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This sounds like fun, I'll get the book today and read my three chapters before bed.
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Dec 12, 2012 19:59
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Okay, I've read the first three chapters and I'm good to go.
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Dec 13, 2012 19:33
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ProfessorProf posted:Some clarification about the situation! I'm going to add a bit to this excellent beginning. Present at the scene of the crime Letitia (Letty) Blacklock Owner of Little Paddocks. So far, portrayed as a very capable, take-charge kind of woman. Can be impulsively generous--see the section explaining how Dora Bunner has come to live with her. Julia Simmons Letitia Blacklock's Niece Very sarcastic and biting. Mocks the chrysanthemums when everyone admires them and seems not inclined to get involved. Patrick Simmons Letitia Blacklock's Nephew Apparently a fairly serious, intelligent but amiable young man. Phillipa Haymes Referred to by Patrick as "Our Phillipa". I think she might be a long-time family servant. Had not seen the announcement in the Gazette Dora (Bunny) Bunner Letitia Blacklock's childhood friend. She's dying of some currently unspecified cause. Mitzi Blacklock servant/cook. She seems to be of Gypsy stock (note description of clothing and dramatic way of speaking) and mentions escaping the Nazis. Colonel Archibald (Archie) Easterbrook The Self-Important Bore. "Trouble with these fellows is," he said, "that none of them know the first thing about India! Not the first thing!" Laura Easterbrook The trophy wife. "synthetic blonde", "fluffy little wife", "at least thirty years younger than her husband". "Hinch" Hinchcliffe Sensible spinster who lives with Amy Murgatroyd at Boulders cottage. Amy Murgatroyd Spinster, lives with Hinch at Boulders cottage Mrs. Swettenham Apparently fond of gossip (she looks at The Times, doesn't find much, goes over the Births, Marriages, and Deaths (and is particularly interested in Deaths), then goes straight to the Personal Column in the Gazette.) Apparently lived in India for a time, as she mentions her son had an Ayah. Seems to be a bit of a snob. Edmund Swettenham Mrs. Swettenham's son. Is writing a book. Mrs. Harmon Also known as Bunch. Claims to be stupid but that is clearly an act. In part 5 of Chapter 1, she asks her husband the Rev Julian Harmon to tell her the story about the old vicar who preached about Ahasuerus. I did a search, being careful to avoid any references to the book, and came up with a couple of things. First was that the Ahasuerus is the biblical reference to three different kings of Persia, and that it is the equivalent of the Greek Xerxes. I don't know enough to comment further on the joke, but clearly it's an obscure one. I also suspect it's significant that "Soon after becoming king, Artaxerxes murdered all of the royal family to secure his place as emperor." So this tells me that Bunch is one hell of a lot smarter than anyone thinks--she gets the joke, but her husband doesn't. Note also that she makes up words to a song off the cuff as she's doing dishes. The mystery shooter (now deceased) Known to Bunny and Letty but as yet unnamed. Characters mentioned but not at the scene of the crime Rev Julian Harmon Bunch's Husband Vicar of Chipping Cleghorn, very learned and attempts to show this knowledge in his sermons. Evans Blacklock servant who lit the central heating Johnnie Butt Delivers newspapers. Apparently impressed by the Rev. Harman's knowledge Mr. Totman Stationer (the equivalent of the guy who has the news stand, I think) of the High Street. Selina Lawrence Advertising for a cook Mrs Finch The Swettenhams' servant. Disapproves of almost everything. Mrs Lucas Selling a Sheraton sideboard. Newspapers Easterbrook: The Times and Daily Graphic Swettenham: The Times and the Daily Worker Boulders cottage: Daily Telegraph and the New Chronicle Little Paddocks: Telegraph, The Times, Daily Mail. Please feel free to add to/debate about these characterizations. If I gave an attribute and you want to know what gave me that idea, just ask and I'll give you the pertinent text. Zola fucked around with this message at 21:20 on Dec 14, 2012 |
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Dec 14, 2012 00:58
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Guy A. Person posted:This is a fantastic write-up, and is certainly helping to get the characters straight in my head. I typically read pretty fast, absorbing the mood and ideas but not really stopping to think about specific details, so maybe I should slow down a bit on this one. I'm glad it's helpful. I really hope others will add to it and update it as we progress. To be truthful, I read very much the same way you do on the first pass, just sort of breeze through to get a feel for what's going on and the most salient points. But since this is a whodunit, I went over it again more slowly, and I expanded your list with Kindle in hand. Knowing Mrs. Harmon is actually very intelligent really does add to the humor of that scene--she knew JUST what she was doing, I think. I will also go back and unspoiler when we get to the next section. Zola fucked around with this message at 21:19 on Dec 14, 2012 |
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Dec 14, 2012 04:01
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If Srice is correct about the names, that means that we should definitely keep a close eye on Bunch. I found a nice short little Wikipedia article concerning means, motive, and opportunity. If the Vicar is cheating on her and she's aware of it, perhaps that would provide motive (if she was going after the person Julian is cheating with), and we know she had opportunity.] This is of course really early on yet, after I have had a chance to go over the current section more slowly and carefully, I will add to the summary post.
