TOUR: Murder a la Christie, by Marilyn Levinson

March 21, 2014 Uncategorized 3

 

Professor Lexie Driscoll is conducting the first meeting of the Golden Age of Mystery book club in her best friend’s swanky mansion when another friend is murdered. More members are knocked off as Lexie unravels secret after secret, leading her to believe she’s living in Christie’s novel, And Then There Were None. Using Miss Marple’s knowledge of human nature and Hercule Poirot’s cunning, Lexie reveals the murderer.

Author Marilyn Levinson is here on The Bookwyrm’s Hoard to tell us a little about what it’s like to be an author in today’s market.

Writing Is My Way of Life

I’m an active writer. I’m always in the middle of a book, doing PR for a new release, or both. I’m not complaining, but I will say it sure keeps me busy. My latest mystery, Murder a la Christie is out in paper. I’m thrilled with the cover and the wonderful reviews the book has received, but these days an author must promote her work. If I want my book to sell, I have to see to it that news of its publication reaches as many readers as possible. Which is why I’m on a blog tour, scheduled radio interviews, and look forward to my very first launch party in a well-known indie bookstore on Long Island. I’m attending mystery conferences—SleuthFest and Malice Domestic—where I’ll be on panels, sell copies of Murder a la Christie, and meet with friends and fans.

Sometimes it seems that most of my writing involves blogging and interacting with readers and my fellow writers via email, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Unfortunately, this takes time away from writing my mysteries and books for kids, which is what I love doing most. I’ve started a new series. My sleuth, a young librarian in charge of events and programs, solves murders with the help of a ghost. I can’t wait to get back to this, then to work on sequels in my other series. While many people my age are enjoying their retirement, I’m busily at work. Writing is my way of life, and I look forward to writing many more books.


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REVIEW:

Murder a la Christie is indeed an homage to Christie’s mysteries, particularly those featuring Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. Like Christie’s novels, this is essentially a closed-circle mystery, in which the murderer is one of a small group of people. In this case, that circle is comprised of the members of a mystery book club and some of their family members. The book club’s leader, Lexie, is conveniently neither fully part of the group nor completely apart from it; her long-time best friend, Rosie, asked Lexie to lead the club, but as an English professor, Lexie is not part of the society of Old Cadfield, a wealthy suburban village on Long Island. As a semi-outsider, it’s easier for Lexie to be suspicious when Sylvia, one of the book club members, dies after experiencing severe stomach pain — especially since she had overheard Gerda, another member, threatening Sylvia before the meeting began.

Despite both skepticism and resistance on the part of her book club friends (and the occasional anonymous phone threat), Lexie is determined to find out who, if anyone, murdered Sylvia. But when a second member is murdered, and then a third, she has to wonder if she will be next.

Author Marilyn Levinson clearly knows and loves her Christie; in addition to the book club’s discussions, there are references to Christie mysteries throughout the novel. (Warning: if you haven’t read Christie’s best-known works, there are a few spoilers.) Lexie can be a bit pedantic about Christie’s books, particularly in her presentations to the book club, but that’s probably part of her professorial style.

Lexie narrates the story, so we get a pretty good look inside her head. She’s not an entirely likable character: she can be tactless (something Miss Marple almost never is, although Poirot certainly can be) and she’s drawn to and even more-or-less dating several men during the course of the novel, which is something of a pet peeve of mine but won’t bother everyone.  On the plus side, Lexie is determined and has a strong sense of justice, and unlike the Old Cadfield contingent, she’s not willing to ignore the elephant in the room: at least one of their group is a murderer.

As in a good Christie mystery, almost everyone has a motive and opportunity for at least one of the murders, which makes Lexie’s self-imposed task all the more difficult — and the reader’s as well, of course. I will admit that I did not figure out the murderer before the reveal. I would say I’d at least considered the person, but since I considered everyone at some point  (and I do mean everyone! This is after all a tribute to Christie, who was notorious for surprise endings), that admission isn’t worth very much!

Murder a la Christie is a fast, fun read for Christie fans. The story is entertaining, and I definitely wanted to find out whodunnit, but I was never completely swept up into the story as I am when reading Agatha Christie. Levinson’s writing comes across as a little stilted at times, particularly in some of the dialog. Most of the characters are interesting, however, and the author has left room to develop it into a series, so I suspect we’ll be seeing more of Lexie Driscoll and at least some of the inhabitants of Old Cadfield.

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Category: Cozy mystery

Publisher: Dark Oak Mysteries
Release date: Feb. 26. 2014
Book source:  I received a digital review copy via Great Escapes Book Tours, in exchange for an honest review.

Book links: Amazon      Goodreads

About the author:

Marilyn Levinson, a former Spanish teacher, writes mysteries, romance, and books for children and young adults.

Her romantic suspense, DANGEROUS RELATIONS, is a love story entwined with an intriguing mystery. GIVING UP THE GHOST is an entertaining ghost mystery. A new edition of A MURDERER AMONG US, which won a Best Indie award from Suspense Magazine in 2011, and its sequel, MURDER IN THE AIR, are out with Untreed Reads this winter. A ghost, a mansion, and a feral Maine Coon cat feature in Marilyn’s most recent YA, GETTING BACK TO NORMAL. Three of her popular out-of-print children’s books, AND DON’T BRING JEREMY, NO BOYS ALLOWED, and RUFUS AND MAGIC RUN AMOK are now available as ebooks.

Marilyn is co-founder and past-president of the Long Island chapter of Sisters in Crime. She lives on Long Island.      (biography source: tour page)

Connect with the author: 
Website       Facebook      Twitter (@MarilynLevinson)     GoodReads       Pinterest  

TOUR PARTICIPANTS
March 14 – Rachel Cotterill Book Reviews – Review
March 15 – Melina’s Book Blog – Review, Guest Post
March 16 – Chloe Gets A Clue – Interview
March 17 – readalot blog – Review
March 18 – Queen of All She Reads – Review, Guest Post – Giveaway
March 19 – Must Read Faster – Review – Giveaway
March 20 – Book Club Librarian – Review
March 21 – The Bookwyrm’s Hoard – Review, Guest Post – Giveaway
March 22 – off
March 23 – Cozy Up With Kathy – Interview
March 24 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – Guest Post
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 Read as part of the Cruisin’ Thru the Cozies challenge hosted by Socrates’ Book Reviews.

 

http://socratesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2013/11/cruisin-thru-cozies-reading-challenge.html

3 Responses to “TOUR: Murder a la Christie, by Marilyn Levinson”

  1. Bea

    I have read shamefully few Christie books, something I want to amend, and this I definitely want to read. It sounds good.