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If you've been rejected sixty seven times you stink. Face it.

Preach, Jackie, preach! You said so much of what I think sometimes when I see comments like some of these on QueryTracker. I’ve seen comments that have gotten mad at a rejection after an hour too with the same ‘I sent a query, three chapters, and a synopsis. There’s no way they reviewed all of that.’ And it’s like they may not have needed to to decide (like you mentioned). If it’s gonna be a rejection, I’d totally rather a quick one than a CNR lol. A *query* rejection after 1.5 years-ish is wild tho lol, but def no need call the agent a sociopath. Once a writer starts calling agents out of their names, I think it might be a good idea for them take a bit of a break from querying. This video was a great reminder to me to keep the business mindset when I start querying. It’s easy to forget after awhile in the trenches. Thank you!

Let me know your thoughts or experiences with the querying process! Additionally, if you're interested in becoming a beta reader for my current WIP - a 1930s historical mystery homage to Agatha Christie and the Golden Age of Detective Fiction - please express your interest at the link: forms.gle/KzGGfU1C85rpHdY38

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Hello, Welcome to Authortube. Interesting video. I write and make videos of my fantasy world.

I had fun with this! i wasn't able to solve it, only suspected [redacted :P] a little bit before it was revealed😆would be down for another solve along, and the speed of video release was fine for me

"I'm not sure what exactly cat stuff means..." - Jacq, Five Little Pigs Solve-Along Pt.1 This was the part which tripped me up completely, most people would have figured out the heart of the story, I felt like a genius initially for figuring out there was a little Angela + Governess subplot; and made up a wild theory about how Angela and Governess are in on it, despite this theory breaking Knox's spine in half with the "no servants or children can be the culprit rule". What I really should have done was to take Poirot's question seriously about the sequence of exit from the lab. Christie was basically saying: "**Only these five people could have done the crime.**" "Okay, Chrissu, what if the culprit climbed through the window and..." "ONLY these five people could have done the crime. ONLY these five people could have known the poison's location." "But what if X was told..." "ONLY these FIVE people could have done it! *witch's cackle*" From there on, it should have been simple order of elimination who was possible. I also got really hung up by the initial description of the people who were at the lab, which due to faulty witness memory, the Governess was in the initial list. "How was a non-cat person supposed to know?!" "*cacklecackle*" Cats huffing chemical-V is possibly the nastiest hidden clue in the book. I liked it, would read again for the first time.

I have a new channel ,so this sounds like a fun tag to do .Thank you for you answers.

I really loved solving this Agatha Christie together! We should definitely do it again! I agree with the other comment that maybe the videos could be closer together. I loved the ending of the book, how it all came together, it made so much sense. I liked the Elsa having a conversation with Meredith and seeing Caroline take the koniin, I dont know if we got that explained before, i didnt catch it. I have now also watched the poirot episode and I loved it! In there they made it more noticable that Elsa could have seen Caroline take the poison, but maybe that is just me just having read that 😅

I'm glad you enjoyed this one! I had fun following along with your solving skills, would love to do it again!

Yess that's the one I meant, I keep forgetting they were episodes and not movies lol

This was fun! I would enjoy doing it again.

I like Towards Zero a lot, but I think it is less well clued than either A Murder Is Announced or After the Funeral. The later two are definitely books, in which you can go back and have some innocent statements, that get another meaning in hindsight, like the "I see her packing" one. Oh, and except for a French version, I think the Suchet episode is the only adaptation of Five Little Pigs.

I did not change my mind at the end. When the reveal was being told, I thought it seemed we were right about it being an accident. But I liked it better the way it turned out. I believe this is one of the best endings: how Elsa ruined her life and said she died the day she killed her lover, and now she is like a zombie meant to suffer without any purpose or happiness. Despite being rich and having all the creature comforts of life, she feels dead inside, and that is the worst hell she can face while alive. I didn’t see Meredith being in love with Elsa. That whole thing with him buying the painting of her was something I completely forgot about. Same about Philip and Caroline being almost being lovers at one point. But I think that makes the most sense considering the period, and it gives him a better motive for the potential crime. But the ending with the painter leaving his mistress after the painting is done is so fitting for this character. After finishing this I recalled a mystery show where the same thing was used in the solution and I felt bad for not remembering it. I hope you do another one of these solve-alongs. This was so much fun! How about a week instead of 3 weeks? Sunday, Wednesday, and Sunday because of your regular posting schedule. I think out of the three suggested I think you should do after the funeral next.