Zola fucked around with this message at 16:55 on Jan 2, 2013 |
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Dec 16, 2012 05:49
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Guy A. Person posted:Just wanted to see where everyone was at and when we would be moving on to the next section. No rush of course, just eager to continue! I read the chapter but have not yet had the chance to put together my thoughts. If we need to move on, I'm sure everyone can live without them 
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Dec 19, 2012 20:15
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I'm not going to spoiler this clue because it has already come up a couple of times in earlier chapters, but Dora is upset that someone apparently left a lit cigarette on one of the tables and burned it. I don't remember if anyone was smoking in that scene, I'm going to go back and look. Has anyone else noticed that Dora sometimes calls Letitia Letty and sometimes Lotty? Is that significant?
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Jan 2, 2013 16:56
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Esoteric Scientist posted:I don’t think there’s anything about smoking, but Colonel Easterbrook and Patrick had lighters with them. Also, Phillipa told Craddock she was looking for hers when the lights went out, and that Patrick and Edmund “switched on their lighters and they went out into the hall”, without mentioning Colonel Easterbrook. I've wondered about Phillipa because Patrick repeatedly refers to her as "our" Phillipa, and if memory serves me right, that's usually an affectionate term reserved for a person you have known for a long time, and it usually applies to family. Zola fucked around with this message at 21:39 on Jan 3, 2013 |
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Jan 2, 2013 20:59
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Guy A. Person posted:Finished this afternoon but had to reread parts of chapter 13 since it confused me again: In chapter eight, section II, when Miss Marple first arrives, at the start of the paragraph: "Read these," said Rydesdale, thrusting the typewritten sheets upon her. "They won't take you long. After all, these people are your kind--you must know a lot of people like them" So I do think Miss Marple was making a direct comparison, and when Bunch listed them, she didn't get all of her comparisons correct.
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Jan 4, 2013 06:10
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I've been very short on time these past few weeks, so I am going to at least get this post properly started. I still need to check a few more things. When Mrs. Marple was listing people similar to the people in the case to Bunch. She wondered if Miss Blacklock knew something about Mrs. Easterbrook that Mrs. Easterbrook didn't want known, and Bunch said "..that old Tanqueray stuff?" Well, she wasn't referring to gin, she was referring to this play. The list of people Mrs Marple talked about in the conversation: Nurse Ellerton was a kindly-seeming woman who killed for money with morphine. Mrs Pusey's nephew, a good looking young man, brought his aunt stolen goods Mrs Cray's son was spoiled and "got in with a queer lot" Joan Croft was in the bank at the time of a robbery and knocked the robber down The quiet girl at St. Jean des Collines whose husband was a forger Major Vaughn (nothing wrong with either of them.) Colonel Wright (nothing wrong with either of them.) Mr. Hodgson the bank manager who married a woman young enough to be his daughter Bunch associates them as follows: Devoted Dora Handsome Patrick Mrs Swettenham and Edumund Phillipa Hames Colonel Easterbrook and Mrs Easterbrook Mrs Marple tells Bunch she didn't get all of them right. I'm going to come back to this list a little later. Other general information that we don't think of immediately because it is no longer common: Goiter. Note the main cause (which contains its treatment in the same two words). And Charlotte had a "deformity", didn't she? Which Letty said in a letter was not as obvious as Charlotte thought. And "Leticia Blacklock" always wears a necklace. The pearls are choker-style, and I expect the cameos were similar. I don't think Lotty was upset over the pearl necklace breaking, I think she was upset about her "deformity" being exposed. The way it broke, by the way, suggests it WAS costume jewelry because real pearl necklaces have a knot between each pearl to prevent that very sort of accident. More a little bit later Zola fucked around with this message at 19:12 on Jan 18, 2013 |
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Jan 16, 2013 16:47
