Just ahead of Episode Twelve of The Mysterious Affair at Styles, a reminder that on Friday I'll be presenting another edition of The Mark Steyn Show - live at GB News at 7pm Greenwich Mean Time (2pm North American Eastern) with a rerun at midnight GMT (7pm Eastern). Once the show starts, you can email me your reaction at [email protected], and we may read them out on the air.
Thank you again for your kind comments about this latest and all our other Tales for Our Time. Over four years ago now, we launched this series of audio adventures on a whim, threw it together somewhat hastily, and learned on the job. So I'm enormously grateful for your appreciation of it. Agatha Christie's first novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles is our autumnal diversion - the book that introduced the world to a diminutive Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. Wanda Sherratt, a First Week Founding Member of The Mark Steyn Club from Ottawa, thinks this one's a goodie:
What an enjoyable story! I find the episodes go by way too quickly, and it's a long wait until the next day's installment. Once I've collected the complete novel, I think I'll listen to the whole thing again, end to end, perhaps on a long car drive (if I ever go on one again).
Justin permitting, Wanda.
In tonight's episode Poirot has a task for Hastings:
Poirot turned and made me a sign to follow him upstairs. There he caught me by the arm, and drew me aside.
"Quick, go to the other wing. Stand there—just this side of the baize door. Do not move till I come." Then, turning rapidly, he rejoined the two detectives.
I followed his instructions, taking up my position by the baize door, and wondering what on earth lay behind the request. Why was I to stand in this particular spot on guard? I looked thoughtfully down the corridor in front of me.
The "green baize door" is the recognized dividing line between the family's rooms and the servants' quarters. The baize is an effective sound-muffling material, and it's usually a swing door, so you don't hear the valets and lady's maids scurrying back and forth to the bedrooms of the master and mistress. It's a nice feature to have in the house, but can look a little pretentious in a two-room flat.
If you're a member of The Mark Steyn Club you can hear Part Twelve of our serialization of The Mysterious Affair at Styles simply by clicking here and logging-in. All previous episodes can be found here.
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Please join me tomorrow for Part Thirteen of The Mysterious Affair at Styles, a few hours after the new edition of The Mark Steyn Show.