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Susan Hill – The Man in the Picture | Review

Title: The Man in the Picture

Author: Susan Hill

Type: Fiction

Page Count: 150

Rating: 3.5/5

I found it pretty difficult to focus on this one while I was reading it, but I don’t think that’s Susan Hill’s fault. I was just going through some stuff in life, and they stopped me from giving it my full attention, at least until about half way through, when I did get a little hooked and started enjoying it.

This is basically a quirky little historical fiction/horror hybrid which has all the hallmarks of a classic Hill tale. It was good but not great, quite a cool little novella, and a little bit of inspiration for me on a project that I’m currently working on. All of that should have spelled a cracking little read, but I suppose it wasn’t really for me. Oh well!

Learn more about The Man in the Picture.

Agatha Christie – Death in the Clouds | Review

Title: Death in the Clouds

Author: Agatha Christie

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 336

Rating 3.75/5

I hadn’t heard of this book before I saw it and bought it, and so I’m guessing it’s one of the lesser-known Hercule Poirot books. Still, I’m slowly working my way through all of Agatha Christie’s back catalogue and so it was inevitable that I’d eventually get to this one at some point or another.

It turned out to be pretty good, although I will concede that it was from Christie at her best. I also think that if you’ve read a lot of Christie’s work in the past, you’re going to find this one pretty predictable. It’s kind of obvious which clues are red herrings and which are important, even if you can’t figure out how that all comes together to point to the solution.

But I wasn’t too bothered about that anyway because I don’t really read murder mysteries to try to guess at the solution. That’s especially true with Agatha Christie, because the journey itself is such a pleasure that she makes it easy to keep on reading. Some of her characters were fantastic and much more three-dimensional than usual, while others were a little lackluster, which made it a mixed bag.

I also think that it had too much of a focus on blowpipes as a murder weapon, and I can say that because it isn’t a spoiler. It’s been overdone, although possibly just because Christie herself has been imitated so many times throughout the years, but really it felt like she was trying to be Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

All in all though, I’d definitely recommend this if you’re a Christie fan, and while it might not be the best story to start with, it’s worth grabbing if you see it in a charity shop.