Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Signs You're in an Agatha Christie Novel

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic from The Broke and the Bookish is a freebie.  I've had a lot of fun with Freebies in the past with posts on signs you're in a cozy mystery, a contemporary romance, or a historical romance.  Today I thought I'd go with Top Ten Signs You're in an Agatha Christie Novel.

1.  You're a young woman with no family, no money, an animated face, and a great deal of common sense.  You are a mere moments away from getting swept into an adventure and you'll probably end up in another country.

2.  You're an older woman with a commanding presence, feel you always know what is right for everyone, and have complete control of the family money.  If you're still alive at the beginning you're not going to make it past page 50.

3.  You're at an archaeological dig and the head archaeologist insisted on bringing his wife who no one likes and she's intent on causing trouble.

4.  You're young and wealthy and it's very important to be modern.  You talk a lot about either it be perfectly fine to spend time with your new husband's ex-wife or have a flirtation with another man in front of your husband because you're above all that sticky sentimentality.  It's not going to end well.

5.  You are traveling anywhere on anything and one of your fellow passengers is a short little Belgium man with an egg shaped head and a spectacular mustache.  Expect delays.

6.  You're about to get on a boat to go out to an island with a strange mix of people who seem to have nothing in common and don't fit what you expected your other guests to look like.  Don't get on the boat!  You're not going to like what happens next.

7.  You're staying in a hotel or on a boat and you either get someone else's suitcase or some strange object is dropped down the air vent.  A strange man who may or may not be injured will show up in the middle of night and either be very threatening or need you to hide him.

8.  You are in a foreign country for the first time and go out on the balcony to enjoy the night air.  While outside you overhear a conversation by two unseen people below.  They're planning a murder.  It's always a murder never dinner reservations or anything like that.

9.  You insist on traveling with expensive and attention catching jewels despite being told by everyone remotely close to you that you really really shouldn't.  Double points if you have a soon to be ex-husband and a new boyfriend who is a major gold digger.

10. You are one of 3 or more sisters of whom the majority stayed unmarried.  Your father was either a general or a doctor and had a very commanding presence.  You are all considered an establishment in the village you live in though your sisters are now dying like flies.  Bonus points if you have a servant who commits suicide by drinking hat paint.  Double bonus points if you know what hat paint is.

Are you in an Agatha Christie novel?  The good news is that you're not guaranteed to be murdered just because you match up with one of these signs.  You may end up just being part of the investigation.  If you are a murder victim it's most likely going to be quick and not too gruesome.  Unless you're unlucky enough to be in one her books where she uses poison as the method of murder.

42 comments:

  1. OOOH MY WORD!!!!!! This is the best post ever!!! Would love to be in an Agatha Christie novel (not to be murdered though). Congratulations, this is an excellent post and I will save it. (If I can just figure out how)

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    1. Thank you so much! It'd be fun to be a side character in a Christie book but definitely not a primary character!

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  2. I love Agatha Christie's books, especially the Miss Maple ones. She writes about people so well. The only other author who has captured people as well is Alexander MCCall Smith. Great topic. My TTT

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    1. You know I don't think I've ever read any Alexander McCall Smith. I need to fix that.

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  3. Absolutely love this! Reading this, made my day.

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  4. I am a huge Agatha Christie fan so really enjoyed reading your very creative post!! Well done!!

    Here's my TTT post for the week:
    http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2016/06/top-ten-tuesday-freebie-week-things-i.html

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    1. Agatha is just the best! I'm so glad you enjoyed this! I had fun with it.

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  5. LOL! This is great! Christie novels are very entertaining to read, but I'm so glad I'm not in one!

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    1. I think it'd be okay to be a side character but only a very side character!

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  6. I love #5! Poirot I assume? #8 is great too. But yeah- why never anything mundane? Overhead conversations are always nefarious aren't they? :) I love those retro style covers too, like the one for The Man in the Brown Suit.

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    1. Yes Poirot! He's not a good person to travel with! Things always go terribly wrong. The Man in the Brown Suit is a good one! You can almost feel her joy as she experiments.

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  7. Lol. Love this! Especially # 2 and 9, which ring true for me. I haven't read much Christie, but I understand the points you're making, and this is great fun, thanks!

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  8. hahaha! I love your "ten signs you're in a..." posts! #5 and #6 - LOL!! My TTT

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  9. This is hilarious. You can't write a gajillion novels without repeating some themes! Lol!

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    1. Thanks! I was actually surprised with how little she repeated themes. It's crazy impressive!

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  10. Another fun post, Katherine! You are so good at these. LOL

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    1. Thank you! This was really fun though harder than I expected! She didn't repeat much!

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  11. I love this post and I really need to read this author...I feel ashamed as a mystery lover to have not read her...lol. I have watched all the Miss Marples and a few Poirot though...lol.

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    1. The BBC's Poirots and Marples are pretty close. They at least capture the feel of they don't capture the story perfectly. I think if you enjoy the shows you'll love the book.

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  12. Hahahahahahahahahahaha! You win the book blogosphere today! This is fabulous!

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  13. I shouldn't be cackling so loudly at 4am in the morning! I'll wake Himself up and it'll all be YOUR FAULT:)))

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    1. Well hopefully I didn't contribute to waking him up but I am really glad you enjoyed this! I had a good time writing this!

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  14. Hahaha! These are awesome! I love these posts that you do. I love the older lady one. That cracks me up!

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    1. Thanks! The older lady is one of the few themes that Christie repeats a lot. I kind of wonder if she had someone in particular in mind when she was writing them.

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  15. This is amazing!! Just love it :)

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  16. I would much rather be part of the investigation instead of being murdered! I love this post, its so creative.

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    1. Definitely! The good thing is that if you are murdered in a Christie book it's usually quick.

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  17. Love this list! I just finished a couple of retreads of Christie in audio, and several of your list items showed up :)

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    1. She's pretty amazing about not repeating too many themes. I bet her books are fantastic in audio! I listened to a radio adaptation of And Then There Were None and loved it.

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  18. I LOVE this! What a great topic! Every single one is on point!

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    1. Thank you! It was harder than I expected because she didn't repeat herself very much!

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  19. I thought I was in danger there for a moment, as I am one of 4 sisters. But 2 of us are married and 2 aren't, my father is blue collar, and I've never even heard of hat paint.

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  20. I absolutely adoooored this post!! As a huge Agatha Christie fan I was cackling while reading them all!!

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  21. What a terrific post, Katherine! I chuckled through all of them, and could identify many of the relevant books (or plots used more than once.) I have one more to add: You live in or are visiting an English village, where you meet a dithery old lady who is fond of tea and is often seen knitting something pink and fluffy. Leave the village at once, because a murder is guaranteed, and you don't want to be the victim.

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