how one pleases a cat if not by offering foods - delicious foods, which HCC could not resist. And that's how she's getting fatter and fatter. But Dalai Lama's advice to a visitor inspired her to overcome her greediness. That's just an example, she is also guilty of pride, jealousy, and insecurity. She is attracted to a tiger tabby, but feels insecure about her own (non) breeding, and so, plays hard-to-get all the time. Is it wise, though? She just have to sit still on the windowsill of Dalai Lama's study, to get the answer.

🐈 In short, this is a book "written" by a cat who tells you her own story, while at the same time imparts spiritual lessons of how to live a happier and more wholesome life. I love it when a cat writes a book, especially if it has a well-balanced proportion between cat's daily life and its interaction with human beings. Of course, HHC's observation on Dharamsala and Jokhang monastery and temple life, brought to me by the cat's point of view every time she perches high on the magazine shelf at the cafe, or while wondering on the Dharamsala streets and alleyways - it made this an even wholesome book. Even if you aren't a cat person, this book is funny, charming, and inspiring, without being preachy.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

Reading the Meow 2025

hosted by Mallika

20 Books of Summer 2025
hosted by Annabel and Emma

Agatha Christie Short Stories 2025: JUNE #AgathaChristieSS25

We are welcoming June with two interesting stories: the stolen gold from a shipwreck, and a murder.

INGOTS OF GOLD

(a Miss Marple story)

The Tuesday Night Club is meeting again, and this time it's Raymond West, Miss Marple's nephew, whose turn it was to tell a story. It's about a shipwreck, stolen gold, and abduction. Frankly speaking, I am excited to read this one, an exotic mystery solved by the demurred Miss Marple. 

The story was published in the Royal Magazine in the UK in 1928 and in the US later that year, although under the revised title The Solving Six and the Golden Grave. It was then included in the 1932 collection, The Thirteen Problems.

SING A SONG OF SIXPENCE
(a non detective story)

Sir Edward Palliser helps investigating the mystery of an old friend's murdered aunt. Family truths come to light as he begins to pull together the clues, where the police could find no supporting evidence.

The story was first published in book form in the UK collection The Listerdale Mystery in 1934. It was then included in the US collection, The Witness for the Prosecution in 1948. The title was taken from the popular nursery rhyme of the same name, as Agatha Christie had done with several of her works.

Are you quite intrigued by now? I am, and I can't wait tor read both stories!

The Venice Murders (2025) by Merryn Allingham

💙 I was actually invited by the publisher to participate in this book's blog tour on its publication day, but since I was in the middle of my tax certification course, I had to withdraw from it. I had finished reading at that time, but just couldn't find time to write a proper review to give this delightful book a credit. But I have promised to publish a review on this blog, so here it is..

💙 The Venice Murders is the 11th book in Flora Steele Mystery instalment, and that, in itself, is a wonderful achievement - to be able to write (and publish) a series of eleven nice cozy mysteries that still fascinate its readers. This time the newlywed couple: bookshop owner Flora Steele and her husband, a mystery writer Jack Carrington, embarked for their (belated) honeymoon to Venice. Thus we are nicely treated with the late 1950s of Venice atmosphere along the story. Of course, a murder occurred almost at the beginning of their no-sleuthing-intended course. Their favorite hotel's receptionist was found dead, floating on the Grand Canal, while they had witnessed him in arguing with the restaurant owner the night they checked in to the hotel. No doubt, he was murdered. But by whom? The restaurant owner? His jilted fiancée?

💙 But that wasn't all. A priceless painting had disappeared from a small parish church. And on top of that, the priest's elderly housekeeper was missing too. Are the murder, the theft, and the kidnapping(?) three separate cases? Or they were somehow connected to each other? If you have been following the series, you'd guess easily that Flora thought so, while Jack thought otherwise. It's always the same pattern, isn't it? Flora always thought the worse in these cases, with her various 'hunches', and Jack's always the skeptic one. Well, it makes them the perfect and most interesting sleuthing couple! 

💙 For me, The Venice Murders has the perfect balance in the amount of mystery, dangerous actions, and fun (the foods, the romantic escapades you naturally want to happen in Venice - riding the gondola under the moonlight, for instance). It's just the kind of cozy mystery I'll enjoy anytime. Moreover, few of the familiar characters from Abbeymead (their home village) made appearance too, without making it too boring. In short, a gripping mystery with a sprinkle of excitement here and there. Loved it!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Reviews for #AgathaChristieSS25: April

The day finally come when I can say that I loved very much BOTH of the stories I read for #Agatha ChristieSS25! Here are my (belated) reviews: 

The Idol House of Astarte

This might be one of my favorites in Miss Marple's short stories collection - so far. You know how Christie could infuse the evil atmosphere into the story, that you could even feel it yourself surround you while reading? This story is just that. 

