July 2014 Book of the Month: Dead Man's Folly

Tuppence

A murder mystery fete quickly becomes all too real and it's up to Poirot and his trusted friend, crime novelist Ariadne Oliver, to solve the murder.

July sees the launch of the exclusive hardback edition of The Greenshore Folly, the novella on which Dead Man's Folly was based, and also the launch of the Agatha Christie Book Bench which features artwork from the story, so this month we decided to turn back to the text Agatha Christie first published.

And if you're lucky enough to be in the US, this is a great opportunity to read the book before you see the adaptation on TV later this summer.

Have you read this novel before? How do you think it compares to the other Poirot stories Agatha Christie wrote?

What do you think of Ariadne Oliver, the sleuth/crime novelist? How do you think Ariadne Oliver would have investigated the case, had Poirot not agreed to help her?

The story was partly inspired by Agatha Christie's holiday home Greenway House - what role do you think the location plays in the novel?

Leave your thoughts, queries and questions below.

Tommy_A_Jones

I really enjoy this book and it is one of the better ones with Ariadne, It is probably in my top 10 of Poirot books and No 3in the Poirot/Ariadne Category.

glalonzo0408

I am so excited to start this book......

maryamalbulushi

i bought this book last week and finished reading it before yesterday ... enjoyed it a lot, but there's two point i wanted to share 

1- i think it's similar to the Hallow'en party novel 

2- i don't know why they thought that Ariadne can be the murderer it doesn't make sense !!!

but over all i really enjoyed it 

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Tommy_A_Jones

I can see the Halloween Party similarity, as Ariadne involves Poirot like she does with Third Girl and Elephants Can Remember, On The Other point The Inspector doesn't know Ariadne like Poirot does and he might have thought she did it to conjure up Publicity;

Ariadne

Hi,

I just recently found this site....it looks very interesting. About the book of the month reading......it appears that we all read at our own pace and then discuss when we like, is that right? I mean, there isn't a schedule? Thanks!

glalonzo0408

Ariadne said:

Hi,

I just recently found this site....it looks very interesting. About the book of the month reading......it appears that we all read at our own pace and then discuss when we like, is that right? I mean, there isn't a schedule? Thanks!

Welcome Ariadne: Yes, we read at own pace...within the month........

Ariadne

Ok, thanks

Miss C.

I'm reading it.
I was hoping to finish it by the end of this week, if I'm fortunate to have the time for myself. I can't wait.. still haven't "seen" the murder. But, non the less, the story is magnificent! I rather like the characters, they are so distinctive.
Strange thing: I tend to imagine them diferent from what they appear on TV. Anyone else has this "problem"?

Tommy_A_Jones

It is a nice Idea but if people have read the book before they should still be able to participate in discussions asd long as they don't spoil the book for others and if people don't want to read it at the time specified they can just anot participate in the discussion so everybody can be happy.

Nathan Robert Michael Rees

I enjoyed the story, has anyone played the Dead Man's Folly App that was featured on this website some months ago? How did they find it?

Ariadne

What do you all think of this idea? In my opinion, it would be better to read the book by a schedule. So many chapters before such and such date.....and then we would all be at the same point and could discuss freely. Otherwise, if we're all at different points in the story, it would be difficult to talk about certain parts without ruining it for others. I know we can type "spoiler" before we comment on something, but what if we want to talk about a certain character and some readers haven't "met" them yet? To me, it seems like that wouldn't be a plot spoiler, but I wouldn't want to discuss a character's strange behavior, say, when they haven't read about them yet. And I wouldn't want that to happen to me either. I'm aware that people have jobs and duties and some us are probably very busy, but I think a schedule for the book could be managed, if we worked on it. And, certainly, as Tommy_A_Jones was saying, I think those who have read the book before should be able to join in, too:

Tommy_A_Jones said:

It is a nice Idea but if people have read the book before they should still be able to participate in discussions asd long as they don't spoil the book for others.....

What do you think, ladies and gents? Thanks!

Miss C.

Nathan Robert Michael Rees said:

has anyone played the Dead Man's Folly App that was featured on this website some months ago? How did they find it?

I haven't played it.

Maybe I'll try it out, but only AFTER I finish the book. 

youngmrquin

I enjoyed this story but I really feel that the solution of it was almost impossible to figure out. There was the constant foreshadowing of costumes and mistaken identities (sort of like with AC thrillers) but I found it difficult to connect it with the plotline. Other than that, it wasn't mind blowing.

tudes

I agree, youngmrquin. It's a good story, a promising plot, but I found the ending a bit disappointed (because of the reasons you wrote).

Spoillers: I'm not a big fan of mistaken identities.

Tommy_A_Jones

The Dialogue gives clues and Reader's experiences with other Christie Books should tell people what to expect as clues.

Kerr52

i have always been curious as to how the verb"folly" had become a noun.

Tommy_A_Jones

Folly is a noun and has been since the 13th Century it derives as far as I can see from the word 'Fool' but it is also an out-house or shed.

Kerr52

Tommy_A_Jones said:

Folly is a noun and has been since the 13th Century it derives as far as I can see from the word 'Fool' but it is also an out-house or shed.

thanks for that but then how did the noun get to be a verb? does the name "Foley" have similar origins? or am i on a folly's errand?
i am interested to know. thanks for taking the time to answer my original follyish question.

Tommy_A_Jones

I have o idea where you get the word Foley from, I think it is a follyish Question to put it mildly

Kerr52

dogs and their vomit come to mind.

Tommy_A_Jones said:

I have o idea where you get the word Foley from, I think it is a follyish Question to put it mildly

mike1410

Foley is the term used in film making where sound effects are added to film stock after it has been shot. It is named after Jack Donovan Foley, who was one of the first people to employ the technique for Universal studios when the talkies were replacing silent movies.

and to paraphrase, "There are no follyish questions, only follyish silence."

Tommy_A_Jones

I have no idea what that means.

Kerr52

"as a dog returns to its vomit so a fool will repeat their folly", a biblical proverb.
 not pretty but effective.

Tommy_A_Jones

I have never heard that before

maryamalbulushi

so it's 1st of august so i was wondering why didn't they change the book of the month???

Tommy_A_Jones

Perhaps the powers that be are on Holiday or thought that as it was August not enough people would want to contribute as it is August

mike1410

Time differences probably, I presume this site is on Greenwich Mean Time? we're 11 hours in front of UK time at the moment here in New Zealand, and the August title was showing for me earlier today (2nd August)

kelly.allmendinger

Glad to have stumbled on to the book club, too late in the month to finish on time, but I can start the next one tonight. I enjoyed the book, had previously read it in 1989 (I write the date I finish them in the books) so it was mostly new again to me. My copy had a misprint on page 134, it says inpression instead of impression.