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I'm going to post my list again for convenience. Nurse Ellerton was a kindly-seeming woman who killed for money with morphine. Mrs Pusey's nephew, a good looking young man, brought his aunt stolen goods Mrs Cray's son was spoiled and "got in with a queer lot" Joan Croft was in the bank at the time of a robbery and knocked the robber down The quiet girl at St. Jean des Collines whose husband was a forger Major Vaughn (nothing wrong with either of them.) Colonel Wright (nothing wrong with either of them.) Mr. Hodgson the bank manager who married a woman young enough to be his daughter Bunch associates them as follows: Devoted Dora Handsome Patrick Mrs Swettenham and Edumund Phillipa Hames Colonel Easterbrook and Mrs Easterbrook Mrs Marple tells Bunch she didn't get all of them right. From the above conversation between Mrs. Marple and Bunch: quote:And then there was that young man on the liner--Mrs. Pusey at the paper shop, her nephew. Brought home stuff he'd stolen and got her to dispose of it. Bunch assumed that was Patrick, but we haven't heard anything whatsoever to suggest that Patrick had two girls in love with him, or that he was a thief. Rudi Scherz, on the other hand, was definitely a thief and had an eye for the ladies and we know of one young lady at least he spent quite a bit of money on. What if Rudi were the one Mrs. Marple had in mind? The other thing that hasn't come up at all is the gun. Chances are good that it was Colonel Easterbrook's gun. So that means that it had to be brought to Little Paddocks. It could have been brought by the Colonel himself, or his wife could have brought it--after all, we only have her word that it was last seen after the murder. If one of them brought it, then it's most likely one of them who committed the murder. However, there is the matter of the flour bin under the table where "things" are left. If the revolver was left there for someone else to pick up, then we have two murderers. I also want to call your attention to a character that we never see but keep hearing about, and that would be Mrs. Butt, who is the cleaning lady for at least two of the group. I thought it was strange that Mrs. Butt was described as having a "super-refined" voice--is this characteristic of upper class servants or is this something important? I simply want to note, though, that Mrs. Butt also had access to the revolver and that she was the one who mentioned to the police that Hinch had been to Little Paddocks. Given that half the people there aren't who they are supposed to be, I'm going to follow the trend and say I think that Colonel Easterbrook is actually Dmitri. Zola fucked around with this message at 19:12 on Jan 18, 2013 |
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Jan 17, 2013 17:47
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Guy A. Person posted:Man I had this post all written out before and I apparently didn't submit. Mrs Cray's son was spoiled and "got in with a queer lot" is definitely Mrs Swettenham and Edumund, because of that very fact. Here is what I'm wondering. Letty went to take care of Charlotte. Is it possible that Letty was in love with Dmitri but that he was also carrying on an affair with Sonia? We have been told that Letty is a good, honest person. Is it possible that Rudi is the real Letty's son? That would certainly be a good reason to set up Rudi! Prof: I'm ready to move forward. Zola fucked around with this message at 19:12 on Jan 18, 2013 |
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Jan 18, 2013 17:49
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Guy A. Person posted:Ahh, excellent point about Edmund! I could be WAY off here, but... I don't think Bunny was Sonia because if what we were told was true, that Sonia had taken Phillipa and Dmitri took Emma, then I think Phillipa would be more upset about her death. I wondered about Letty being in love with Dmitri because of that quote I gave earlier: quote:"...Had two girls in love with him. He spent a lot of money on one of them." If this referred not only to a current person but a past situation, we would have Sonia and Letitia, with the implication due to other parts of the book that Letitia was the nice one and Sonia was the nasty one. This is supported by what Belle said about Letitia, that she was good and needed to be protected, which would also support the idea that Dmitri was able to take advantage of her. Lamp. Violets. Where is bottle of aspirin? Delicious Death. Making enquiries. Severe affliction bravely borne. Iodine. Pearls. Letty. Berne. Old Age Pension The lamps had likely been switched, so that the damage to the lamp wasn't obvious. Violets--the water in their vase was the means to putting out the lights. Aspirin--Bunny had just bought a bottle. What happened to it? Delicious Death-- was the cake poisoned? Making enquiries--what did RG find out about Dmitri? Severe affliction bravely borne--maybe it wasn't referring to Charlotte's illness but rather what happened to Letty with Dmitri. Iodine treats goiter. Pearls hide the goiter or hide a scar from removing the goiter. Letty might be Charlotte. Berne -- Rudi is from there Old Age Pension: Perhaps Charlotte was pretending to be Letty because of the money. Perhaps she and Sonia had a deal to split the money if she masqueraded as Letty. Where does Mitzi fit in? Could she be Dmitri's daughter from another marriage? Edit: I was preparing this at the same time ProfessorProf was giving the okay to reading the end, so let me just add one more thing and then I'm off to read the big reveal. It might be that Letty was shooting at Colonel Easterbrook, and that she got clipped on the ear by a hysterical Mitzi. Now to find out if any of my theories were accurate. Zola fucked around with this message at 19:11 on Jan 18, 2013 |