When the Tuesday Night Club was meeting again, it was Dr. Pender's turn to tell his story - and it was an amazing one. It happened during a house party where he was invited by Sir Richard Haydon. The house is called Silent Grove, near which there's a grove, thick of trees, which Sir Richard believed to be the grove of Astarte (an ancient Egypt goddess), and where he had built a stone summerhouse as a kind of 'temple'.

It was the midsummer, and Sir Richard with his guests visited the grove. Instantly they felt the evil atmosphere was closing on them. One of the guests was an enchanting society beauty called Diana Ashley, whom most of the men were attracted to, including Sir Richard. She suggested a dress party at the grove, and there they went. But when the others approached the temple, Diana disappeared and later appeared in front of the temple dressed magnificently as priestesse of Astarte. Despite her warning to not approaching, Sir Richard walked towards her. He suddenly collapsed, dead with a knife stabbed into his heart, though no one had approached him, nor the weapon found near him. The police suspected Diana, though couldn't find out how she could have committed the murder. Only Miss Marple could solve the mystery, as correctly as what Dr. Pender had learned years ago after the murderer confessed to him through a letter.

What a wonderful mystery, well plotted and geniusly written!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Philomel Cottage

A thirty something Alix Martin is newly married to a man she met at a friend's house: Gerald Martin. She's a typist, and had had an understanding with a fellow clerk Dick Windyford. The latter was annoyed when Alix's fortune changed after a cousin died. But much chagrin after her marriage with Gerald, warning her that Alix didn't know anything about her husband. 

Meanwhile, the Martin's moves to Philomel Cottage, a picturesque house. Strange things began to happen. The gardener told Alix that Gerald told him she's going to London the next day - which she's not - and that the cottage costs two thousand pounds - when Gerald told her three. Her recurring dreams of Dick murdering Gerald didn't help either. She began to be suspicious. Finding Gerald's diary and picture were the last straw, Alix was sure that her husband was a murderer, and he's going to murder her! What was she going to do?

This is another success for April's #AgathaChristieSS25. Thriller isn't often found in Christie's collection, and this one is my favorite. We know who the murderer is - it's not a tough guess - and how he'd planned to execute it, and it's only how the victim would survive it. In short, it's what a good thriller should be, and short though it is, Christie managed to write it so well!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

High Rising (1933) by Angela Thirkell

💜 High Rising is the first novel in Thirkell's Barsetshire Chronicles - a series of 29 books set in Antony Trollope's fictional English county: Barsetshire. Like her contemporaries, E.F. Benson and E.M. Delafield, Thirkell's works were placed in the comedy of manners genre. It's witty and hilarious - the perfect light domestic satire which I liked very much.

💜 Laura Morland is a middle-aged widow with three children. Two of them had left home to pursue their careers, leaving the youngest, a precocious and boisterous boy named Tony, to be still in her care. The two of them spent Christmas holiday at their country home in a small village of High Rising. Her closest neighbor, George Knox, has just hired a secretary. She turned out to be a scheming woman, and her goal is to be next Mrs. Knox. And Laura made it her duty to help her friend George out of Miss Grey's clutches. Will she be able to do it?

💜 I enjoyed the whole reading - it's a light one, but full of well defined characters, and it never lacks of mild surprises and amusing incidents along the way. Laura, especially, is a lovely woman, full of affection for people around her, energetic, and efficient. It's no wonder that she got a few suitors - even a man younger than her. She is a successful writer, though she daubed herself as a writer of good bad books (who doesn't love this kind of book?!). The others are interesting too - her son Tony, for example, who loved automotive and obsessed with his model railway. Countless hilarious events come from that! And I also loved how the women closed rank in their "fight" against the scheming secretary they nicknamed "the Incubus". Well, not only the women, but also few of the men. And beyond that scheme, Laura still had time to bring a young couple together. On the whole, it's a charming and heartwarming story!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Three Upcoming Reading Events I Can't Wait to Take Part In!

It's the last week of May, and I'm happy to say that... I'm back, baby! (^_^)

The four-months tax certification course is done and dusted! And my weekends will be my own again! While I still have to catch up with reviews (six books behind), I'm eager to be back to my blogging routines. And opening my blog again today, what did I find? There are - not one, not two, but - three reading events that are going to start very soon. I'm thrilled to join in, and here they are with some of possible reads (I missed these - planning and sorting books - things!) 