No, they didn’t. I was wrong. But I enjoyed the read and the reveal. The read along was fun! 👍

Yay! We did great! You quickly caught on to the clues pointing to Angela and Caroline's attempt to take the blame for her, and then you were totally on to Elsa's whole shady sweater business. Bravo! Christie definitely got me with parts of the reveal. I had not realized that Elsa was the only one who overheard the argument between Amyas and Caroline. I did wonder what was so different about this affair and why Amyas was really leaving Caroline this time, but since folks had overheard him confirming that it was true, I believed it. But it was just Elsa! Well done, Agatha... This was so much fun to read together with you and the other commenters. I would love to do another solve-along!

I have just launched into 'author tube', seems like fun. I'm a little old for new beginnings, but I'm having fun. I certainly enjoy your work here.

Really enjoyed this introduction to your writing process. I am also very interested in how reading lays a foundation for a writer. I enjoy historical fiction/mystery, but I also read a lot of fantasy, magical realism & poetry (especially contemporary). I am old & have been lucky enough to make reading/writing my job (poetry, criticism & essays). I love it all! I look forward to following your adventure with books. Thanks for the bookish/creativity inspiration.

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I love your “Solving…” videos and classics-based content.

I am really unsure about everything!!! I have several theories, non of them seem quite right. Ofcourse we had the Angela did it as a prank, it makes sense! But seems to easy! I also have the Angela did it on purpose theory. I think she snuck into Merediths lab and stole the poison, he hears someone in there, and the window is open, then Angelas skirt is broken, maybe it broke as she climbed in the window. However this means she didnt leave any prints on the koniin flask since only Carolines prints are on it so it seems unlikely. Her motive being anger at Amyus for sending her away + cheeting on Caroline. I really think Caroline thought it was Angela, it explains the trial and putting his fingerprints on the bottle, the act of putting his fingerprints on the bottle also proves she didnt murder him since the poison wasnt ever in the beerbottle, she probably thought Angela put the poison in the beerbottle, she also saw Angela look suspicous taking the beer out. He was showing symtoms before drinking the beer, maybe Elsa poisoned him before when they where painting. It seems only Elsa and Caroline were alone with him before the beer. The getting a sweater twice is very suspicous. My theory is that the fight between Amyas and Caroline in the library that Elsa overheard maybe it proved that Amyas wasnt leaving Caroline. Making Elsa go up upstairs to get revenge, get the poison, hidden in her sweater. Then she paints with Amyas, we know he drank warm beer. Then Angela put perfumeflask poison in the glass. Elsa goes to get another sweater and drops the pipette with poison on the walkway. Getting away with it! Maybe she framed Caroline, maybe not. I also have a theory that Amyas and Carolines second fight that day, the one persumed to be about Angela, actually instead was about Elsa, that Amyas was using Elsa planing to do bad things after painting her and Caroline thought he was to mean. However its probably unlikely. This was based on Philips story. I think he had the most detail in his story, which might be a sign of lying, telling a lot of detail. He also didnt have detail about being at Meredith when he might have stolen the koniin. I find it sus that Meredith assumed Amyas was dead and told them he was dead after the guvenor asked him to call the doctor, maybe bc he knew he was dead? Meredith is also the owner of the Elsa painting which I find sus.

I am glad to hear you are sticking with your Angela theory. It really seems to have a lot of evidence in the text. I just can't get past the feeling that there is maybe too much pointing in that direction.... The whole paperweight thing is also making me wonder if there is a bigger backstory to that incident where Caroline injured Angela. It's the basis for all these claims about Caroline's extreme personality. What if we don't have the whole story there? Still, even these thoughts just make Angela seem more suspicious... I also noticed that the sweater was mentioned a lot. Also, the fact that Angela was eating apples was repeated several times. Why so many references to those? The sweater seems to give Elsa opportunity. The apples could relate to the means or timing, or even the motive. I'm so curious if these end up being important! Finally, I'm wondering how the Five Little pigs rhyme fits in? Is there a clue in the rhyme somewhere? Can't wait to find out the solution!

