I'm A British Mystery Buff, Big Time!

M. C. Beaton's, Agatha Raisin, HERE

     

     To me, the best mystery author ever is Agatha Christie; and the best actor to play Poirot is David Suchet. He and PBS, over the last twenty- five years, have made all of the Poirot stories into movies, including the very first book, which will explain why and how he ended up in England, and why he became a detective. The book and PBS movie (Masterpiece) is "The Mysterious Affair At Styles". If you stream Acorn.TV on RUKO, you can see everyone made starring David Suchet.  The fun thing to do is print off a list of the Poirot stories and watch them in chronological order. The reason I say stories is I think they use some of the short stories as well. You can also see her Miss Marple on Acorn. 

     Over the years I've read and re-read, watched and re-watched the Poirot and Miss Marple books, until I can almost quote them, which has lead me to look for other authors.

     M. C. Beaton is the pseudonym of Marion Chesney when she writes mysteries. She writes the Hamish Macbeth series, which I am not a big fan; but her Agatha Raisin series is my favorite. Today I discovered this has been made into a series! It's currently showing on AcornTV, so it will probably be on PBS. Amazon is supporting Acorn, so you're not able to buy it presently there; maybe once it's off Acorn.

     Agatha Raisin had her own PR business. When she was a child her family visited Cotswold, a small village in England. She promised herself that when she grew up, she would live there. The first novel deals with a middle aged business woman from London, who buys a house in Cotswold and tries to adjust to village life, even buying a quiche made by a professional cook and entering it into the fete "Best Quiche" baking contest. The outcome is hilarious. The book is titled "The Quiche of Death".I hope you enjoy this series as much as I am. If you click HERE you will be taken to M. C. Beaton's website and will see the series book list.

The Golden Age Mystery Writers-Annie Haynes 1865-1929

By Judy Harper 2012

     Dean Street Press is republishing books they call from "The Golden Age Of Mystery Writers" and are being sold on Amazon. The first author I read was Annie Haynes.

     Who is Annie Haynes? Curtis Evans, author and crime fiction historian wrote a forward on the recently reprinted books of Annie Haynes. He stated that it's been eighty years since this author has been in print. Her father moved out and left Annie, her mother and brother. They had to move in with her grandmother. She was born at Lucesletshire, England. She was disabled with crippling arthritis and at some point she ended up at the family home of Henry Heather-Bigg, the father of  her friend,Ada Heather-Bigg. Henry Heather-Bigg was a pioneer in the development of orthopedic and artificial limbs. Annie Haynes didn't begin writing until her fifties.

     Agatha Christie is one of my favorite authors, so when I discovered "The Golden Age" books, I jumped right in and started reading. My first book was the first book written by Annie Haynes, "The Bungalow Mystery".

     This book appeared in 1923, in the early years of the Golden Age. The plot has disguised identities with passion driven characters. Though there are "weeping and fainting ladies", it doesn't take away from the mystery and I didn't guess who committed the murder until the author gave the clue at the end, Like an Ellery Queen novel, I didn't see it coming.

     Hope you enjoy.