READING THE MEOW 2025

hosted by Mallika @ Literary Potpourri

9-15 June 2025

#ReadingtheMeow2025

Possible reads:

1. The Dalai Lama's Cat by David Michie

2. The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips by Michael Morpurgo

3. Wish You Were Here by Rita Mae Brown

20 BOOKS OF SUMMER 2025

hosted by Annabel @ AnnaBookBel & Emma @ Word and Peace

1st June to 31st August 2025

#20BooksofSummer2025

Possible reads:

1. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

2. The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving

3. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

4. The Dalai Lama's Cat by David Michie #ReadingtheMewo2025

5. The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips by Michael Morpurgo #ReadingtheMewo2025

6. Wish You Were Here by Rita Mae Brown #ReadingtheMewo2025

7. The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden

8. A Picture of Murder by T.E. Kinsey

9. The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain

10. Toujours Provence by Peter Mayle

11. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

12. Jacqueline in Paris by Ann Mah

13. Garlic, Mint & Sweet Basil by Jean-Claude Izzo

14. Crooked House by Agatha Christie

15. The Swiss Summer by Stella Gibbons

16. Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym

17. The Healing Season of Pottery by Yeon Somin #WITMonth

18. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa #WITMonth

19. The Black Cabinet by Patricia Wentworth

20. The Beckoning Lady by Margery Allingham

PARIS IN JULY 2025

hosted by Emma @ Word and Peace

#ParisInJuly2025

Possible reads:

1. The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain

2. Toujours Provence by Peter Mayle

3. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

4. Jacqueline in Paris by Ann Mah

5. Garlic, Mint & Sweet Basil by Jean-Claude Izzo

Will you join in one or all of these three fun yearly events?
Have you read any of the books? Let me know what you think!

Agatha Christie Short Stories 2025: MAY #AgathaChristieSS25

I am sorry for this much belated post for this month's Agatha Christie Short Stories 2025! Like I have revealed in the previous post, I am on a four months tax certification course. On top of that, we've had a tax audit during the last two weeks, which consumed all that left off my time and energy. Hence, this belated post! But the good news is, today is the last day of my course (hurrah!), and so, I will be back to blogging again very soon. There are so much to catch up with (I'm six reviews behind), but I'll take a leisure to do it all. But now, for our two stories this month, here they are...  

THE MILLION DOLLAR BOND ROBBERY

(A Hercule Poirot story)

A million dollars of bonds disappear from under a young man’s nose and now he’s being held accountable. His fiance Esmee appeals to Hercule Poirot to assist him. As only three people had keys to the bond trunk surely it should be easy to solve? Perhaps not if you're not Hercule Poirot! ;)

THE AFFAIR OF THE PINK PEARL

(A Tommy & Tuppence story)

Tommy and Tuppence try to recover a precious pink pearl which was stolen from the houseguest at a party. The most interesting part is perhaps the fact that Tommy investigates, in the guise of Dr. John Evelyn Thorndyke, the great medico-legal detective created by R Austin Freeman (1862-1943). Can't wait to read this one, it sounds fun!

You can find the complete reading list here, and please submit link to your reviews of this month's stories on the comment section of this post. Happy reading!

Another Belated Reviews for #AgathaChristieSS25: March

The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge

Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings were invited to stay with a Mr. Havering. Their host received a telegram from his wife that his uncle was shot to dead the night before. And so, Havering went with Hastings, serving as Poirot's assistant, as the detective was indisposed. Hastings acquired information from the housekeeper, a Mrs. Middleton, that prior to the incident, a bearded man had visited the deceased. She and Mrs. Havering, who were outside the room, then heard a shot from within. But entering the room, they found the body, while the pistol and the murderer were missing.

The case might not have been solved at all, were it not for the amazing deduction skill of Hercule Poirot. When Hasting wired him the facts, he saw clearly what might have happened, and asked Hastings to inquire about what seemed to be trivial, but proved to be the key to the mystery. This is one of Christie's stories with unsatisfactory ending - I rather hate it everytime she "lets" providence took over the police's authority in way of punishment. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

A Pot of Tea

Tommy and Tuppence Beresford have been settled in the detective agency they were asked to take over by the secret service (it's a camouflage for the secret service). So far they've been receiving divorce cases, and Tuppence was dissatisfied. It couldn't go on much longer, they got to start having serious cases. But the arrival of a Lawrence St. Vincent, the heir of an Earl, changed everything. He asked them to investigate the disappearing of a girl he's been engaged to, who's working at a hat shop. They took it, and Tuppence found the girl, and solved their first case wonderfully.

