I’ve been at the beach, which naturally lends itself to spending a lot of time with your nose in a good book. So far, I’ve been able to read about a book a day. So here is an interim review of what I’ve been reading on vacation.

I’m a big Agatha Christie fan, especially the Hercule Poirot stories. It comes from watching David Suchet portray him on PBS (and now A&E). He embodies the character of Poirot so much, that my mental image of Poirot is always David Suchet.

But onto the book. Unlike most of Agatha’s other novels, this one is more than just the simple murder mystery for which she is so known. It rather is 12 short stories of Poirot being Poirot, solving everything from kidnappings to attempted poisonings. Having 12 stories jammed into a 200 page book means that each individual story is only a few pages long, which leads to the action developing quickly. The downside (of course) is that there really isn’t much time at all for plot and character development.

In short, if you like Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot, you’ll love this book. If you are new to either, I would recommend starting with one of Agatha’s more traditional novels first.

“Swing” is a book that Margaret got me for Christmas. I think it appealed to her on two fronts: First off, it is billed as a mystery and both Margaret and I love mysteries. But this book was different, in that it also had a companion Audio CD of music from the book. This additional CD is also supposed to provide clues to the mysteries of “Swing”, but isn’t necessary (For example, I thoroughly enjoyed the book without ever having listened to the CD).

But to set the record straingt, this book doesn’t become a mystery until 2/3 the way through it. Prior to transition to a mystery, I had already gotten hooked on the vivid representation of 1943 San Francisco from the perspective of a Jazz Musician. It was full of colorful stories, “hip” language, and a prelude to war. The US was on the brink of being forced into the war being waged in Europe and the Pacific. And both Jazz and love is in the air.

And the book only got better once it started truly being a mystery. But it was also an accesbily mystery (unlinke some of Agatha’s) where I was able to correctly guess some of the secrets many pages before they were revealed. My only complaint on the book was the last chapter (what should have been an Epilogue). Unlike in movies and TV shows where the writers assume their audience are morons and have to explain every plot twist, authors (and Rupert Holmes is guilty on this count) assume that their readers can figure out the missing pieces. I had to read the last chapter of this book twice before finally figuring out what was going on with all the characters.

The last chapter aside, the book is a really good read and I would recommend you check it out.