A book lover's haven

There are a multitude of reasons why Dame Agatha Christie is referred to as the Queen of Crime, and this short Belgian detective, with his grey cells and patent leather shoes, is one of the greatest. Another reason is that she's statistically the world's best selling fiction writer of all time. But all that would have never happened if not if she hadn't invented Hercule Poirot. First introduced to the world in 1920, in "The Mysterious Affair At Styles",(which makes it 100 years this year), Hercule Poirot soon swept through the ranks to be known as one the world's most well known fictitious detectives, only behind one Sherlock Holmes. But Hercule Poirot is quite different, and very unique .  First of all, u nlike his Greek eponym Hercules the demigod, Poirot is a LOT less given to physical endeavors. (by the way, eponym is the opposite of namesake) Poirot scoffs at activities for which Sherlock Holmes is famous, such as sniffing cigarette ash and rolling on t...

The Five Find Outers, fully named as the Five Findouters and Dog, is yet another Enid Blyton children's mystery series. S et in the fictitious village of Peterswood, this is one adventure that will end up hurting your tummy muscles a lot (through laughter, don't get scared). Featuring five kids, its another classic Blyton five member team, but only if you forgot the dog. (If you already know the characters, skip to the last para) Frederick A. Trotteville (a.k.a Fatty), self assumed leader of the team, befriends Larry, Daisy, Philip (Pip) and Elizabeth (Bets), and Fatty's beloved and intelligent dog Buster. The five decide to form a detective club early on in the first book, and from then on don't look back.  Starting from a burnt cottage, the children end up investigating cats, (real, Siamese and Pantomine ones), letters, wax statues, lost necklaces, thieves and missing men etc over their 15 book long journey. To spice things up is one of history's funniest antihe...