The interesting point of this case isn't in the mystery solving, but in Tuppence's ingenuity -- atta girl! On the whole, it's a funny, witty, entertaining story, with an unexpected little twist. I loved the arrangement of the detective agency - Tommy posing as Mr. Blunt, to create confidence in potential client; while Tuppence as the efficient secretary, who's actually the main brain of the establishment.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

(Much) Belated Reviews for #AgathaChristieSS25: February

It's end of April, and I am still struggling to catch up with my reviews, especially for #AgathaChristieSS25, which I am hosting! Shame on me, but that's life. Sometimes you seem to have all the time in the world to blog, but sometimes it needs determination - a lot of them - to just continue on. Here I am, still writing reviews for short stories I've read two months ago, which I completely forgot, and must depend on Wikipedia to refresh my memory. But, the bottom line is, I determine to catch up, albeit slowly. So, here are the two stories for February; the March ones will follow soon.

The Tuesday Night Club

The first story in Miss Marple's collection of Thirteen Problems is the "founding" of the Tuesday Night Club. It comprises of Joyce Lemprière (an artist), Sir Henry Clithering (a former Scotland Yard commissioner), Dr. Pender (a clergyman), Mr. Petherick (a solicitor), Miss Marple her self, and her nephew, a writer called Raymond West. These six gather every Tuesday (hence the club's name) to try to "investigate" past unsolved mystery. The first case was brought by Sir Henry, a mysterious food poisoning case. Three people dined the same meal of tinned lobster, bread and cheese, and trifle, but only a Mrs. Jones who died, apparently of poisoning; while the other two: the husband, Mr. Jones, and the maid, Miss Clark. 

It was a simple case, I think. We might guess the whodunnit, but might not the howdunnit. Only Miss Marple, through her huge experience and understanding of human nature, who could precisely solve the mystery. The one person whom nobody even thought of asking the opinion of, is the one who shed a light on the case in the end.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

The Listerdale Mystery

After Mr. St. Vincent died, his widow and two children are, financially, in the mud. They live presently in a boarding house. But someday Mrs. St. Vincent read in the advertisement, about a charming little house, furnished (even with a butler!), which was let for very row rent. She's taken with the house, although the son suspected something foul beneath it. But in the end they moved in. They learned that the house belonged to Lord Listerdale, who disappeared eighteen months previously and turned up in East Africa. Mrs. St. Vincent lives comfortably in the house, and life goes on amiably for the family. But the mystery perplexed Rupert, the son, completely. Was Lord Listerdale perhaps been murdered, and his body was buried somewhere inside the house?....

This turned out to be a charming mystery in the end - quite unexpectedly too. It's the kind of story which, when finished reading, you would say: well... "all's well that ends well". Loved it!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Love for Lydia (1952) by H.E. Bates #1952Club

💙 This was my first introduction to H.E. Bates, and I read from the synopsis that this was "his own favourite among his Northamptonshire novels", and that this was a semi-autobiographical account of Bates' own life. So, I was excited to read it for my third and final entry for #1952Club - and it's not disappointing! The story was narrated by Richardson, who, at the beginning of the novel, worked as a newspaper reporter. However, he seems to be too dreamy and imaginative, shy and reserved, to be a journalist. On one of his errands, he gets to know a girl called Lydia Aspen, who has just arrived to stay with her two spinster aunts. His first impression of Lydia, is a tall, dark, awkward, and shy girl. Her two aunts wanted him to take Lydia out for skating, to meet people, instead of being isolated with two elderly people.

💙 As Lydia learns to skate, little by little she is out from her shell, so to speak, revealing more of her true nature, which is self-centered, flirty, enjoying her power over men. In short, Lydia is a femme fatale. Richardson was soon fascinated and falling in love with her, so were three other young men, though in different ways and not at the same time. After all the dancing and partying that the group had a lot, Lydia grew farther from Richardson, that when he finally proposed, she rejected him. And at this point, a tragedy occurred - you could actually see it coming, just like in The Great Gatsby - and Richardson, sick of it all, left for London.

💙 After his return two years later, Richardson found that things had changed. How is it changed? Would he meet Lydia again? And what would happen when he actually met her; would he still love her? And what about Lydia, could she finally grasp the pain she had caused the man who really loved her? Will the story be a happy-ending romance, or a devastating tragedy?