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Jan 18, 2013 19:07
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Autumncomet, you were dead on about not over-complicating things. It surely looks like we noticed the most important clues, and really, one gets better at this kind of thing with practice so I'm eager to move on to the next book. I haven't read any Agatha Christie at all, nor many other mysteries other than Nancy Drew, The Three Investigators and Trixie Beldon, which, something tells me, aren't likely to show up on the list. I joined because I thought branching out a bit would do me good. ProfessorProf, if need be, I'm sure any one of us would be happy to act as "guide" to be sure you get a turn--whoever was in charge of that mystery could just PM you to update the OP.
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Jan 19, 2013 17:20
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ProfessorProf posted:Even that much shouldn't be necessary - I follow my own threads pretty obsessively. Whoever wants to run the next book is free to do so, and I'll update the OP whenever we move onward. So... which book shall we do next? I had a friend who was very fond of the Lilian Jackson Braun "Cat Who" series, but I don't even know of they are conventional mysteries meant to be solved by the reader. I really hope more folks will participate in the speculation this time around--it doesn't matter if you're dead wrong, the fun is in the discussion.
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Jan 19, 2013 18:37
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ProfessorProf posted:I think the only actual requirement is to know good stopping points to pace the thread, but it'd be a shame to skim over a book just enough to get that much without the fun of reading it properly. Is that going to officially be the book? I'm going to get it on Kindle if it is
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Jan 23, 2013 04:05
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Guy A. Person posted:Yeah definitely, thats why I want to give myself time to read a full book and process and enjoy it before running one of these. I was just thinking we could maybe get a list of potential candidates together, that way I could read one myself and get ready for an upcoming read-through. That's a really good idea. If we can pick out several books in advance, I'll volunteer for a specific one too. Off to the Kindle store now!
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Jan 23, 2013 20:05
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This one is starting out fun! Consolidating the current list. Clues/characters: Wychwood-under-Ashe Not a character, exactly, but the town. Notable for having a history of witchcraft accusations and the occult. Luke Fitzwilliam Our hero and detective. Retired policeman returning from abroad. He seems very gung-ho about everything. Newcomer to Wychwood-under-Ashe. Maybe a bit impulsive--he leaves his train to check out the result of a horse he bet on, and he won on a long shot. Mrs. Pinkerton Old lady who Luke met on the train. Luke liked her because she reminded him of a beloved old aunt. She was going to Scotland Yard to tell them about the murders - she claimed to know who the murderer was. She is now deceased, probably on account of more murders. Dr. Humbleby Doctor who Pinkerton claimed would be the next victim of the murders. Died, probably murdered. Jimmy Lorrimer Luke's old friend. Got him an excuse to go to Wychwood-under-Ashe through his cousin Bridget. Bridget Conway Jimmy's cousin and Whitfield's secretary. Very mysterious young lady. Gordon Whitfield Owner of Ashe Manor. Egotistical moron who runs a series of gossip rags. Very wealthy. Bridget lists several more (Thomas, Wake, Ellsworthy, Horton), but I'm not inclined to count them until they've actually entered the story. The murders: Mrs. Pinkerton was killed in a hit-and-run car accident, either before or after talking to Scotland Yard. Motive is obvious, if before - killed to protect the killer's identity. Dr. Humbleby died of Septicaemia, apparently. Likely another murder. Amy Gibbs - first person Pinkerton noticed with the symptoms before she died Carter - "he drank" Tommy Pierce - bully to smaller kids An unknown number ("There have been a lot of deaths this year") of other victims before Pinkerton. Zola fucked around with this message at 16:57 on Jan 28, 2013 |
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Jan 24, 2013 20:04
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ProfessorProf posted:In addition to all the Golden Age classics, I'd be interested in reading some of the more recent additions to the genre, maybe something like Simon Brett's Fethering series. For more obscure books, though, someone'd probably have to read it in advance in order to act as mediator... Well, pick out the next two mysteries so Guy A. Person and I can get ready to host. It doesn't bother me to have two books going at the same time.
