The Running Bibliophile

The Last Death of the Year (New Hercule Poirot Mysteries, #6)  by Sophie Hannah and Agatha Christie  opens with Hercule Poirot and Inspector Edward Catchpool arriving on the island of Lamperos in Greece on New Year's Eve in 1932. Poirot has been requested by the leader of a religious community to investigate the threat against one of its members, but just a short while later, another resident is found dead after a New Year's game threatened this member's life. I'd like to thank NetGalley and William Morrow for approving my request for an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of this mystery. I've been a long time fan of Agatha Christie and her Hercule Poirot series, so learning I'd receive a copy of Sophie Hannah's new book based on this series made me absolutely giddy. A digital copy was provided to me in exchange for my honest review. Sophie Hannah has done a fabulous job of recreating Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot series and keeping a similar style of writin...

Public Anchovy #1 (Deep Dish Mysteries, #3) by Mindy Quigley was published on December 26, 2023 and opens with Delilah O'Leary on her way to a library fundraiser where she's providing the catering.  Of course, everything that can go wrong does go wrong ... a last minute guest has a special dietary request ... no gluten, no dairy, and no nightshade foods.  Upon arriving at the Prohibition themed dinner, one of the guests falls down the stairs and dies.  Then, a storm takes out the power, causing most of the guests and staff to be trapped in the remote mansion.  Can Delilah use her skills to deduce what happened? I received an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Public Anchovy #1 from NetGalley for free in exchange for my honest review. Thrilled, excited, and delighted are just a few of the words that come to mind when I think about how I felt upon learning that I was approved to receive this advanced copy. It’s a unique thrill to be among the first to read a book. Altho...

Read To Death At The Lakeside Library (Lakeside Library Mystery, #3) by Holly Danvers opens in Lofty Pines, Wisconsin with library owner Rain Wilmot getting ready to host her first book club and discuss Agatha Christie's Sparkling Cyanide .  When one of the members dies under suspicious circumstances, Rain and best friend Julia take it on themselves to become amateur sleuths to find out what happens. I'd like to thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Read To Death At The Lakeside Library (Lakeside Library Mystery, #3) by Holly Danvers.  Being a huge Agatha Christie fan, I knew I wanted to read Holly Danvers' latest book since the storyline revolved around one of Christie's novels.  When I was approved to receive a copy for free in exchange for my honest review, I was happy. All in all, I really enjoyed reading Read To Death At The Lakeside Library .  It was a super cute and fun read . . . a beach read if you will.  The o...

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict opens with Lily returning to her aunt's manor house and discovers that if she wants to inherit the house, she must play the traditional Christmas game with her cousins over a period of twelve days. When one of them is murdered and a snowstorm cuts them off from the rest of the village, Lily realizes she must fight for her life. Over the twelve days, twelve clues, and twelve keys, how many will perish? First and foremost, I'd like to thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the digital copy of The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict. I was thrilled to receive a copy prior to it coming out in paperback on October 4, 2022 because it sounded intriguing. Reminiscent of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (a.k.a. Ten Little Indians ) and the movie Clue , I found myself comparing The Christmas Murder Game to both. There were even parts that reminded me a bit of The Shining by Stephen King. However, this didn...

Eight Perfect Murders (Malcolm Kershaw, #1) by Peter Swanson takes place in Boston, Massachusetts and features Malcolm Kershaw, a bookseller who compiled a list of eight books where the person committed near perfect crimes. Now, someone is copying the murders in those eight books, and the FBI suspects Malcolm. This is the first book I've read by Peter Swanson, and I wasn't sure what to expect. Where as I enjoyed the writing, and it held my interest, I felt like the author was just throwing out lists of his favorite books. He even gave away the ending to The Murder of Roger Ackroyd  and The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie. Had I not already read these particular books, I would have been upset that the ending had been revealed. As far as knowing who the culprit was in Eight Perfect Murders , I suspected two different people from the get go. I especially was trying to think like Agatha Christie since Peter Swanson mentions several of her books. However, I didn't correctly g...

You're invited to a murder . . . that is how the ad read, but in all actuality, it's an invitation to an unsupervised birthday party at the vacation home of Dusty Ellis. Meg Redding is the only one who knows the true motive behind Dusty holding the murder mystery party . . . to find out who murdered his twin sister and why. However, when one of the guests turns up dead, everyone is on edge and don't know who they can trust in The Murder Game by Janice Harrell. The Murder Game by Janice Harrell is a young adult novel that I read as a teen. I remember being completely on edge the entire book and was taken by surprise when the killer was revealed. When I decided to reread this book as an adult, I didn't remember much about it other than what I've already mentioned. What I enjoyed about reading it as an adult is that Janice Harrell did a nice job of laying out motive of several of the characters and giving clues as to who the killer was, and as an adult, I was able t...