💙 What I loved most about the book is Bates' beautiful narration, especially his portrayal of the small English tannery town, located inside a valley. Whether in winter, spring, summer, or fall, Richardson, our narrator, could always describe the scenery picturesquely. Here's one of my favorites: 

"The sun went down a moment later in a plunge of wintry magnified fire that left on the ice, the snowy meadows and the cold sky a wonderful after-glow. A lichen-like green hung above the sunset, and the shadows, all across the snow, became of indigo brilliance before finally dissolving. A biting moment of dispersing day, exhilarating and almost cruel, hung in the pure start air before the first star sparked into green sky above the sunset."

💙 All in all, it is a beautiful romantic coming of age story. A bit sad, perhaps, but beautiful on the whole.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read this book for:

The 1952 Club

hosted by Simon @ Stuck in a Book & Karen @ Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings

Pigs Have Wings (1952) by P.G. Wodehouse #1952Club

🐷 My second read for #1952Club was one of P.G. Wodehouse's novels. This is my first from the Blanding Castles series. I think nowadays I always need at least one Wodehouse read a year. Not only they are always hilarious and highly entertaining, I also admire Wodehouse's genius plotting. The way he could put one simple everyday-life stuff into an ordinary existence, and change it into a wrecking chaos, but then straighten it again to a beautiful ending, is always amazed me. This one's premises is a competition between two prominent figure in a rural village called Blandings.

🐷 Lord Emsworth's passion is pigs. His "pet" is Empress of Blandings, a reigning champion in Fat Pigs competition at the Shropshire Show. This year his neighbor, a Sir Gregory Parsloe, is becoming a huge contender, with his new sow called Queen of Matchingham. It's one or two weeks before the show, and at least two of Lord Emsworth's household: Galahad Threepwood - the idle but smart brother, and Beach - the butler, are deeply concerned because they have put their money on Empress of Blandings. Hence, it's imperative that the Empress should win the contest!

🐷 Pig competition scheming, however outrageously funny, wouldn't be entertaining enough to read, so Wodehouse added love element. Lots of them too! Old love-turned-sour, current-blossoming-love, and a lot of understandings and wrong-timings involved to create an entanglement of love makings in the midst of pigs-scheming. The combination of the two resulted in the usual Wodehouseian charming-hilarious novel that makes you lost your mind, in a positive way! 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read this book for:

The 1952 Club

hosted by Simon @ Stuck in a Book & Karen @ Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings

A Daughter's a Daughter (1952) by Mary Westmacott aka Agatha Christie #1952Club

🟢 I am still struggling to catch up with my reviews, but I can't possibly skip submitting one or two for the #1952Club, can I? So here's the first, an audiobook of a Mary Westmacott's novel. Though I've been reading Agatha Christie's crime novels since teenager, this was actually my first of Westmacott's. I've heard that some of them are rather bleak, and this one confirmed that.

🟢 Ann Prentice is a middle-aged widow who lives with one daughter and a servant-slash-companion. She's been leading a quiet and happy life, and it seems that her only worry, at present, is what she's going to do after her daughter became independent as a young woman. That's when a complication is thrown on her, in the shape of a widower called Richard Cauldfield, with whom she's falling in love, but of whom, her daughter Sarah is disagree.

🟢 Richard Cauldfield is a shy, stubborn, insecure man, who in general dislikes modern women. Naturally he dislikes Sarah from the first, but feels the need of being kind to her, resulting in a series of blunders, which makes Sarah hates him even more. Confronted with constant quarrels and bickering between the two, Ann is torn between her love for her daughter and her lover. The first would mean she'll have to sacrifice her own happiness. What will a mother do in this circumstance?

🟢 The plot seems like a simple one, and honestly, I had never expected that this book would be a thought-provoking psychological drama. I'm already familiar with Christie's psychological analysis in her crime stories (it's this side that made me loving her in the first place), and this one feels like she was presented at last with an opportunity to freely play with it. And didn't she do it wholeheartedly! The result is a very powerful, poignant phycological dissection of each character, in a conflict. And it's the kind of process that we could relate much - the sacrifices we make for our loved ones; the lies we make that what we do are for others' good; and the denials that we are fine. We just live with it thinking that everything's fine, until a clear-headed someone bluntly scolds us and opens our eyes. This someone in this story is Dame Laura Whitstable, an old friend of Ann, and an expert in psychology - whom I suspect was Christie's own voice.

🟢 It's a brilliant, thought-provoking story that makes you reflect about happiness. Is it worth fighting for one's personal happiness, even if it means making others uncomfortable or even unhappy?

