July 2024 Recommended Reading and Viewing

[Coír Draoi Ceítien]

Summer's underway and everything's heating up! (Sometimes uncomfortably so.) For this July, I can't say that my choices are necessarily seasonally appropriate, but for me, it's comparatively new and I wanted to share it. I hope you like it.


Reading: The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) by Agatha Christie

On sick leave during the First World War, Arthur Hastings is vacationing at the old house of Styles Court in Essex when his hostess, Emily Inglethorp, suddenly dies overnight from strychnine poisoning. Amidst the rest of the family being thrown into turmoil, suspecting murder, Hastings takes advantage of the fact that a group of Belgian refugees is being housed nearby and recruits his old friend, former policeman Hercule Poirot, to investigate, leading to several twists and turns before the culprit is finally revealed. This was Christie's first novel, as well as the first of about 33 novels and 13 short story collections to feature the legendary Poirot, and it's a fine entertainment from a truly talented writer.

Trade 1: https://www.amazon.com/Mysterious-Affair-Styles-Hercule-Mysteries/dp/0062984632/
Trade 2: https://www.amazon.com/Mysterious-Affair-Styles-Hercule-Mysteries/dp/0063375907/
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Mysterious-Affair-Styles-Hercule-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B000FC12ZU/



Viewing: Murder on the Orient Express (Sidney Lumet, 1974)

This lavish film with an all-star cast, released a couple years before Christie's death and directed by Hollywood legend Sidney Lumet, was one of two films to meet with the author's approval as to faithfulness to her writing (her only gripe being the perceived less-than-magnificence of Poirot's mustache). Having booked the titular Orient Express from Istanbul to London, Hercule Poirot is accosted by a suspicious man wishing to hire him, but the detective turns him down; one morning, after a snowstorm, the strange man is found dead, having been stabbed twelve times. Suspicion turns to the motley assortment of characters aboard the train, leading to many shocking revelations and a strange end to a sad tale several years in the making. The movie managed to be a box office hit, earning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for co-star Ingrid Bergman as Greta Ohlsson, in addition to nominations for Actor (Albert Finney as Poirot), Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, Cinematography, and Costume Design.

DVD: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Orient-Express-Lauren-Bacall/dp/B06XGG697H/
Blu-Ray: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Orient-Express-Lauren-Bacall/dp/B09M5CZN6B/
Amazon Video: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Orient-Express-Albert-Finney/dp/B076KHB4LX/



Keep cool, everybody!