Yup! I have watched and rewatched all Marple episodes too. I like her, but she seems a bit too uptight for Miss Marple, if you compare her with the one in books, also more intelligent. Don’t they expect everyone to ignore Ms Marple, she can’t be ignored is what I mean 😅

Staged for sure.

The shelf behind my wife's desk that you can see while she's on camera is all her favourites.

Try Postern of Fate lol

I inherited around 70 Agatha Christie books from my grandfather back in the early 80's. Including "10 Little N**s". I'm Australian, so not sure if that was just the title here?. I do remember it was changed to " And Then There Were None " some years ago.

Either way, brilliant book, and a great introduction to her.

It is a double-edged sword. When they eat your plants and puke behind the TV where you cannot reach, and make it so you cannot keep a scrap of plastic anywhere where they can choke on it, and jump on your tender spots at 6am because they are hungry, you want to toss them out of the window.

But then they squint their little eyes just right when you pet their nose. And they curl on your lap and wiggle their feets in their sleep. And they come snuggle with you and roll to expose their belly with just so much love in their eyes, you would give them anything and everything they ask for.

Having a pet is a lot of responsibility. They are essentially depending on you for EVERYTHING. Food. Shelter. Medical care. Interaction. But that is also the rewarding bit, knowing you are providing all of that and they are thriving. Also they are soft and squishy and you can pick them up and nuzzle them whenever you want and they cannot do a thing about it because you are so much bigger. :)

Have you watched the Marple adaptations with Joan Hickson? She IS Miss Marple for me.

Audible.

It’s weird but I don’t read them in order. I read where intrigued first and maybe make a mental list of covered chapters.

Yes, Zuckerberg had condiments on his bookshelves in a web call shown early pandemic.

I however have 4 book racks in my house. Mainly full. Not one is in my home office for web calls lol. Instead I have a fake background concealing my need to paint. Which is killing me because I just want to read my books :) I even have classics. For aesthetic and to read. But not where they are seen on calls haha. Of course I did just move here last year so there’s that.

I think we all have the issue a bit. Have you tried Wikipedia or some summary site overview simply to brief you, not to cheat? Then explore areas of the book and see if it gets more interesting. It may be a terrible start to the book. It’s really hard to be interested in anything if you are confused or can’t follow it. Names are a killer for me. I forget them and can’t follow the plot sometimes. Movies and books. Others I’m hooked.

Completely engrossing reads. I think I knocked out the border in one weekend. I’m going to give city on fire a try next

If it's good I just read it.

If it's not good I don't.

Man. I never expected that this sub would show me how complicated some people can be in their reading rituals. People keeping count of not only how many pages per sitting but word counts. People who can only read certain types of books in certain places or with the need to create notes... all types here. Interesting stuff.

I completely agree with your point that the main characters actions were confusing and hard to understand. But, I do think I can explain some of the instances you mentioned!

So from what I understood, Theo’s entire goal (both before and after the murder) was to “help Alicia understand” what had been happening in her relationship with Gabriel. There is a part towards the end, after the reveal, where he’s talking about how he didn’t expect Alicia to remember him. He said he changed his voice and that he had been wearing a ski mask when he broke in, so he thought presumably after six years, she wouldn’t be able to tell. I get this part. The part that’s tricky is, like you said, WHY did he go back?

I think he did this for two reasons. The first, he genuinely thought that he wanted to help people as a psychotherapist. I think this is evident when he talks about his prior career and his old therapist, who he seemed to respect very much. The second, is that I believe Theo may be a sort of narcissist. Or at the very least, has a severe savior complex. I think his motivation to help others, was purely to help himself. HE was the one who had never been able to cope with his childhood trauma, and as an adult, compensated for this by teaching others how to cope with theirs. I think he went to see Alicia specifically, not only “to help her”, but his own need to feel powerful. If he can get her to talk and understand the connection between Gabriel’s murder and her childhood, that means he’s done something nobody else was able to. And if she doesn’t recognize him, even better for him! He can be close to her and always have the upper-hand in the relationship. He mentions at the end that he never expected Alicia to kill Gabriel, but that it never would have happened had he not done that to her. Maybe he feels guilty as well, but I sort of doubt it.

As far as Alicia’s motives go, I think it’s a lot more straightforward than Theo’s. We know that Alicia recognized him by only their second session when she attacked him, and she says that she wished she could kill him. After Theo helps lift her sedation, I think Alicia wanted to see how far she could push him, or if he’d admit to what he’d done. She wanted to flip the script and have the upper-hand. If she had told the police about Theo any earlier, she’d then have to admit her own guilt in killing Gabriel, which I think may have been impossible for her. And who’s to say that they would have believed her, considering there wasn’t proof of him being there that night. The only solid proof she had was Theo trying to kill her in the end, and if she’s going to die anyway, might as well tell the truth.

As far as her somehow writing 10 journal pages and hiding it all while literally dying goes, I’ve got nothing. LOL that was just very silly to me but I tried not to dwell too much on it. There’s a lot you could point at that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but I can appreciate the story the author was trying to tell at the very least!

maybe some disorder of processing text o.o i don't know if something like this exists but to me, as someone with dyscalcula, numbers don't make any sense

Lol my husband had me stage his home office for his on-camera meetings and he isn't even someone fancy. If they're prominent enough to be on TV the network probably sends someone in to stage their space, not to mention light it properly so it looks good on camera. I'm sure dependent on the person/forum they tailor to their personality, but 100% I expect everyone stages their shelves.

The ones that I roll my eyes at are when people have published works of their own and place their books on display prominently.

I love storygraph!

:)

I've always wanted a pet.

Did they make you happier? Or I guess did they make you feel less lonely?

Thank you. It was tough, I mean it still is, but it was too. :)

If there is any hope to mama kitty being an inside kitty, she will be mine.

You might just need to pause more often while reading to let what’s going on sink in. I love reading and still have to do this sometimes:) good luck!

Way underrated by her, in my opinion, is The Man in the Brown Suit. One of my favorites!!

Theo didn’t go outside to catch the snowflakes, the investigator came inside the house and they sat down at the dining table (?) and Theo opened the window next to it. Still, a bizarre thing to do!

That’s a great point actually, I had thought Barbie to be an irrelevant character but now that you mention it, she was the only person who believed Alicia about seeing the man, so of course the author would try to make her seem untrustworthy and Theo would go to see how much info she had on him! I hadn’t even considered that.

Unhelpful comment, but I just want to say I love how everyone in this thread is genuinely trying to help ❤️

With my eyes.

I am so incredibly sorry for your loss, I can't imagine what it's life.

I hope you can persuade the new kitty.

You are reading the best of the genre, a classic of the highest level.And Then There Were None, is also a great book of Poirot. and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

You should also try some "classic noir"
The Maltese Falcon
The Big Sleep
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
These have been judged by critics to be the best mystery novels ever.
i think you can love also The Boys from Brazil. Is a great book different but great book.