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read this book for:

The 1952 Club

hosted by Simon @ Stuck in a Book & Karen @ Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings

Agatha Christie Short Stories 2025: APRIL #AgathaChristieSS25

It's 1st April, and I'm quite happy because my tax course will take a three-week holiday (yay), meaning that I'll have a bit more time for blogging (not mentioning my February and March reviews, which was long overdue!) This month we will be reading from The Thirteen Problems and The Listerdale Mystery collections. You can find the complete reading list here, and please submit link to your reviews of this month's stories on the comment section of this post. Happy reading!

THE IDOL HOUSE OF ASTARTE

The Tuesday Night Club discuss a fancy dress party where a man was stabbed. But no one was close enough to have murdered him. The Club discuss the details of the case but it seems only Miss Marple knows the truth of the matter.

Published in 1928 in the Royal Magazine in the UK and Detective Story Magazine in the US. In the US the story had the title The Solving Six and the Evil Hour. It was included in the collection The Thirteen Problems in 1932.

THE PHILOMEL COTTAGE

When a distant relative dies, leaving Alix King a large inheritance, she marries in a whirlwind romance. But what does she really know about her new husband?

Published in the collection The Listerdale Mystery in the UK in 1934 and in The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories in 1948, it is one of the most successful short stories Agatha Christie wrote, examining the fear of the unknown when it manifests in a home.


The Reviews:
1. Jason C @ Literature Frenzy for The Philomel Cottage
2. Jason C @ Literature Frenzy for The Idol House of Astarte
3. Emma @ Word and Peace for The Philomel Cottage
4. Tracy K @ Bitter Tea and Mystery for The Philomel Cottage
5. Fanda @ Fanda Classiclit for both stories

Three Different Genres I've Enjoyed Recently: Mini Reviews

I have successively enjoyed three books from three different genres: one is a young-adult fantasy, the other a Golden Age mystery. The last one is a book from the middlebrow collection of Dean Street Press. I loved them all, and here's why...

Book of a Thousand Days (2007) by Shannon Hale

💙 This story was reimagined from a Grimm's fairy tale (an obscure one, which I doubt you've ever read - I haven't even heard of it). It becomes a sort of fairy tale, set in medieval Mongolia. Young Dashti is an orphaned commoner girl, who's brought up in steppes. After her parents died, she got a job as a lady's maid of Lady Saren, whose father is imprisoning her for seven years in a tower, for refusing to marry a wicked and cruel Lord Khasar. When Dashti agreed to serve her lady in imprisonment - for seven years, no less - I instantly loved her character. Serving here isn't just in the ordinary way, Lady Saren asked Dashti to pretend to be her, whenever Khan Tegus - Lady Saren's betrothed - came secretly to the tower. Thus I learned that Lady Saren isn't just a spoilt or lonely gentry girl, there's something dark and mysterious lurking in her heart. The mystery revealed when they have been out of the tower. Another thing revealed is that the Titor's Garden, the Realm whence they came, had been destroyed by Lord Khasar. Homeless and fearful, Dashti must save and protect her lady. But where could she go? And how could she do that by herself?

💙 All in all, it's a wonderful tale. There's enough of everything for everyone - the romance, the humour, the battle, the exotic background. And the story is told from Dashti's point of view, as a diary. When you read a diary of a pleasant and interesting character, it's bound to be entertaining. Add that with a medieval realm in Mongolian, well... like I said, a wonderful tale, is what you'll get.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Crook o' Lune (1953) by E.C.R. Lorac

🧡 Derived from the idyllic rural village in England, Lunesdale, E.C.R. Lorac presented a mystery set in High Gimmerdale, in the same dale. Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald is on holiday, and aiming to learn more about farming - an occupation of his dream after future retirement. However, when an arson and sheep-stealing cases took place, he couldn't say no when the local constable asked him to co-investigate. The fire was aimed to destroy Gilbert Woolfall's - the current owner of Aikengill - study. But his housekeeper was also found dead because of the fire. Who would have the motive? Was it the vicar, who resented the lose of a stipend; or the shepherd and his bethroted, who were promised by Gilbert Woolfall to stay at Aikengill if the housekeeper handed in her notice? Or was it only a decoy to smoothen a sheep-stealing scheme? 

