Destination Unknown by Agatha Christie

Agatha Christies books with Miss Marple and Hercule Poiroit have been made iconic with movies and TV series done over and over again, that one tends to forget about other mysteries written by her. This book is one that I had not come across before and it was indeed a pleasure to find a ‘new’ read by one of my favourite authors. Since I had not heard of this book and I found it online I was unsure who the author was despite the listing under her name, but the style of writing was unmistakeably Agatha Christie’s.

The story starts with an investigation into yet another famous scientist (Thomas Betterton) disappearing and the fear that he has defected and gone behind the Iron Curtain. Many countries are concerned as young scientists from different fields have been disappearing for some time now. The first break comes when the wife of Betterton speaks to the investigator and says she wants to go on a holiday as she was finding the circumstances very stressful. They suspect that she is going to join her husband and decide to track her to get to the bottom of the truth. 

However, before the lady can reach her destination she is in an air crash and then the investigator decides to substitute her with another lady who has similar striking red hair and blue eyes. The hope is that the ‘enemy’ are probably working on a cell system and people who are going to contact Mrs Betterton may only have a description with the red hair as a identifying feature. The real Mrs Betterton dies from her injuries and the fake Mrs Betterton starts her holiday following the already set itinerary. Then start the sightseeing trips and keeping alert to clandestine approach by suspicious characters. She is befriended by a couple of ladies; one is an English elderly woman and the other a well-off American lady. She is suspicious of all who want to strike up a conversation and befriend her. 

Then in the middle of one of her journeys she and her fellow travellers disappear with the well organised fake plane crash. She is now alone with others who are also travelling to this unknown destination. What will she find there? Will Betterton denounce her as a fraud? What about her fellow travellers as she feels uneasy with them? Will anyone ever find her now that she has dropped out of sight? What and who are behind this move of gathering of the young brains? What is the purpose of this clandestine gathering? 

It does hold your interest all the way and there are the classic twists that are the trade mark of Agatha Christie’s work. The detail of the emotions and nuances is again very much expected and helps to build the mystery. A good book to read curled up on a settee with a cup of tea on a cold winter day.

Shades of Blue

 

It is winter time and its cold! Well considering I am talking about winter in Australia and I do not live in the mountains the cold is not as intense as that of Europe. I lived there for 25 years and was pretty happy with the cold. I even enjoyed it. When I went for holiday to hot places I did need to use the air conditioning for temperatures above 25C. However, since I have acquired the chronic condition of Connective Tissue Disease the body seems to have flipped a switch. Now I start shivering when the temperature goes below 20C and start looking for my winter woollies.

Well with this need to hibernate during the winter months I spend a fair amount of time talking to friends online on all sorts of topics. The other day the conversation meandered into artistic abilities. We got talking about hobbies like painting with water colours and pencil drawings which I have. My friend is a potter and is a professional, not an amateur like me. For some reason the talk turned to use of colour. I was pointing out that I am not very patient and that is a drawback when considering water colour and this was the reasons I picked up the pencil. To get the shades right I would have to wait for the paint to dry before applying more to slowly darken specific areas and this was too time consuming. I was always in a hurry to complete the painting.

Well the meandering conversation brought us to the colours we like and the varying shades of them.  I told her about an idle conversation I had about shades of green which I then wrote up for my blog. My friend said her favourite colour was blue and it prompted me to think about writing this blog about the shades of blue. She uses the blues in the decorations of her pottery which I believe has a beachy theme. I too have loved the colour blue since childhood. Most of my clothes used to have some shade of blue in them. In fact blue is also my husband’s favourite colour. We often talk of the shades of blue in the sky when travelling. When you travel to places like deserts the sky is vast. We also see vast skies when in the countryside. Travelling in Australia also we enjoy vast skies and the changing shades of blue. Along with red and yellow, blue is a primary colour that gives rise to all other colours by mixing varying levels of them. In the rainbow there are 3 shades, violet, indigo and blue at one end of the spectrum. I am particularly not going to label the shades but use examples to evoke the understanding of each shade.