Ugh, I'm more confused now. I agree that Caroline thought Angela poisoned Amyas. Hmm, I will have to ponder.

Listening to you talk this out is great. You have a good working mind kid.

You make good points, it seems like the only real suspects are Philip (motive being he was secertly in love with his best friend and killed him before attempting to leave his wife for another woman) although I don't think Christie would use this as a solution in that time period, Angela (motive being an accident, and Caroline covering for her), or Elsa (motive maybe being that her and her lover had a fight or something). Honestly I think I want to say Angela did it because it be a different kind of solution than what Christie would normally do, but like you said it seems a little too heavy handed so I'm worried. But as for the other 2 options I'm not really convinced Philips motive would be used unless be really was in love with Caroline and resented her for choosing her husband over him or something. And as for Elsa it doesn't seem like one fight would cause her to kill her lover unless it was something more than that. So at the moment I'm going to stick with Angela, unless something new pops up in part 3 before the reveal to change my mind.

I still wonder about Caroline Jr. and really hope we will get some kind of info from the “old frightened” servants. Maybe something they wrote down if they are deceased. 🤷‍♀️ & 🏳️‍🌈

Something mentioned in this video made me remember to recommend watching the movie when you're done!

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I was thinking it was Philip because he was in love with Caroline. When Angela said she saw Caroline leaving Philip's room, it made him too likely a suspect. I like your reasoning behind Angela being the suspect, but this is Agatha Christie. She gets me every time!

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Loved this. I have always what line editing was. 😄

I also like the theory about Angela, but my biggest suspicions are directed at Christie. There is oh so much hearsay in all this! An early niggling question for me is about the “old frightened” servants that were immediately dismissed as knowing nothing. Servants know everything in houses like this. 🤷‍♀️PS Someone else commented here that Caroline Sr may have believed Angela did it, but was wrong about that. That seems very possible. Also, is there anything to the fact that Caroline Sr was five when she had her unfortunate fit of temper and Caroline Jr (Carla) was around the same when the murder happened? She could have poisoned him or his glass before leaving on her trip. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Once you've finished the book, you really ought to watch the David Suchet adaptation It's one of the best

This is old, but great video. I’m glad you talked about this because not enough people do.

I like your theory about angela, and someone else's comment in this video that Caroline thought Angela did it, but Angela actually didn't (which is why Angela's so willing to share the letter with Poirot, versus if she thought the letter implicated herself, she would never mention the letter existed). I can't help but think there unestablished/deeper connections between pairs of characters that may help us get to the identity of the killer (The brothers, Elsa+1 brother, Philip+Cecilia - maybe Philip has made cecilia into a woman hater?). I also think its interesting that when amyas dies he says everythings tasting wierd today, which would imply that the beer and some earlier food he ate/drank was also poisoned, so will be on the lookout to see if Amyas had breakfast with someone the day he died. For now, I'm suspecting Meredith blake the most. He owns the poisons. He admires caroline. He wanted to overwrite whatever story Philip was going to write. Nothing damning yet, but he's got my suss-meter up the most. Im listening to the audio book so its harder to find sections, but i was kindof drawn to a section where poirot refers to the daughter caroline, and one character reacts as though mother caroline could possibly still be alive. Is it possible she's still alive? not sure.

I related to so much in this video! I write in (too many😂) different genres, but mystery is my favorite to read/write. I'm also loving reading Agatha Christie books! :) So glad I found your channel!

I am torn between Angela and Elsa. I think Angela makes sense as the potential killer for all the reasons you said in your video. But I also suspect Elsa. The book mentions her going for a sweater, giving her the opportunity to get the poison. There were numerous other affairs that were eventually broken off. Perhaps Amyas broke things off with Elsa giving her motivation for the killing.

Once you are finished with your read-through, I really recommend watching the episode from the Poirot series starring David Suchet. It's wonderfully done and a strong contender for the best episode of the series.

