Ordeal by Innocence: A Review

Elliptical Rating: 4 / 5

Note: I received a promotional copy through the First Reads program.

I've read several by Christie and this one holds up pretty well against the others. It's certainly one of the faster-paced novels I've read by her. In the absence of a dominant detective (Poirot, Marple) she does a good job of juggling the different characters. The solution makes sense.  The ending is cute, but a bit silly.  

(I don't like the cover, as there are seven suspects. Not a factor in the rating though.)   

City of Devils - A Review

Note: I received a promotional ARC through the First Reads program.

I thought this was an interesting and informative read. French brought a lot of different elements together: business dealings, drugs, gambling, war, poverty, etc. Having not been previously familiar with 1930s Shanghai, the international culture of the city really stood out to me. The pacing and readability are decent, and at 276 pages there's enough meat on the bones without being too daunting. 

Shanghai between the world wars was a home to those with nowhere else to go and no one else to take them in... The city asked nothing of them, not visas nor money nor status. Shanghai became a city of reinvention.

Food inflation; firearms deflation - that's the Badlands' law of supply and demand.