🧡 I have realized from quite the beginning of the story, that its main attraction wouldn't be the mystery itself, but the vivid description of the beautiful countryside, the farming's hardship, and the people, which Lorac made live with her wonderful penmanship. You'd feel as though you yourself are making a holiday in Lunsdale, and breathing its countryside air. The result is a refreshing novel with an entertaining mystery. For once, I didn't try to guess the whodunnit or howdunnit, but just flowed with the story.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ten Way Street (1941) by Susan Scarlett

🤎 I have enjoyed some of Susan Scarlett's (pseudonym of Noel Streatfeild) novels before, and this one is no different. Number ten of Way Street is the the abode of an actress called Margot Cardew, with her three children. And that's where Beverley Shaw had landed her first job as governess right after finishing the training, provided by the orphanage school, where she had come from. Beverly is a spirited young woman with positive attitude, ready to bring the three unruly children to their better selves. Peter Crewdson, Margot's admirer and friend to the children, saw Beverley as Joan of Arc. You know the drill... a governess to work her way to the children's heart that they're afraid of losing her, again. Then a handsome guy fell in love with her, triggering jealousy, not only from the children, but their temperamental narcistic mother too.

🤎 As were with all Susan Scarlett's, though the premise is predictable, the story was woven skillfully, and the characters are perfectly drawn. The result is a delightful story and a page turner - I knew how it will end, but still, there'd be little surprises along the way - that in the end, I sighed contentedly after "the end". What more would you ask?

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Books from Two Women Writers New to Me: Mini Reviews

Cold Sassy Tree (1984) by Olive Ann Burns

🧡 Set in the early of 20th century of Southern America, here is a remarkably vivid story of a small rural village in Georgia, named after some iconic sassafras tree that shaded the village during hot summer days: Cold Sassy Tree. It's told from the POV of Will Tweedy, fourteen years old when the story begins. His Grandma had just been dead for three weeks when Grandpa E. Rucker Blakeslee announced that he is going to marry the young milliner who's been working at his store: Miss Love Simpson. The news shook both family and the village, like never before - the scandal, and the sheer audacity of it. Amidst all the turbulences, Will Tweedy learned substantial things, while growing up into adolescence. 

🧡 This is a wonderfully crafted story, vividly portraying the gossips and prejudices of rural villagers. I liked the heterogeneous characters; they are who drive the story. It tackles the theme of family, women's struggles, death, and religion. It is humorous, witty, and near the end, poignant and full of wisdom.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Tea Is So Intoxicating (1950) by Mary Essex

☕ Germayne freed herself from what she felt as a boring marriage with a man called Digby, leaving her daughter, and ran away with her lover David Tompkins. They settled in a cottage in a small Kentish village called Wellhurst. David is the dreamy kind of chap. Right then his dream was to open a tea house; having worked at a tea house himself, though only as a bookkeeper. Although he didn't posses skill and experience, neither as cook nor businessman, David insisted that he's sure to make the tea house, aimed to cater weekend hiker and daily tourist, successful. The village's negative reaction and gossips doomed the tea house to be a failure from the start, not mentioning the Tompkins' lack of ability. And to add complication, entered an Italian flirtatious cake-cook that David hired, over whose furtive winks some men completely lost their heads.

☕ This is my first of Mary Essex - pseudonym of Ursula Bloom - and I liked her style. It's a satire without being too blatant; it's funny, though quite subtle. Based on this book only, I'll place her between Barbara Pym, Nancy Mitford, and PG Wodehouse. I know those are three different poles, but if you could draw three lines from them to one center point, that's where you'll find Mary Essex. A very entertaining and refreshing book!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Agatha Christie Short Stories 2025: MARCH #AgathaChristieSS25

What, we are already in March?! I haven't even posted my February reviews. Well, I would have to combine the two months into a post. Anyway, this month we will be back with Poirot and Tommy-Tuppence. You can find the complete reading list here, and please submit link to your reviews of this month's stories on the comment section of this post. Happy reading!

THE MYSTERY OF HUNTER'S LODGE

Poirot has influenza, but he is determined to solve a murder case in a country house. So, he asks Hastings to act as his legs. The story was first published as a book in the collection Poirot Investigates, 1924, by Bodley Head.

A POT OF TEA

Ensconced in the offices of Blunt’s International Detective Agency at 118 Haleham Street, London, the Beresfords meet their first client, Lawrence St. Vincent. His secret love, shopgirl Janet Smith has disappeared without a trace. A rather boastful Tuppence claims finding her will take but twenty-four hours, though it is by no means certain that they will meet this impossible task.

This story was published by Collins in the collection Partners in Crime in 1929, and had its title changed from Publicity to A Fairy in the Flat/ A Pot of Tea.


The Reviews:
Jason C @ Literature Frenzy for The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge

The Hollow and The Pursuit of Love: Mini Reviews

The Hollow (1946) by Agatha Christie

🔫 I'm sure I've read Agatha Christie's The Hollow, though I don't understand why I couldn't remember it being that good. It's a Poirot's story, though his involvement wasn't much. He even appeared midway through the story. Poirot happens to be a neighbor of the Angkatells' country house, where John Christow and his wife, Gerda were staying for the summer. Also staying are Edward and David Angkatell, Henrietta Savernake, and Midge Hardcastle.