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Jan 25, 2013 00:02
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ProfessorProf posted:If it's up to me, then I'll go out on a limb and nominate... I know nothing about mysteries, so those are fine by me. What about our other thread participants?
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Jan 25, 2013 00:37
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Autumncomet posted:Sure. Well, it seemed to take about a month to go through the last novel, I don't know if the holidays hindered or helped. One book a month isn't too bad, I don't think, and if we get an advance list going, there's always Paperback Swap
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Jan 25, 2013 01:38
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(I also know nothing) The Ponson Case is the cheaper one, though, if it comes down to that. 
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Guy A. Person posted:That sort've makes sense, and we have also had 3 of the 4 victims as men. No, either is fine. We might consider switching from The Ponson Case to The Pit Prop Syndicate since Pit Prop Syndicate is on Project Gutenberg and is free, but I'm fine with whatever you choose--if you can't choose, just flip a coin and I'll take the other. Zola fucked around with this message at 16:56 on Jan 28, 2013 |
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Jan 25, 2013 19:17
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Guy A. Person posted:So I was mulling this over this morning and I will go ahead and get the Body on the Beach. My brother gave me a $100 Amazon gift card for Christmas and somehow I managed to not spend it all the next day so the extra cost doesn't bother me, and I am leaning toward reading something more modern anyway. I think there's plenty of time this way, so I'll do the Ponson Case--that gives everyone probably two months to find a copy of the book. ProfessorProf, if you would be so kind to update the OP so that everyone knows what books will be next, that would be great. On to the current section. I agree that the killer could be a woman, I went back to chapter one and Miss Pinkerton said "the look on a person's face" -- the only time she referenced "him" was when she was speaking of the Abercrombie case and how somebody had said there was a special look he gave his victims. Hopefully there will be some more information in subsequent chapters on people who own cars--if Miss Pinkerton's was murdered, then likely it was someone from the village. I am hoping for more information about Jim Harvey, Amy's boyfriend, because he's a mechanic so conceivably has the know-how to cover up the fact that a car has hit a pedestrian. Being a mechanic, he also has access to cars, meaning he could use someone else's car to divert suspicion--he might even have copies of keys. Zola fucked around with this message at 00:33 on Feb 9, 2013 |
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Jan 29, 2013 19:30
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ProfessorProf posted:
Who might have hat paint in the first place? If it were a crime of opportunity, such as the boyfriend, he might have just grabbed it from somewhere and thought nothing of it, just that it was convenient. The paint might even belong to Miss Waynflete but of course she didn't want to say anything for fear of being accused. It might even have belonged to the late Miss Pinkerton. Also, has anyone noticed that the fact that the cat has sore ears has been mentioned twice? I'm sure there's some significance to his sore ears. Edit: Wait! I have discovered a Clue. The hat paint apparently had oxalic acid in it, they said Miss Gibbs died of oxalic acid poisoning. I did a search on oxalic acid and it's why you only use the stalks of rhubarb for pie and not the leaves, and I also saw that beekeepers have been using it for varroa mite control. Given that this book came out in 1939, I think that it's not outside of the range of possibility that it was also used for treating ear mites, likely the animal's ears were painted with a solution of oxalic acid such as with hat paint. So I predict a scene with Wonky Pooh where someone notices the insides of his ears are stained red. Again, the hat paint might legitimately have belonged to Miss Wayneflete and she was afraid to speak up, but that means it could well have belonged to Miss Pinkerton, as she had observed that Wonky Pooh's ears were very sore. Zola fucked around with this message at 00:33 on Feb 9, 2013 |
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Jan 31, 2013 02:06
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Guy A. Person posted:Excellent catch! I know we have been told about Winky Pooh's ears multiple times at this point so it certainly is a clue. I am--I want to get more information about the characters. I'm wondering if it might turn out Amy Gibbs' poisoning truly was accidental--if she'd been helping Miss Waynflete medicate Wonky Pooh, she might have had the bottle of hat paint in her room. I'm going to keep my eye on Miss Waynflete as well Zola fucked around with this message at 00:32 on Feb 9, 2013 |
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Feb 1, 2013 00:11
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Autumncomet posted:Are we going to do The Ponson Case/The Body on the Beach at the same time as Murder is Easy or are you two just reading it to lead us through the discussion ahead of time? Reading it ahead so we can lead people through it. It's the weekend, so I'm sure I'll get it read.
