Today I’m delighted to welcome crime writer LM Milford. Her ‘Porridge & Cream’ read is 4.50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie.

“My Porridge and Cream novel is 4.50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie. I think it may even be the first Agatha Christie book I read and began my love affair with her writing. It’s the book I pick when I’m feeling tired and want something easy to read. I almost wrote ‘simple to read’ but of course Christie’s plots are never simple. The copy I have is old and battered and I think bought from a second-hand bookshop while browsing. I couldn’t tell you exactly when I read it, but it’s probably back in my early teens and it helped me to find the writing genre where I belong. “Miss Marple is one of my favourite characters. She looks like a fluffy old lady but underneath that outward appearance is a core of steel and a very quick brain. I love the way she solves the crime by using just her wits and her experiences of living in a quiet country village. Her knowledge of the psychology of human behaviour is what makes her so formidable. I also love Lucy Eyelesbarrow, quietly competent and determined and more than a match for the Crackenthorpe brothers (and father!).

“Elevator pitch for4.50 From Paddington: When Elspeth McGillicuddy sees a woman murdered on a train, she turns to her friend Miss Jane Marple for comfort. Miss Marple decides that she must find out who the woman was and what happened to her because the body was not found on the train. She works out that the body must have been dumped near Rutherford Hall and employs Lucy Eyelesbarrow to find it. Once the body has been found the race is on to find out who she was before the killer can strike again.”
Amazon

Lynne’s Bio
By day, Lynne works in PR and communications; by night (and at weekends) she writes crime fiction (as well as baking pies and chocolate brownies). In a previous life she worked as a local newspaper reporter which gave her inspiration for the story that became her first novel, A Deadly Rejection. She lives in Kent and spends far too much time on trains commuting into London for work, which does however give her time to work on plotting and writing her books.

Lynne’s links
Website
Twitter @lmmilford
Facebook 

Lynne’s latest book
Local news reporter Dan Sullivan scents a story in the local council planning department and he begins to ask questions. But when his source dies in mysterious circumstances, Dan is implicated. He is quickly drawn into a world of lies, ambition and avarice as he fights to clear his name. The more he digs, the more someone tries to stop the story from ever seeing the light of day. Dan must decide what’s more important to him…the story, or his life.
Amazon

What is a ‘Porridge & Cream’ book? It’s the book you turn to when you need a familiar read, when you are tired, ill, or out-of-sorts, where you know the story and love it. Where reading it is like slipping on your oldest, scruffiest slippers after walking for miles. Where does the name ‘Porridge & Cream’ come from? Cat Deerborn is a character in Susan Hill’s ‘Simon Serrailler’ detective series. Cat is a hard-worked GP, a widow with two children and she struggles from day-to-day. One night, after a particularly difficult day, she needs something familiar to read. From her bookshelf she selects ‘Love in A Cold Climate’ by Nancy Mitford. Do you have a favourite read which you return to again and again? If so, please send me a message.

Discover the ‘Porridge & Cream’ books of these authors:-
Mary Grand’s choice is ‘It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet’ by James Herriot
Simon Fairfax chooses ‘Heller with a Gun’ by Louis L’Amour
‘Dead Until Dark’ by Charlaine Harris is chosen by Rachel Dove

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
Why does LM Milford @lmmilford re-read 4.50 FROM PADDINGTON by Agatha Christie #books https://wp.me/p5gEM4-3QI via @SandraDanby