Helpful Score: 3
In 1926, Agatha Christie disappearedmaking headlines across the worldonly to show up eleven days later at a spa under an assumed name. During those eleven days, did she have time to write a play?
Jordan Bingham needs a job and a new place to live. She has moved back to Harrison Falls and in with her wonderful not so law abiding uncles. Thank to her ex she is deep in debt and the grad school loans are hanging over her head.
She answers a blind ad and crosses her fingers. Thrilled to get an interview, the job sounds perfect and even includes room and board. Then she meets Vera Van Alst. Not the most friendly person and most of the town hates her, but she has this wonderful library. The job is tracking down a play rumored to have been written by Agatha Christie. Jordan knows she can do this job and convinces Miss Van Alst to give her a try. Then Jordan learns her predecessor was killed while looking for this play. She soon realizes that there is someone out there willing to kill to keep the play out of the hands of her new employer. The job is good but is it worth Jordans life?
Dollycass Thoughts
What a wonderful debut!
Jordan is a very intriguing protagonist. She is strong, smart, almost fearless and funny too. But the author doesnt stop there. The reader is treated to rich and real treasures in the supporting cast. There are the nefarious uncles who love Jordan so much and will do anything for her even if it means breaking the law. Vera Van Alst is getting a little less cranky but is definitely set in her ways. Officer Smiley and Detective Zinger are polar opposites in their investigative techniques but one is starting to grow on Jordan a lot more than the other. Librarian Lance would have me at the library 24/7 just mooning over him. My favorite human character definitely is Signora Panetone, Veras cook. She is priceless with her EAT NOW!! shouts at every delicious sounding meal. I think I gained weight just reading about these fabulous meals.
Then there are the felines and the canine. The Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde cat(s) had me in stitches. Walter, the pug, bails Jordan out of a tight situation and melted right into this readers hearts.
The Van Alst mansion is a character itself more than a setting. The climate controlled library, the back stairway, servants quarters that become Jordans garret, and the conservatory. The game clue kept coming to my mind as we traveled through the monstrous house. I cant wait to explore more in the next book.
The mystery is very complex and with all the twists and turns that keeps the reader guessing. I was truly surprised by the ending.
An excellent debut. Agatha Christie herself would give it 5 stars!!
Jordan Bingham needs a job and a new place to live. She has moved back to Harrison Falls and in with her wonderful not so law abiding uncles. Thank to her ex she is deep in debt and the grad school loans are hanging over her head.
She answers a blind ad and crosses her fingers. Thrilled to get an interview, the job sounds perfect and even includes room and board. Then she meets Vera Van Alst. Not the most friendly person and most of the town hates her, but she has this wonderful library. The job is tracking down a play rumored to have been written by Agatha Christie. Jordan knows she can do this job and convinces Miss Van Alst to give her a try. Then Jordan learns her predecessor was killed while looking for this play. She soon realizes that there is someone out there willing to kill to keep the play out of the hands of her new employer. The job is good but is it worth Jordans life?
Dollycass Thoughts
What a wonderful debut!
Jordan is a very intriguing protagonist. She is strong, smart, almost fearless and funny too. But the author doesnt stop there. The reader is treated to rich and real treasures in the supporting cast. There are the nefarious uncles who love Jordan so much and will do anything for her even if it means breaking the law. Vera Van Alst is getting a little less cranky but is definitely set in her ways. Officer Smiley and Detective Zinger are polar opposites in their investigative techniques but one is starting to grow on Jordan a lot more than the other. Librarian Lance would have me at the library 24/7 just mooning over him. My favorite human character definitely is Signora Panetone, Veras cook. She is priceless with her EAT NOW!! shouts at every delicious sounding meal. I think I gained weight just reading about these fabulous meals.
Then there are the felines and the canine. The Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde cat(s) had me in stitches. Walter, the pug, bails Jordan out of a tight situation and melted right into this readers hearts.
The Van Alst mansion is a character itself more than a setting. The climate controlled library, the back stairway, servants quarters that become Jordans garret, and the conservatory. The game clue kept coming to my mind as we traveled through the monstrous house. I cant wait to explore more in the next book.
The mystery is very complex and with all the twists and turns that keeps the reader guessing. I was truly surprised by the ending.
An excellent debut. Agatha Christie herself would give it 5 stars!!
Cathy C. (cathyskye) -
Helpful Score: 3
First Line: If I hadn't been desperate for a job and a new place to live, I might have made a run for it as soon as I got a good look at that sour face.
Jordan Kelly is in debt, thanks to school loans and a thieving ex-boyfriend. She needs a place to live, and she needs a job. NOW. When she learns of a position available that provides room and board while she spends her days tracking down rare books for a passionate collector, she can't believe her good fortune. But yes, there's a catch: Jordan will be working for Vera Van Alst-- the most hated person in Harrison Falls, New York.
Jordan's first assignment is to track down an Agatha Christie play. Supposedly written in eleven days while the famous author went missing, people aren't even certain that the play exists. The assignment is made even more difficult when Jordan learns that her predecessor met his untimely end while searching for it. This job is good, but with someone out there willing to kill to keep the play out of Vera's hands, Jordan's got to wonder if her new employment is worth losing her life over.