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Feb 2, 2013 01:08
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I've got to throw this out there... a couple of times it's been mentioned that Ellsworthy has a greenish tinge to his hands. Well, I did some digging, and it's most likely Raynaud's phenomenon (although we think of cyanosis as causing a blue tinge, some people get a green tinge). Raynaud's phenomenon has a great many possible causes, but one of them is mercury. This seems to bring us back to hats again. Everyone has heard of "mad as a hatter", because mercury was used in felting process. This book came out in 1939, and mercury for hat-making wasn't banned in the US until 1941. I'm not sure when it was banned in the UK, but I'd guess a similar date, so probably the effects of mercury poisoning were fairly common knowledge at that time. According to Wikipedia:[/spoiler] quote:The hatters, after being exposed to the mercury fumes, acted shy in one moment and highly irritable in the next moment Mr. Ellsworthy has been described as "a very exquisite young man" with "long black artistic hair". Could he have been working with a felt hat and gotten a light dose of mercury poisoning? Miss Waynflete had a felt hat as well. This may still be a red herring, because the anesthetic Procaine, perhaps better known by the more familiar "Novocaine" can also cause greenish-tinged hands in people who have an allergy to one of the metabolites. Furthermore, we know that Mr. Ellsworthy messes about with watercolors, so it's perfectly possible that his hands were simply stained from one of his paints--yet another thing that can cause greenish-tinged hands is exposure to copper dust, so if he was mixing his own colors, he may have used verdigris for the green. We need more info. Has anyone figured out what the "water scheme" they've mentioned repeatedly is all about? I am ready to move on if everyone else is. Zola fucked around with this message at 00:32 on Feb 9, 2013 |
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Feb 4, 2013 04:12
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This is a quick post so I can get the thought out here. I think Bridget is the murderer. I think that she is killing anyone who she feels has caused any kind of trouble for Lord Whitcomb. I will go into detail a bit later when I have some more time, but Miss Waynflete is next on the hitlist if my theory is correct. Zola fucked around with this message at 00:31 on Feb 9, 2013 |
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Feb 7, 2013 01:04
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Guy A. Person posted:Cool. I am very interested to hear your reasoning, I thought Bridget seemed to be suspicious but couldn't put my finger on why or think of any solid evidence aside from a gut feeling It seems like everyone who has been murdered so far has either pissed off Lord Whitfield or gotten too close to the truth (Miss Pinkerton). We know Bridget will do ANYTHING to please Whitfield, even throw a tennis match to satisfy his ego. When Bridget brings Luke to meet Miss Waynflete: "I thought" Bridget said--and again he noticed the curious flat tone..." Then they are having the conversation and Luke gets the feeling that she was not telling the whole story and that she wanted him to know it And then just before they leave, Miss Wayneflete and Bridget exchange "a rapid look with a hint of interrogation about it" Which at first blush I put down as them wondering if they should tell Luke their suspicious, but now I wonder if it had another meaning. We know that Bridget Conway and Miss Waynflete were Miss Pinkerton's social equals, Tommy's mother Mrs. Pierce refers to them as "gentry". Now, on to Ellsworthy. I am actually thinking that what he is is a shrewd shopkeeper. His so-called "orgies" might drum up business for the town and thus his shop. I also think that he may be blackmailing Bridget (making her marriage even more imperative) because I think he does herbs (which as I mentioned in an earlier post, could have been the cause of his stained hands) There's a bit of possible evidence there as to Bridget's mental state as well. When Luke comes to find her after talking to Ellsworthy, she seems "as though she were returning from some far-off world..." Rose Humbleby also tells Luke "Miss Pinkerton was worried about her in some way. She was always asking me questions..." Why IS that? Miss Pinkerton was able to predict Dr. Humbleby's death, that's what she had intended to report to Scotland Yard. I said earlier that I thought Miss Waynflete was next, but as I wrote this, it also occurred to me that it could also be Ellsworthy if he is trying to blackmail Bridget Now, all of this is subject to change as we read further, but that's my current theory. Zola fucked around with this message at 00:31 on Feb 9, 2013 |