One of the favourite shades of blue is what my husband calls the Simpson sky blue. It’s a soft shade of blue which is light and bright. It is seen often at the start of the day as the rosy light of the rising sun changes to blue of the day. Something I think of that clear pale blue as sharp, the connection of this blue to sharp is pretty tenuous as I think of the knife and steel that it is made from and this to the odd phrase of steel blue. However, in reality I think the blue tinge of steel is slightly darker in shade. The shades of blue are generally dependant on the level of white or black mixed into the primary colour blue. The lightest one is called periwinkle blue after the periwinkle flower which is a very pale blue colour. I would attribute the emotion of gentleness to this colour and also to baby blue. There is another term for this baby blue colour and that is powder blue. This is an English terminology and I often wonder how powder connects to the shade of blue unless in the past there was a talcum powder which had a hint of blue in it.

Then as the day gets older, the sky that is clear of clouds becomes an intense blue, a much darker and brighter shade. It feels rich and gives that cold sparkle of a winter day. While in summer it makes one think of cool breeze off the ocean. As more black gets added into this blue the darker the shade becomes moving from royal blue to navy blue to almost black. Strangely enough these used to be shades of the blue of the ink I used to buy when I was in school. While blue is supposed to be calming and is a welcome colour on a hot summer day I had to change the pale blue walls of my home in UK as it gave the room a cold feeling. The same cold feeling can also be created by blue flooring especially a carpet, as I also had a grey blue carpet. Yes, grey blue is also a soft pastel and is soothing as well. In warm countries these colours are very good to have in the house to keep the cool feeling on hot summer days.

The darker shades of blue can actually feel warmer than the lighter ones. The dark blue of the sky at night without clouds can be calming and warm. This dark sky with stars twinkling and super moon conjures up a velvety feel to the colour. This was the emotion the sky over the Negev desert evoked. The dark background also makes the stars shine bigger and brighter and seems to go on and on encompassing the small human on the surface of the desert. It is only when this star and moonlight is missing that the sky feels truly black. The other time the sky goes to the shades of navy and black is when the thunder clouds gather and sunlight gets obscured completely.

The sky is not the only thing that reflects the various shades of blue the seas also give us different blues. In fact the shades of waters in the shallows are almost transparent as seen in the coral islands and then it starts out with pale green and gets darker moving swiftly into the spectrum of blues. The dark of the deep sea is usually seen as a dramatic shift as the land levels falls off the side of an island. That dark blue can often be the shade called indigo as seen around the tropical atolls.  This spectrum is seen around the coral islands like that of the Maldives. But, like the mixing of grey into the blues of the sky, you have the mixing of greens in the blues of the seas. This green tinge into the waters makes the colour warmer than the paler blues.

The blue is also seen in so many shades in the flowers from that soft periwinkle blue to the deep almost purple of the morning glory. The bright intense blue is also the colour of copper and depending on the amount of copper in the mix the shades of the blue of gems vary. So the blues are beautiful whether alone of in a mix. They highlight the other colours and also change them when mixed.

Vish Puri Mystery series by Tarquin Hall

These are the first 3 books in the Vish Puri Mystery series. Vish Puri is the ‘most private detective’ in Delhi, India. He is a family man with a wife and daughters. His mother, a widow, lives with his brother in the same locality where he grew up. His father had been a police detective and Vish tries to live up to his image. He has a small office and staff that comprises of a receptionist cum secretary, an occasional lady for odd jobs and manning the various phone lines set up for investigations and a few operatives for various jobs.

The descriptions of places, culture and lives of people involved are detailed making it easy to visualise it all. The local rhythm of life is seen woven in the network of family, friends and acquaintances around which Vish’s life and work revolve. The style of writing stuck a chord with me but I could not identify what it reminded me of, until I read a review on one of the books by Alexander McCall Smith. Then it struck me, that Vish Puri series are similar to the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. The mystery or the case is central to the story but the life that goes around the case, the life of the detective and his family and friends and people of the place is also woven in and making it a rich picture of the local culture.

The Case of the Missing Servant.

The first book was about a servant who is missing and the man of the house is being accused of murdering her. He engages Vish Puri to find out what happened to that young girl as only then can he be proven innocent of murder. He places a female operative in the household as a servant to get information about the missing girl. There is intrigue in the household. What have the son and wife been up to? What is the blood stain found in the servant’s room really telling? Was the disfigured body found later that of the servant girl? We get a measure of Vish Puri and his detecting abilities in this book. The story is kept well balanced and intriguing. The use of humour is very well placed and pretty much spot on culturally. For example, Vish’s exasperation with his mother’s interference, which he has to balance with remaining respectful, and at the same time trying to keep his mother out of trouble. The eternal battle he has with his diet and his weight, the sneakily eating foods outside the house that are not good for him. No matter Vish helps his client and helps the police too.

