#76 Murder in Three Acts

September has been a slow month. I've been reading, but non-fiction takes a lot longer to get through. Hopefully I'll have one more post this month.

Book 76 was Agatha Christie's Murder in Three Acts (Three Act Tragedy). Given the title, it follows that this mystery is organized around the theater and uses theatrical vocabulary to describe events and the characters.

Sir Charles Cartwright, a middle-ages stage actor, hosts a dinner party at his house. In attendance are:
Mr. Satterthwaite: a socialite patron of the arts and drama
Dr. Bartholomew Strange: a nerve specialist
Miss Milray: Sir Charles' secretary/housekeeper
Angela Sutcliffe : an actress
Captain Dacres
Mrs. Dacres: dressmaker
Anthony Astor: Anthony Astor is her penname, playwright
Lady Mary Lytton Gore
Hermione Lytton Gore: known as Egg
Oliver Manders: young man in love with Egg
Reverend Babbington
Mrs. Babbington
Hercule Poirot

As they enjoy cocktails, Reverend Babbington suddenly falls ill and dies. His death is ruled an accident.

Several weeks later, Dr. Strange hosts a dinner party and dies after drinking a cocktail. An autopsy reveals that Dr. Strange died of nicotine poisoning. Many of the same invitees were present at both dinner parties.

Sir Charles, Mr. Satterhtwaite, Egg, and Hercule Poirot believe that the Reverend's death wasn't an accident. They work to solve these murders and prevent a third from occurring.

Recommendation: Notes on a Foreign Country

I have not yet read this, but when I finish one of the 6 books I'm currently reading I intend to check out Suzy Hansen's Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World.
Hansen is a contributor to the Times Magazine and after the attacks of September 11th, she moved to Istanbul. She travels to Egypt, Greece, Afghanistan, Iran, and the Mississippi Delta. Using the complex histories and current situations in these places, Hansen interrogates her native country, the United States.

One of the major questions of Hansen's book, is the ways in which the United States fails to interrogate itself and its role in shaping the Middle East. Notes on a Foreign Country is an act of self-questioning and of grappling with the ways in which the United States perceives itself and the way the country actually is. For example, the United States doesn't consider itself and empire, but Hansen argues that it is.

I stumbled across Hansen's book in the New York Times Book Review and I've included the link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/28/books/review/notes-on-a-foreign-country-suzy-hansen.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fbook-review&action=click&contentCollection=review&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=13&pgtype=sectionfront

The Times Review' is much better than my brief synopsis.

Secret Journeys of a Lifetime

My latest book was a coffee table style travel book. National Geographic's Secret Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 of the World's Best Hidden Travel Gems.

The 9 chapters are:

• The World At Your Feet: Stunning Views from the world's high points
• Last Wildernesses: Remote and wild places where nature exists in the raw
• Island Getaways: Idyllic hideaways, from the sunbathed tropics to the icebound poles.
• The Road Less Traveled: Classic road trips, quiet walks, and rugged overland expeditions.
• Secret History: Ancient sites off the beaten track
• Spiritual Havens: From Cathedrals, to mountaintop temples, to ancient tombs
• Hidden Treasures: Museums, houses, and castles tucked away in quiet corners
• Undiscovered Villages: Rural life, from the Indonesian jungle to the English countryside
• City Secrets: Hidden gardens and unspoiled quarters in the hearts of busy cities.

Each place is accompanied by a half or full page picture. There are also several Top-Ten lists (ex. Top Ten Markets, or Wildflower Displays, or Wine/Beer Festivals). 

Funerals Are Fatal

Funerals Are Fatal by Agatha Christie (1953)

The Abernathie family gathers at the family home, Enderby, for Richard Abernathie's funeral. Richard had died peacefully in his sleep. Flighty Aunt Cora remarked in her simple, childlike-way, that Richard had been murdered. The rest of the family laughed Cora's remark off; she often said outlandish things. But, Aunt Cora is found murdered several days later--stabbed in the back with hatchet while sleeping.

The family solicitor, Mr. Entwhistle, calls upon his longtime friend Hercule Poirot to investigate Richard's death and Cora's initial claim that he was murdered.

Poirot comes to Enderby pretending to be Mr. Pontelier, the head of U.N.A.R.C.O., an organization for refugees. Under this disguise he is able to study the members of the Abernathie family:

Mrs. Leo Abernathie (Helen): wife of Richard's deceased brother Leo.
Timothy Abernathie: Richard's invalid brother, who is not so helpless as one might think
Timothy's wife Maude: always there for Timothy, but absent on the day Cora died.
Richard's nieces and nephew:
George: loved horses and women and was unlucky with both. Also suspected of diverting company funds
Susan Banks: Richard's niece, the only one who inherited his brains. However, her chemist husband Gregory is not well-liked
Rosamund: Richard's other niece, an actress.
Michael Shane: Rosamund's husband: his adultery gave him an alibi.
Miss Gilchrist: Aunt Cora's companion and cook.