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Feb 7, 2013 06:19
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And here it is, the enormous red herring! "They all die," said Lord Whitfield. Bridget is seeing to it. Edit: although if Miss Wayneflete was still in love with Lord Whitfield, it's possible she is responsible. I need to meditate on this a bit longer--the thing is, she's older so very possibly might not physically be able to swing a sack of sand, whereas Bridget struck me as more athletic AND she was outside when the chauffeur was killed. Zola fucked around with this message at 19:13 on Feb 8, 2013 |
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Feb 8, 2013 18:38
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ProfessorProf posted:I'm on board with the Bridget Theory at this point. The important murders, in my eyes, are Amy, Pinkerton, and Rivers. The Ponson Case is not quite a simple whodunit, but there's plenty to discuss, and I think that we can use it. I would use a slightly altered criteria for considering the mystery "solved" because it's not as straightforward. The chapters are also longer, I think. I may start us with three and if that takes too long, I'll cut it down to 2.
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Feb 9, 2013 00:18
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Guy A. Person posted:I feel like the Body on the Beach is the same way, not necessarily an open ended whodunit like the Christie books with a clear list of suspects etc. but still with a lot to speculate on. At the same time I am still finishing up and without people to discuss it with I may have skimmed over some clues. I'm ready to go, I sent you a pm.
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Feb 9, 2013 18:40
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Wisp posted:Man, I read way too slowly to keep up with this thread. If you aren't quite ready, please, speak up! What's been happening right now is the leader will put up the next chapter once the discussion dies down.
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Feb 10, 2013 01:34
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^^^ You may have unraveled it, Guy A. Person! The thing with Miss Waynflete is that if Whitfield killed her bird and it frightened her enough to break off the engagement, it's more reasonable that she would resent him--it doesn't make sense that she would be murdering people on his behalf out of love. I don't even know if she drives, but it's perfectly possible that Bridget could have taken the other car to London and just used a spare set of keys to take the Rolls. If Bridget is the one who is insane, then now that she has broken off the engagement with Whitfield, one wonders if she will attempt to kill him, too. I'll be disappointed if it's Whitfield because it was so obvious that he had issues that I felt it surely must be a red herring, as was the emphasis on "him". I'm holding out for Bridget. Maybe Waynflete wants her there to prevent her from killing anyone else? I can't wait to read the rest! Zola fucked around with this message at 06:21 on Feb 13, 2013 |
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Feb 13, 2013 06:18
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ProfessorProf posted:This actually ties into the alternate theory presented by Guy - she's not doing it because she loves Whitfeld, but because she wants to frame him. My vote, although this has been so much fun I honestly don't care if I'm completely wrong: The killer is Bridget.
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Feb 13, 2013 06:26
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I'm definitely ready
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Feb 17, 2013 19:42
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I'm ready to go on the Ponson Case. It seemed to me that the chapters were longer than the Christie ones, so what I would like everyone to do is start with 1-3 and let me know if that's too big a chunk, in which case we'll do two chapters at a time. And we were all right--it was a woman! We did really well on that one, I think we can definitely say we solved it!
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Feb 18, 2013 01:54
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Since this book doesn't have as many chapters until the big reveal, two chapters at a time would probably give everyone more chance for discussion.
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Feb 19, 2013 04:11
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Yes, you should read the first three chapters of The Ponson Case.
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Feb 19, 2013 05:02
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Is everyone ready to move on?
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Feb 21, 2013 19:06
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