Day 10- The Seven Dials Mystery

First Published: 1929

Setting: England

Starring: Bundle, Battle

Important Other People: Bill, Melrose, Lord Caterham

Agatha uses The Seven Dials Mystery to mock the luxurious working life of the upper class- they all seem to have "jobs," but they are able to ditch them at a moment's notice to go chasing secret societies and whatnot. Agatha perhaps felt some scorn towards the upper class at their leisure and need to save face. People throughout the book are just tooling around, relying on their titles to get by.

Bundle's former footman from Chimneys, Alfred, must be a distant relative of Tommy and Tuppence's Albert. Although not as cool at all.

It's hard to read the word "alarum" over and over without pronouncing it like that in your head. Apparently, that's the Shakespearean spelling of the word.

I love Lord Caterham. He really makes the book so much better. I'm sad he doesn't appear in any of Agatha's future books.

Interesting facts: Sequel to Chimneys, though not as well liked by critics.

Favorite? Not really. I like Bundle, though, and I am glad she finds happiness in the end!

Death by: chloral, shooting

Body Count: 2; Cumulative: 23

The Count: Poirot-5, Miss. Marple-0, Tommy and Tuppence-1, Hastings-3, Japp-2, Colonel Race-1, Superintendent Battle-2, George-1, Goby-1

Agatha's Life Lessons: People must die somewhere. Nobody tells everything. Unfortunate love affairs are highly beneficial to young girls- makes them take their lives seriously. In this life, one never stops learning. Gentlemen who have no sense of humor get to taking themselves too seriously, which leads to mischief. Your children can make life damned unpleasant if you don't give in to them in every way (talking about Rosalind, perhaps?) Never say too much. "What a fatal thing it is to pretend to take an interest in a man's pet subject." Different kinds of danger suit different kinds of people. My personal favorite, from Lord Caterham, "Every child should be brought up to be ambidextrous."

Up Next: The Murder at the Vicarage