#Sven Hjerson

[modusmumbles]

Round 1a

Dirk Gently (UK/US Either the book or the Netflix version of the same name I love them both)

He is chaos incarnate with a found family and is defo ND. Cool jackets and queer vibes

Sven Hjerson (Sweden)

Retired detective gets bullied (/fond) out of being a recluse to solve odd cases. Cool outfits and vibes in general! This man can fit so much autism in him - oh and he's cannonly gay!

[bitchbrisket]

These two are growing on me

[mzannthropy]

I picked up Cards on the Table for a re-read (bc every time I get this strong urge to re-read any Agatha Christie, I have to do it immediately) and a character asks Poirot: "have you met Mrs Oliver?", to which I went, ofc they are besties--I forgot that this is the book which introduces Ariadne Oliver!

She's such a vivid character, a pure chaotic energy. I'm pretty sure everything she says about writing is Agatha's own experience (Rhoda: it must be wonderful to write! Ariadne: No, it isn't.) Also I just realised that Ariadne's fictional detective, Sven Hjerson, has the same initials as Sherlock Holmes.

Anyway, Cards on the Table is one of my faves. Some unforgettable characters in this one (once again, it's not true that Agatha Christie's characters are not well developed). I don't think it's one of the popular ones, probably bc of how much the game of bridge features, but I think personally, that you don't need to understand bridge to enjoy the book. As with everything, YMMV, I like it bc it's a true locked room mystery and as it features also Superintendent Battle and Colonel Race, it's the Agatha Christie version of Avengers!

[fallowhearth]

'How do I know? said Mrs Oliver crossly. 'How do I know why I ever thought of the revolting man? I must have been mad! Why a Finn when I know nothing about Finland? Why a vegetarian? Why all the idiotic manerisms he's got? These things just happen. You try something-and people seem to like it-and then you go on-and before you know where you are, you've got someone like that maddening Sven Hjerson tied to you for life. And people even write and say how fond you must be of him. Fond of him? If I met that bony, gangling, vegetable-eating Finn in real life, I'd do a better murder than any I've ever invented.'

Lmao. When Mrs Oliver first appeared in a Poirot book, I initially thought she was a fairly mean-spirited send up of feminist women. However it becomes increasingly clear that she's also the author's mean-spirited self-insert send up of herself.

[kattahj]

My Agatha Christe Re-Reading Project, #42: Mrs McGinty's Dead

I remembered three things about this book before the re-read: The name clue, which annoyed me as a teenager who wasn't aware of British unisex name. That Poirot teaches Maureen to make omelettes, which I mostly remembered from the callback in Cat Among the Pigeons. Ariadne Oliver's ire at Robin's insistence at giving Sven Hjerson a romance with a young girl, which mirrors Christie's own ire in her autobiography at the theater director who tried the same with Poirot. (And later directors could well take heed! Waves queer ace flags for Poirot.) So, uh… not a whole lot. And really, those are the most memorable parts. Poirot's attempts to deal with Maureen Summerhayes' haphazard approach to hosting are hilarious. When she has bled all over the beans and is talking about opening a mouldy or bulging can – I forget which – and goes, "but everything's fine if you boil it, right?" and Poirot very quietly says that he will be eating out: comedy gold. I love her. Ariadne Oliver's attempts to deal with adaptation hijinks are also a lot of fun. And the murder mystery is… fine. It holds together fairly well. We have the standard, everyone is lying about something, it's just a question of what. I think the trouble is that once the motive is clear, it divides the suspects into little clusters of two or three people. Someone has a connection to one of these past murders, and the people immediately relevant to that someone may be involved, but there are no main threads to follow between the households. No big tangled mess of personal motives, sympathies and antipathies. While Mrs. McGinty has her name in the title, in the grand scheme of things, she's not really important. And it makes the story less interesting as a result. If I reread this again later, it will be for the Maureen Summerhayes - Hercule Poirot mess and the Ariadne Oliver - Robin Updike mess. Everyone else I have pretty much already forgotten.

ETA: Forgot to give a verdict! 3/5

[rookheeya]

The first episode of Agatha Christie's Hjerson tonight on TV4 (Se).

The show stars Johan Rheborg as Sven Hjerson, and Hanna Alstrom as Klara Sandberg

[nordicwannabe-blog]

Agatha Christies Hjerson - Serie aus Schweden

Agatha Christies Hjerson - Serie aus #Schweden jetzt schon in der ZDFmediathek

Hej, mit der schwedischen Serie “Agatha Christies Hjerson” schenkt uns das ZDF im neuen Jahr eine neue Serie für Skandi-Fans. Worum geht es? Der exzentrische Mordermittler Sven Hjerson (Johan Rheborg, bekannt aus Solsidan) hat sich vor Jahren aus der Öffentlichkeit zurückgezogen. TV-Produzentin Klara Sandberg (Hanna Alström, Mord in Mittsommer) möchte ihn als Host für eine True-Crime-Show…

[my-52-weeks-with-christie]

The Greek Coffin Mystery - Ellery Queen

The Greek Coffin Mystery is the fourth novel in the overall series of Ellery Queen. Still a fledgling in the art of detection, this novel features a critical episode which informs all of Ellery's later investigations, according to the man himself, which I won't spoil by elucidating here!

This, I must admit, is one of the more unique classic mysteries I have ever read, from Ellery's numerous brilliant yet incorrect solutions to his challenge at the end of chapter thirty.

What's the challenge you ask? Well, Ellery, as the author of the mystery as well as being the detective within, breaks the fourth wall and addresses his readers directly;

"...ungentle reader, you now have in your possession all the facts pertinent to the only correct solution of the trinitarian problem..."

Now, Agatha Christie came a hairsbreadth away from breaking the fourth wall on occasion with Ariadne Oliver. Who's memorable tirade on the frustration of inadvertently tying her writing career to her Finnish detective, Sven Hjerson - when she knew nothing or had any interest in Finland. But she never actually laid down an out and out, rather cheeky, challenge the way our author Ellery Queen does.

However, this feature, along with the clever mystery, and our intrepid sleuth combine together to create a page-turning and exciting book - I would recommend to anyone looking for an excellent classic mystery.

Though one note when reading if like me, you identify as female. The men in here are written as they were at the time of its original publication - 1932. Nothing inappropriate happens. But the way in which a few, but by no means, all, refer to or speak to women did have me doing a double-take. But it is such a small percentage of words within the book, other than rankling; it didn't detract from the deductions taking place on the page.

[maisouipoirot]

MRS OLIVER: Sven Hjerson is a vegetarian. Sven Hjerson has always been a vegetarian. He’s got a little machine for chopping carrots.

ROBIN: Yes, yes, Ariadne, precious, yes. But why?

MRS OLIVER: I don’t know. Why, the thought of the revolting man! I must have been mad! These things just happen. You try something and people seem to like it, and then you go on, and before you know it, you’ve got someone like that maddening Sven Hjerson tied to you for life.

[fortesque]

[hemlock-in-the-cocktails]

"Sven's never had sex in his life!"

[fortesque]