🔫 John Christow was shot dead near the pool, only minutes before Poirot was about to arrive for dinner. Poirot felt that the scene was staged for his eyes. And this proved to be a crucial point in the investigation of this, apparently, crime passionell. Three women loved Doctor John Christow differently. His wife Gerda worshipped the ground he walks on, Henrietta provided intellectual mind he could discuss his works with, while Veronica Cray is an actress and his old flame. Who, of the three, was the murderer?

🔫 I loved a psychological mystery like this one. A crime within the closed circle of relatives, where we, the readers, could investigate the case by following the thoughts and gestures of each suspect, while Poirot was in the background, guiding us to the right path. Excellent! My new favorite, too!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

The Pursuit of Love (1945) by Nancy Mitford

❤ Having read two satisfying Mitford's before (Pigeon Pie and Wigs on the Green), I was looking forward to read The Pursuit of Love, which, some synopsis daubed as Mitford's funniest. I was disappointed. It's not remotely as funny as I've expected, though I think it's unexpectedly more poignant than the two, especially in the end.

❤ The story is told from the POV of Fanny Logan, who had been brought up alongside her cousin, Linda Radlett, whose pursuit of love made the center of the story. Living between the two wars in England, the Radletts from Alconleigh is an eccentric and rough-on-the-edges family. Linda and Fanny had been forming their ideals of love from childhood. And it is quite interesting to follow the realization in life of these, especially Linda's, views and ideals of love and marriage. It's a wickedly satirized misguided love adventures, with the main attraction of eccentric characters. The jokes were mainly dry, and it's not something I'll cherish for a comfort reading.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

From Jansson, to Montgomery, to McCall Smith: Mini Reviews

Starting from February, my blogging time would be reduced to, perhaps, one post a week or two. No, I'm not in one of those blogger-block phases. I am, actually, taking part in weekend tax certification course (for my work), which will be going on until end of May. Thus, there will be very limited time for me to do reviews. I will keep reading, and participating in reading events, but unfortunately, my reviews will be very-very short. Now, here are my mini reviews for three books I have read these past two weeks.

The Summer Book (1972) by Tove Jansson

🏕 Sophia, six, and her grandmother, are staying in a tiny island in the Gulf of Finland. This book contains vignettes of their summer activities; a unique experience you'll ever have when staying by yourselves in a tiny island. They are exploring the island, midsummer boating and watching bonfires, and, for Sophia, sleeping in a scout's tent.

🏕 All the while, they are discussing about life and nature - a discussion that an elderly woman and a six year old precocious child could possibly have. The book isn't a plot driven story - indeed it hasn't any - but more of a character driven one. The nature - the woods, the sea - is the most important of all, as it invites us to its embrace. It's a subtle, but also poignant read. Not my favorite, but the summer description and activities are quite refreshing.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

The Blue Castle (1926) by L.M. Montgomery

💙 Valancy Stirling - what an unusual name! - has been brought up by a snobbish, overbearing mother. She is more like his deceased father, though, a child with free spirit. But her "imprisonment" within the family (numerous aunts and uncles) made her insecure and clumsy. Moreover, Valancy, being not beautiful, is still single in her thirties. She had had no life at all, and only her imaginary Blue Castle and books of a certain writer that keep her alive, well, barely. But all these would soon change after she got a diagnosis of severe heart problem, with one year more to live. Having nothing to lose, Valancy now determined to live her life as she wants it to be. Forget all the family conviction; it's her life, so she makes her own rules. Including marrying the man she loves; no matter what others say, and even, no matter whether the man really loves her or not. The question is, will she be happy? Or will her life be ruined by her decision?

💙 I loved Valancy's transformation. It only proves, again, what we've learned from novels, that society often ruined one's life with its dictatorial rules. How freeing it is to be what one wants to be!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (1998) by Alexander McCall Smith

🕵🏽‍♀️ Precious Ramotswe, a widow, is opening the first ever female detective agency ever in Bostwana. This book, the first of a series, tells us Mma Ramotswe's personal life and struggles, in the social and cultural background of Africa near the turn of 21st century. Almost one third of the story is about her life, while the rest are first mysteries she solved, from missing husbands, as well as cheating ones; to a more serious and dangerous case - the missing of an eleven-year-old boy. 

🕵🏽‍♀️ All in all, it's a fascinating and quite funny book with interesting bits of African people and culture. I loved Mma Ramotswe's unperturbed character - a good quality in a detective. Now I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2