The Case of Deadly Butter Chicken

The second book is about the death of the father of a Pakistani cricket player. There is a well-publicised match between India and Pakistan being played in Delhi and a dinner is being held for this occasion. Since his nephew is playing on the match Puri and family are at this dinner too. The intrigue starts pretty much from the onset. Why is Puri’s mother upset? Who is the man meeting the Pakistani cricketer’s father, in the dark outside? Who killed him afterwards by poisoning his butter chicken? This case brings out the ingrained perceptions of people with regards to the ‘enemy’. What has the murder got to do with the current large scale investigation going on into match fixing and the extensive gambling being managed globally. Is it wise to go to Pakistan to check out an anonymous invitation for information? Why is his mother being secretive and has rushed off to Kashi? Will Vish be able to get to the bottom of these mysteries and find the killer? Will he manage to survive the match fixing syndicate? Again a book that holds your interest all the way and keeps you hanging on to every twist and turn in the story.

The Case of the Man who Died Laughing

The third book is also based on one the controversial topics of religious cults and gurus who become extremely wealthy and politically powerful with dubious practices. One Dr Jha has made it his life’s work to expose these gurus for what they are, conmen. The latest one is a Swamiji who had stated that he would show the world his powers soon. A few days later, while taking part in a laughing club morning exercise, Jha is killed by an apparition of Goddess Kali.  The police are baffled and so is the country. Vish Puri takes it upon himself to find the truth as Jha was someone he knew and respected. The speculation is that the Swamiji was somehow involved in it, even though he had an alibi. Vish is determined to find the link between the killing and Swamiji. Meanwhile, there has been an armed robbery at a kitty party being attended by his wife and mother. Now his mother is determined to find the thieves as the police do not seem to think it is worth pursuing. Meanwhile his daughter is coming to stay a while and have her first baby. He manages to get his operative to infiltrate the Swamiji’s cult to gather information on his activities. Is he really involved in the deaths of young girls from the cult? Will she be able to go into the closed private rooms of the Swamiji? What will she find there? How did the Swamiji manage to conjure out this apparition of the goddess and kill the doctor? This is a very intriguing story full off complexities that take the reader by surprise.

I thoroughly enjoyed the books published so far in this series. I shall await the next publication with great anticipation. I hope the author keeps this series going for long as it is not only the cases that I read with pleasure but also rhythm of Delhi life.

Inferno by Dan Brown

This is the latest novel with Robert Langdon as the central character. This time he wakes up in a hospital with a head injury. Like the earlier novels this is a fast paced story lasting a couple of days only. There is the usual extensive description of the art and architecture as well as the significance of the various monuments and the artefacts from the past, in keeping with Robert Langdon’s speciality of symbolism. Why are there people trying to kill him? What is it he knows that is dangerous to him and to the doctor who helped him escape from the hospital?

There is something that he had in a secret pocket that is a clue to what this danger is about. Why has a very famous painting been changed and what does this change indicate? Every time he feels he has found an answer there are more questions raised. What is disaster has been planned by someone who was an ardent advocate of putting a brake to the rising tide of humanity and its impact on earth’s future? The twists and turns of this story are fast and sharp. In fact the plot is actually better than ‘The Lost Word’. The end is also marginally better and that one is kept guessing as to who is reliable and who is the enemy. As usual there is travelling from country to country, place to place desperately trying to avert a pandemic that could destroy mankind. Why is the doctor who is helping him, doing so? Who has sent the soldiers searching for him? Will they succeed in saving the world from a pandemic?

I would say that after the last novel I was not holding my breath for this one, but it was a pleasant surprise and fairly readable. It does go on about the descriptions which are needed to explain the symbology but not entirely crucial for the plot.  However, the final reveal is not a disappointment and acceptable the answer to the questions. A usual weaving of fact with fiction to creates this story, which is Dan Brown’s style.