The Floating Admiral by Detection Club

Detection Club was formed in 1930 by a group of British mystery writers including Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, G. K. Chesterson etc. The club gave an opportunity for the members to meet over dinners and discuss plots and help each other. They even had an oath and agreed to adhere to a code of ethics so that the readers have a fair chance of guessing the culprit in their detective stories.

The Floating Admiral is a collaborative work done by many members of Detection Club including Chesterton, Whitechurch, Cole, Henry Wade, Christie, John Rhode, Milward Kennedy, Sayers, Ronald Knox, Freeman Wills Crofts, Edgar Jepson, Clemence Dane and Anthony Berkeley. 

This novel was written by the members of Detection Club as an answer to the critics who think the job of a mystery writer is very easy as they can always formulate the plot and the clues, the way that suits them. Each chapter was written by a member of the club, according to some rules.  Each writer even wrote a solution to the mystery, all of which are given at the end of the book. Among these, the one given by Agatha Christie is considered the best.

Now, the bad news. "The Floating Admiral" is a brilliant experiment carried out by many of the finest people in detective fiction but sadly it fails to impress as a fine work of mystery. The same reasons that make it stand apart also fails it. There are so many clues, so many people involved and add to it the different styles of writing, you get a sort of "semi-mess"! This book is indeed an intellectual exercise for the writers and readers alike and it remains only that.

A perfect book for a collector, read it only if you can appreciate the effort behind it...3 out of 5.

The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie

Yes, a Christie again. (This time I travelled to Coorg).

In the tiny village of Sittaford, Mrs Willett and her daughter, the new tenants, have invited some guests for tea. After tea, someone suggests a game of table turning and during the game the "spirit" declares that Captain Trevelyn, Major Burnaby's friend is murdered. Major Burnaby is very disturbed by this and  decides to go and see his friend, in spite of the heavy snow fall.  And yes, The "spirit" was true, Captain Trevlyn is murdered! In the next two days, James Pearson, Captain's nephew is arrested for murder. Enter Emily Trefusis, his fiance, who is determined to solve the mystery and save her love. This amateur sleuth soon encounters many suspicious characters which turns out to be mere red herrings.

This is a typical Christie mystery. A good plot, well etched characters, enough amount of suspense but sadly most of these falters towards the end.  The story is still good but surely Christie has written better mysteries.

You can guess the murderer if you have read a good amount of Christie novels. 2.5 out of 5.


Trivia: This novel was adapted for television as a Miss Marple mystery.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

The fact that this book is being made into a movie with Julia Roberts in it, was enough reason for me to buy this book. But by the time I started reading, the movie had come and gone and I had resisted my temptation to watch the movie.

The tag line of this memoirs read "A woman's search for everything". Can you search for everything you need in one year? Apparently, Elizabeth Gilbert thought so and started on an year-long journey across Italy, India and Indonesia, searching for pleasure, spirituality and love respectively. Her life before this journey was not going through a good phase, after a bitter divorce and a failed love affair.  So she considered these three aspects of her life to be those that will make her life balanced.

The journey,  started with Italy, where Liz ate a lot of pizza, learned Italian and watched soccer. What a way to unwind after a bitter divorce. Then she traveled to India to search her inner spiritual self. I felt this part of this book was a little dragging. Well, Liz did find inner peace. Next she reached Bali, in search of balance. Can she find love there? Even if she finds someone to love, is she ready for further complication in her now-peaceful life ?

The memoirs started great and engaging but later became dragging at places. Towards the end, there is a struggle to somehow make the journey eventful. There are many touching moments, like when Liz and her friends signing a petition to God. The book is worth reading for such tender moments. And who knows, may be this will be an inspiration to start your own soul-searching journey.

Worth reading once, 3 out of 5.

Trivia: Gilbert's travel was funded by the publishing house.