This is the first time I am trying to solve an Agatha Christie, and its fun, but hard! My initial theory is that Philip is gay! The way he talks about Amyas I think he was in love, and that maybe gives him the motive to kill him because he is leaving him for yet another woman. So I really didnt like when Angela said Philip and Caroline was together and I dont want it to be true either! Mayyyybe if they had an affair, if Caroline thought Philip did it she would protect him, but why would he hate her so much? Because she went to jail and he couldnt be with her? He is really not a pleasant man. But he seems capable of murder. Also he blames Caroline so hard, that seems suspicous. I also had the Angela theory, with all the mentions of her pranks it is the one who stands out, also with Caroline not saying anything at her trial, I am convinced Caroline thought she was protecting Angela, ofc Angela might not actually be the murderer. The one thing I thought didnt make sense there was, why would Angela wipe the prints of the flask and put Amyas prints? Maybe then that Caroline did it when she realised that Angela was guilty…. She really wanted everyone to think it was suicide so it would make sense that Caroline did it. Because otherwise why would anyone wipe it, everyone knows that Caroline brought him the beer, her prints should be on the bottle! The poison wasnt even in the bottle! Also Amyas said the beer tasted weird, probably bc of poison, so someone must have poisoned it before, Angela was in the kitchen when Caroline got the beer, she could have poured something in the glass Another theory I have is that Meredith said that there was less poison in his poisonflask, but he still had poison left! Someone could have seen Caroline take the poison for herself, then made their own plan, took poison from the poisonflask as well in the pipette that was used! And then somehow poured out Carolines perfumebottle without leaving any prints on the perfume bottle…. Yeah I dont know the only thing that makes sense is Caroline trying to protect Angela, but I also had the feeling it might be to obvious. Meredith I feel like maybe, he had the poison, he might have a motive, but he doesnt seem like the man to take action too murder Amyas for his mistreatment of Caroline, and I cant find another motive right now. Elsa Greer, sure, she could be a killer as a person, she had the opportunity to kill him, spending all the time with him, maybe she found out he was only with her for the painting and would then leave her. I dont know. Cecilia I have no reason to believe

So excited to be reading this along with everyone! The structure of the book is so different than other Christie's. I find it fascinating to read! I really like your reasoning about Angela. It makes me wonder though, what if maybe Caroline thought the same way. She *thought* it was Angela, so she took the fall for her. But it was *actually* someone else.... My first thought before watching your video was that maybe Caroline did do it after all. That would be a nice twist with us all making theories about the five little pigs and it ends up not being any of them. But I don't have any evidence for that idea beyond everyone saying it was her... I wish it were Philip. He seems horrible! 😆 I find Meredith a little sus, with his unending admiration for Caroline, but why would he frame her... I don't suspect Elsa at all at this point. And I think Cecilia's extreme character is meant to make us be prejudiced against her but is a red herring.... So after part 1, all I've got is that I want it to be Philip. Lol. (PS - Love that your mom is reading along too!)

I took extensive notes when reading part 1, so I remember having similar thoughts like your "initial thoughts" segment too. Without spoilers, I don't think I dwelled on it as much because usually in mysteries "the future overrides the past", especially since this is a cold case and the author's intention is for the reader to read and be interested the whole book, new insights and all~ Agatha Christie is indeed very devious though, I think by the end you will come back and have a good laugh at a certain loose comment you made in this video~

I agree with your theory of Angela being the killer and it being an accident and Caroline trying to repay her debt to her by taking the blame. Thats exactly how I read it as well. A prank gone wrong. But we shall see if any new information comes in the 2nd part to change this idea.

Oh I can't wait for the next videos! This was excellent. I love the premise of this book and the format, it works so well! I can't remember exactly what I was thinking at this point the first time I read it, but I had definitely ruled out Ms Williams, for the same reasons you stated. The others were all still in the running for me, I didn't have any theories lol

I know who done it but I'm not telling anyone. It will be interesting to watch the thought process. I now take notes when reading; learned that from you. Thanks

I never thought that I would hear Knox's commandments namedropped outside of an Umineko thread Looking forward to your Five Little Pigs Review~