Bring in the new and revisit the old!

I am starting with a sad one. As you know, I love Agatha Christie's books, but the latest one I have read, Postern of Fate, was hard to read. It is a Tommy and Tuppence story and the last book that she wrote. I didn't realise that when I read it, and despite it's plot brilliance, which really was gripping, I found it was full of repetition, inconsistencies, and discrepancies, very unlike Agatha Christie. I read afterwards that she was in the early stages of dementia, which makes me sad. The idea that her brilliant brain was still susceptible to such a destructive illness. Part of me wishes that the publishers had not published this book or that her editors had done their job properly, but another part of me feels that if it hadn't been published, we would never have seen how this sad disease doesn't discriminate - everyone is vulnerable. I am back to reading her earlier books, but it is tempting me to read her books in chronological order. I find it fascinating the differences between her older and more recent works and I have to keep on reminding myself that some of her books are more than 100 years old.

To cheer myself up a bit, I read A Christmas Case: A Posie Parker Novella by L.B. Hathaway, which I picked up in a charity shop - an ideal place to find surprises! The author admits that she loves detective novels and adores Agatha Christie's novels, and while this is very much in the style of Agatha Christie, she has a wonderful style of her own, and I loved the way this was written. It starts off at a house party on Christmas Eve, with each house guest being invited to tell a story about a mystery they have encountered in the past. The puzzles are original and unexpectedly resolved as you progress through the book. I really liked the characters and even thought it was a very busy set of stories, everything included was vital to the final conclusions. I am very excited to have discovered this new author and I am looking forward to reading more. The only disappointment is that it isn't sold on Hive, an independent bookstore.

As you know, I discover a lot of books in charity shops and our local post office in St Just-in-Penwith, which sells books in aid of Cancer Research UK. I love children's books and there are so many classics that I am still working my way through. I recently discovered Pollyanna, by Eleanor H. Porter, which when I started it, I thought was going to be very similar to Anne of Green Gables, another one of my favourites. But, while there are similarities, - both focus on very animaged orphans, there was also such a uniqueness to it. It was so simple,

and so heart-warming! Just a simple message throughout, delivered via a game, taught to her by her father and which educated a whole community into being glad rather than sad. I feel that if the whole world read Pollyanna, and played the game, it would be such a better place.

Another discovery is Strange Magic by  Syd Moore is the start of a series of books about the Essex Witch Museum. Rosie Strange inherits the dilapidated museum from an estranged relative and visits it before planning to put it on the market. But once there, she is pulled into a mystery with the curator, for whom she has mixed-feelings, to put some bones to rest in order to rescue a child who has been taken poorly after being possessed by a lost spirit. It is such an interesting plot - a little bit of romance, some history, and lots of mystery and adventure. There was a lot of cross-England travelling and I really enjoyed the descriptions of the people and places that they visited. The museum sounds wonderful and I would love to visit it. While there wasn't a cliff-hanger at the end, I want to know what happens next, so I am definitely going to order the next installation!

Finally, The Ancient Curse by Valerio Massimo Manfredi, described as "A crime so cruel it calls for revenge after millennia".  When I was growing up, I wanted to be an archaeologist. I didn't manage that and became a librarian instead, a career that I love and highly recommend. Anyway, back to the book. The style reminded me the M.L. Longworth books that I was reading over the Summer, and blogged about in July 2025. They were set in France, while this one was set in Italy, but they both bring regional food into the plotlines and the beautiful local countrysides. However, this Italian murder mystery is darker, and very interesting, with regards to ancient Italian history. It focuses on a series of very gruesome killings which have links to an unexplored tomb. Each victim has been brutally torn to pieces, and it is up to a young archaeologist to find out who (or what) is causing the deaths. Looking at the cover, I thought it might be a bit cheesy, but the plot sounded intriguing. It reminded me a bit of the Relic, by Lincoln Preston (a book which was good but terrifying), but it was less of a movie blockbuster, and more of a historical monster thriller. A great surprise and a little bit scary!

So, enough for now. Time to read. Let me know your thoughts and recommendations!