Engleby - Sebastian Faulks

The Sittaford Mystery - Agatha Christie

When the weather is dull and gloomy - or the view from the window is of deep snow and ice (like it was earlier this week!) then Agatha Christie is an ideal author to relax into - and this is a

particularly appropriate volume. This book features none of Ms Christie's popular amateur detectives - there is no Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot makes no appearance. This murder mystery is set on Dartmoor in the middle of winter. Thick snow covers the area, and a group of people gather for the evening - and for entertainment have a go at 'table turning'. A message comes through revealing the murder of the owner of Sittaford House, temporarily absent - having rented his home out to a mother and daughter who bizarrely want to spent some months away from civilisation. The message turns out to be true - and the reader is taken through the investigation, with plenty of suspects, and false trails to match. This is easy reading, but satisfying never the less - all very believable, and illustrating how much easier detective work should be today - with the assistance of mobile phones, the Internet, DNA and a criminal records data base. Rating: 8/10