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Two books read in the last few days:
Hocas Pokas by Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson. An SF collection (actually a novel with a novella and a short story tagged on) about a planet where the local inhabitants (who resemble metre-tall teddy bears) are fascinated by Earth history, and enthusiastically impersonate any historical or fictional character which appeals to them.
Very enjoyable. I originally bought this from Baen in Feb 2000, and it's a part of my ongoing "read my Baen back-catalogue" project.
Black Coffee by Agatha Christie and Charles Osbourne. This was originally a 1929 Agatha Christie stage play, featuring Hercule Poirot, which has been novelised by Christie expert and biographer Charles Osbourne, and very nicely done it is too. The plot is a little improbable (a rich industrialist who thinks a secret formula has been stolen by a member of his household locks everyone in the drawing room, and turns the lights out, to give the thief a chance to return the formula unseen. When the lights come back on, surprise surprise the man has been murdered) and I wouldn't say the writing is at all in the style of Christie, but it's well written and the case of characters is interesting. Again, recommended.
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