The Guest List by Lucy Foley is about Jules, a magazine publisher, and Will, a reality television show, getting married on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. As the festivities begin, old resentments bubble to the surface, and relationships begin to become strained. On top of that, when a dead body is found, people start to have a melt down. Told from different characters perspectives, The Guest List had a modern day feel of an Agatha Christie book, and it kept you on your toes the entire novel. Early on, I suspected one particular character of being the murderer, and I was ecstatic that I was correct in my guess. As I got closer to the end of the book, I started second guessing myself, so the author did a great job in that department. Don't worry. I'm not going to reveal who the killer was. I also love the fact that the story wasn't told in a linear fashion . . . it would flip from the present to a few hours before back to the present time. It was done very nicely....

The Train by Diane Hoh opens with Hannah, Kerry, Mack, and Lewis, along with other students from Parker High School, boarding a train in Chicago for a cross country school trip to San Francisco. Once on the train, they find out a deceased student from their school was being transported back to his parents, and the friends start admitting to how horribly they had treated Frog before he died. Then, horrible things started happening to them on the train, and it seems like Frog is out for revenge. Rereading this book as an adult and having read most of Agatha Christie's books, The Train loosely reminded me of Murder on the Orient Express but in reverse. This book also has a very Stephen King vibe to it but is kid friendly. With that being said, I still am a bit jumpy from reading it as an adult. This is a book that I originally read when I was either a tween or a teen. Usually when I reread books from my childhood, I generally remember what happens as I work my way through the book....

One by One by Ruth Ware is about a corporate retreat for a social media app called Snoop, and the employees get snowed in at a ski resort due to an avalanche. When one of the owners turns up missing and an employee is murdered, everyone becomes a suspect. How many will survive? Reminiscent of Agatha Christie's And Then There Was None , Ruth Ware tells a story from two different characters perspectives, both who have deep, dark secrets. The one perspective is from Erin, who works at the French chalet and the other perspective is told from Liz, who is a former employee of Snoop. Relatively early, I thought that the killer had to be one of the two women since we only hear the story from their perspectives, but as the story progressed, I began to second guess myself as there are quite a few red herrings. After a while, I just decided against trying to deduce who the killer was and let the story take me on the ride of a lifetime. I loved the fact that Snoop, the company holding the cor...

The first time I ever heard of the author Agatha Christie was in the eighth grade when we were required to read the book Ten Little Indians , which is also known as And Then There Were None . I remember enjoying the book but never picked up another one of her books. That is until I enrolled in a 20th Century World Literature class at my university during the 8-week summer semester where we would read eight books of the course of the semester. Two of those books were The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and And Then There Where None . After revisiting the book that was originally required reading for me in the eighth grade, I fell in love with her writing all over again and began to binge read all of her books. The Hercule Poirot series is definitely my favorite series by Agatha Christie. However, I read the series out of order, and I am rereading the Hercule Poirot books again; this time in the order of publication.   Poirot Investigates (Hercule Poirot, #3) is the third installme...

The six books listed below were required reading for me in middle school. I'm sure the list has changed quite a bit since then, but as a late bloomer to reading, all but one of these books made me love reading that much more. I plan on rereading all of these books so I can review them with a fresh perspective and see if they are still just as great as I remember. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls: Originally published in 1961, this novel takes place in the Ozark Mountains where Billy Colman adopts two dogs with the intent of training them to hunt.   The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis - First published in 1950, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe was the first book published in the Narnia series and is the most popular. Four siblings are relocated to a country home during a wartime evacuation. While keeping themselves occupied, Lucy, the youngest of the siblings, finds a whole new world called Narnia by going through a wardrobe in one of the sp...

An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena left me in awe. Written in alternating narratives, the reader definitely gets several points of view of the story line, and you never know if they're being a reliable narrator. I had three people that I suspected of being the murderer, and none of them ended up being the killer. I did briefly have a fourth person I suspected, but I quickly dismissed him / her and that is who it ended up being.  What I loved about An Unwanted Guest is that it was a bit different from Shari Lapena's other novels, and it was very reminiscent of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None , aka Ten Little Indians , and Murder On The Orient Express . In fact, I think Lapena gives Agatha Christie a run for her money with this book. It was that fabulous! There are just not enough words for me describe how enthralling this book was. I ended up staying up into the wee hours of the night to finish it because I just had to know what happened before I went to ...

The Book Club Murders (Oakwood Mystery, #1) by Leslie Nagel is a book that I downloaded to my Nook tablet quite some time ago, and I just now got around to reading it. I didn't realize that it was the first book in a series when I bought. However, I am glad that it is part of a series because it was really well written for a cozy mystery, and I definitely want to read the next book. Oakwood, Ohio resident Charley Carpenter belongs to a book club with some of the wealthiest women in the city. They've dubbed themselves "The Agathas" after Agatha Christie as their book club focuses on reading mystery novels and trying to solve the mystery within the book before the killer is revealed to them. When several people are found dead, the circumstances can all be tied back to books that "The Agathas" have read that fall. The police pull in Charley to help determine which woman in the book club is committing these murders. Let me begin by saying that I...