This is the first installment of the Book Collector cozy mystery series written by mother-daughter writing team Mary Jane and Victoria Maffini. It didn't take me many pages at all before I knew these two have a winner on their hands. Not only does the reader have the opportunity to learn about books, authors and book collecting, there's also a wonderful cast of characters to get acquainted with, and many, many moments filled with laughter. The sense of humor in this book is absolutely delicious!
Jordan Kelly is just the sort of smart yet hapless heroine that readers can fall in love with. Her life is not only complicated by her thieving ex and those student loans, she has uncles who aren't always on the right side of the law. Their unlawful knowledge can come in handy in certain circumstances, but at other times those uncles can make life difficult. Then there's Jordan's new boss, Vera Van Alst, whose five facial expressions include "scowl, glower, sneer, utter boredom, and reverence, although reverence was reserved for books in her collection." Don't stand in this woman's way because Vera would just as soon run over you with her wheelchair than look at you. The vast Van Alst mansion is a bit worse for wear (except for the pristine, state-of-the-art room that houses Vera's book collection), but Jordan loves her rooms-- even though she lives in "a house that's ruled by a bipolar cat that can walk through walls." I have to admit that Jordan and the cat made me laugh. A lot. Simply because it took her so long to figure out what was going on.
If you're in the mood to enjoy a good mystery with a cast of characters that will keep a grin plastered on your face, get your hands on The Christie Curse. I'm already impatiently waiting for Book Collector #2 (The Sayers Swindle).
Jordan Kelly is in debt, thanks to school loans and a thieving ex-boyfriend. She needs a place to live, and she needs a job. NOW. When she learns of a position available that provides room and board while she spends her days tracking down rare books for a passionate collector, she can't believe her good fortune. But yes, there's a catch: Jordan will be working for Vera Van Alst-- the most hated person in Harrison Falls, New York.
Jordan's first assignment is to track down an Agatha Christie play. Supposedly written in eleven days while the famous author went missing, people aren't even certain that the play exists. The assignment is made even more difficult when Jordan learns that her predecessor met his untimely end while searching for it. This job is good, but with someone out there willing to kill to keep the play out of Vera's hands, Jordan's got to wonder if her new employment is worth losing her life over.
This is the first installment of the Book Collector cozy mystery series written by mother-daughter writing team Mary Jane and Victoria Maffini. It didn't take me many pages at all before I knew these two have a winner on their hands. Not only does the reader have the opportunity to learn about books, authors and book collecting, there's also a wonderful cast of characters to get acquainted with, and many, many moments filled with laughter. The sense of humor in this book is absolutely delicious!
Jordan Kelly is just the sort of smart yet hapless heroine that readers can fall in love with. Her life is not only complicated by her thieving ex and those student loans, she has uncles who aren't always on the right side of the law. Their unlawful knowledge can come in handy in certain circumstances, but at other times those uncles can make life difficult. Then there's Jordan's new boss, Vera Van Alst, whose five facial expressions include "scowl, glower, sneer, utter boredom, and reverence, although reverence was reserved for books in her collection." Don't stand in this woman's way because Vera would just as soon run over you with her wheelchair than look at you. The vast Van Alst mansion is a bit worse for wear (except for the pristine, state-of-the-art room that houses Vera's book collection), but Jordan loves her rooms-- even though she lives in "a house that's ruled by a bipolar cat that can walk through walls." I have to admit that Jordan and the cat made me laugh. A lot. Simply because it took her so long to figure out what was going on.
If you're in the mood to enjoy a good mystery with a cast of characters that will keep a grin plastered on your face, get your hands on The Christie Curse. I'm already impatiently waiting for Book Collector #2 (The Sayers Swindle).
Jordan needs a job, and the perfect one is offered by the rich but hated elderly woman in the small town where she lives. She's hired to track down a rumored Agatha Christie play. Then she finds out her predecessor was pushed in front of a subway train. This is a cute book, I liked Jordan; her not-quite-law-abiding uncles are amusing and offer a lot of plot possibilities. The setting in the mansion is great. There's a potential love interest with a handsome cop. Sometimes I get nit-picky with this genre and I had a few raised eyebrow moments here: the lock-picking scene is flat-out wrong for example. I do like the setting and the book theme, and this is the first one in a series, perhaps I'll read the next.
Carol S. (waucondacarol) reviewed The Christie Curse (Book Collector, Bk 1) on + 319 more book reviews
Jordan needs a job to pay off all those college loans, but when she is commissioned by her town's most hated woman to search for a rumored missing Agatha Christie manuscript, she ends up the target of a killer. The other characters besides her employer such a Jordan's quirky uncles, the handsome librarian, the maybe stalker cop, the Italian cook, the ever present postal worker, the bookseller, the grieving fiancee and the seen better days mansion she moves into could all have come from the pages of a Christie novel. A clever plot.
