Poirot: Mrs McGinty's Dead

Agatha Christie is one of the most amazing authors of all time. The book Mrs McGinty's Dead was first published in 1952. The novel features the characters Hercule Poirot and Ariadne Oliver. 


In the plot James Bentley is arrested for the murder of old Mrs McGinty. The man is easy convicted and set to be sent to the gallows but Superintendent Spence who helped convict him is not convinced of his guilt and in his uneasiness at sending an innocent man to his death he turns to Poirot for help. Poirot with the help of his writer friend Ariadne Oliver set out to find the real killer in this whodunnit.


The Poirot TV version from 2008 stars David Suchet. He plays such an intriguing character. Reminds me of The Penguin from Batman and in fact I'm sure that the actor David Suchet would of played a brilliant villain Penguin if ever had been given the opportunity. He gives the character a distinctive waddle. 


The actor portraying James Bentley, Joe Absolom on death row is familiar from the Doc Martin TV series.
I good witty part in the movie has Poirot ringing up Police Superintendent Spence excitedly telling him that someone has attempted to kill him and he is so happy about the fact when he tells him.

David Suchet Poirot wears a charming broach on his jacket in one scene and the clothing, room props, locations and scenery in the movie is warm and gorgeous.
There interesting is a comment to Poirot about him living in one of those "Modenist' places.

Billie Bradley and Her Inheritance free ebook

For those of us that love old classic mysteries having a kindle that you can download with endless free old ebooks online is great. One such series is the Billie Bradley Series available on the manybooks website.

Billie Bradley and Her Inheritance or The Queer Homestead at Cherry Corners was written by Janet D. Wheeler and published in 1920. This is the first book in the series and a great introduction to the characters.

In the plot Billie Bradley whilst messing around in a school classroom after school breaks an expensive statue and worries how she is going to pay to replace it. In the meantime her friends tell her that they are going away to a private boarding school the following year and Billie and her brother Chatwood are not able to follow suit as their family can't afford for them to go as their money is tied up in property investment at that time.

Billie then falls heir to an old homestead, through a deceased Auntie with the unoccupied mansion located far away in a lonely section of the country and considered haunted. The story revolves around Billie, accompanied by some of her friends visiting her inherited property, and the queer things that happen there.

A charming story, good characters, 4 of the 6 look like they would be romantically linked in the future. Made me want to start book 2 in the series right away is always a good sign. And in fact I did and found the second book starts exactly where the first ended so I would definately recommend reading them in order.

There are 9 books in this series which are:

1. Billie Bradley and Her Inheritance, 1920
2. Billie Bradley at Three Towers Hall, 1920
3. Billie Bradley on Lighthouse Island, 1920
4. Billie Bradley and Her Classmates, 1921
5. Billie Bradley at Twin Lakes, 1922
6. Billie Bradley at Treasure Cove, 1928
7. Billie Bradley at Sun Dial Lodge, 1929
8. Billie Bradley and the School Mystery, 1930
9. Billie Bradley Winning the Trophy, 1932