Tuesday, May 28, 2024

 We’re having a nice time. I’m reading Allingham and knitting the MKAL. I think I will have finished the first clue by the time the next is issued. The only other time I did an MKAL it was a Stephen-and-Penelope number and although I was stronger in those days I was perennially behind and in fact never finished it.

   Roger and sister-Helen are visiting the sights of Edinburgh in the intervals of visiting me.

   For actual reading, I’ve finished Dancers in Mourning (which is in the club) which I didn’t think much of, and have gone on to The Fashion in Shrouds (which is not) and for which I thank you, Kirsten. I actually wonder whether I’ve ever finished Dancers in Mourning before. The beginning was familiar. I’ve been there. I didn’t own it, unlike the others, and therefore had to buy it. Maybe I never finished it. 

   I’ve certainly read The Fashion in Shrouds before, and I remember it fairly well. I think Amanda is about to reappear. She’s pivotal in Traitor’s Purse, which comes next and which is the first (according to me) of Allingham’s truly greats. .

   Wordle: it’s fun having Roger here, who is a member of my little Wordle group. Sister-Helen stoutly refuses to join — I think she’d enjoy it — because she eschews competitiveness. I try to tell her that we’re not competitive, it’s just interesting to compare scores, and indeed never was there a game so remote from competition.

   I must apologise to any of you who have been reading my daily bulletins as competitive. 

Nothing much has happened lately. Threes and fours all round. My winning streak is now 21 or 22. Normal service will probably resume tomorrow, depending a bit on your response.   . 

   

12 comments:

  1. I agree with you about Dancers in Mourning. I also knew I'd started it, and was equally sure I didn't finish it. I remembered the bridge over the sunken lane as there is something similar at Polesden Lacey, a nearby NTrust property's once owned by Mrs Greville if I've recalled correctly, a well-known socialite in Edwardian times.

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  2. Anonymous9:07 PM

    Hi, I've been following you for some time and look forward to your posts and updates. RE Margery Allingham - I began reading her after Kate D's promotion of her, and am quite addicted. I would be most interested in your own list of her best books. I thought Traitor's Purse was wonderful!

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  3. Anonymous9:44 PM

    I look forward to your Wordle score. It’s always reassuring to see if others have had a tough time when I do! I don’t see it as competitiveat all!

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  4. Anonymous11:07 PM

    I’m so glad you can spend time with your sister and Roger. In person is so much better!
    Lisa R-R

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  5. =Tamar7:37 AM

    It's good to hear that you are enjoying the knitting and the reading. We had a scattered-showers day here in Maryland, with hot sun between brief cloudbursts. I was lucky enough to have timed my excursions to the sunny moments.

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  6. Anonymous12:00 PM

    Traitor’s Purse is only available in Audible on Amazon, alas, as I was looking for bedtime reading. Maybe secondhand somewhere. I want to start with that one per your comments. Chloe

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    1. Anonymous1:24 PM

      That's odd, I can see it as a brand new paperback and as a kindle book.

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    2. Maybe it depends on the country? I bought my Kindle version from the Canadian version of Amazon - where it's listed with a quotation from A. S. Byatt, "If I had to vote for the single best detective story, this would be it." I paid more for this Kindle Allingham than for most of the others, which are priced for less than $2 Canadian.

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    3. Anonymous3:03 PM

      Traitor's Purse was first published in the US as The Sabotage Murder Mystery. I don't know if later editions also used this title?
      JennyS

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  7. Anonymous1:23 PM

    Good to have you back, Jean. I inherited a complete set of Allingham books from my mother but had somehow never got around to reading them until Kate's club. I'm thoroughly enjoying them.
    It persists in raining here most days. Currently dry but very windy. Yesterday morning the long grass in the fields was flattened as though it had been danced on by a whole herd of elephants. Disappointing for those hoping for an early crop of hay.
    JennyS

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  8. It is interesting to do Wordle in company and see how others approach it. One friend unsurprisingly is very systematic, and I was all willy nilly guessing based on elementary school phonics. We both got the same score!

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  9. Anonymous11:57 AM

    Sorry, I don’t know where it was listed as the only one of her series only available in Audible. I checked Amazon again. My local library and Libby (digital library) and none had that exact listing. I must be getting old….:). Chloe

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