В Майкопе на днях подвели окончательные результаты уже ставшего традиционным местного фестиваля молодых литераторов под названием "Созвездие". Его организаторами в течение многих лет выступает Союз писателей Адыгейской республики и администрация города. По информации мэрии, в нынешнем году в творческом конкурсе приняли участие около 39 юных писателей и начинающих поэтов, которым было от 14 до 29 лет.

"Raymond West repeated the words with a kind of deliberate self-conscious pleasure. 'Unsolved mysteries.' He looked round him with satisfaction. The room was an old one with broad black beams across the ceiling and it was furnished with good old furniture that belonged to it. Hence Raymond West's approving glance. By profession he was a writer and he liked the atmosphere to be flawless. His Aunt Jane's house always pleased him as the right setting for her personality. He looked across the hearth to where she sat erect in the big grandfather chair. 'That's not what I mean. I was not talking philosophy,' Raymond said. 'I was thinking of actual bare prosaic facts, things that have happened and that no one has ever explained.' 'I know just the sort of thing you mean, dear,' said Miss Marple."

By the Pricking of my Thumbs is one of Christie’s Tommy and Tuppence books, one of her less popular series due to the protagonists‘ slight lameness. Having said that, it’s still, by no means, awful – not as readable as some of her Poirot novels, perhaps, but enjoyable enough nonetheless.It’s actually received negative reviews across the board, with a wide range of critics complaining that it lacked the focus of her earlier novels. Nevertheless, it’s still undeniably Christie, and if you’re a fan of her then you’re likely to enjoy it no matter what.I must admit, though, that it’s probably the weakest of the Tommy and Tuppence books, at least of the ones that I’ve read. The characters, while never particularly likable in the first place, are too difficult to relate to. They just don’t make people like that anymore.Read it with caution, and only after reading some of her more gripping novels beforehand – if nothing else, it’s a relatively easy read.

A strange notice appears in the morning paper of a perfectly ordinary small English village, Chipping Cleghorn: "A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, October 29th, at Little Paddocks, at 6:30 p.m. Friends accept this, the only intimation." This apparently comes as a great surprise to Letitia Blacklock, the owner of Little Paddocks, as she has no idea what the notice means; she didn't place it and none of her companions knows more than she. Miss Blacklock decides to take it in her stride and prepares herself to have guests that evening. Naturally, the villagers are intrigued by this notice, and several of them appear on the doorstep with awkward reasons but a definite interest. As the clock strikes 6:30, the lights go out and a door swings open, revealing a man with a blinding torch.

This story takes place in the Caribbean, where Miss Marple is on holiday; her nephew paid for her to take the trip after she suffered a bout of ill health. The story starts quite slowly, and involves lots of sitting around gossiping. Miss Marple is bored and longs for something exciting to happen. She finds Major Palgrave was the man with a million stories, and everyone vacationing at the lovely Golden Palm Hotel on the Caribbean island of St. Honoré tried to avoid his long-winded stories. He approaches the elderly detective, who sits, half listening and making polite replies once in a while, until Major Palgrave started speaking about her favourite topic: murder. He begins to tell her a rather unusual story about a man who got away with murder more than once, and when Palgrave asks her if she wanted to see a picture of a murderer, the knitting stops and she listens intently. But after he fishes through his wallet for the photo, he suddenly stops and changes the subject abruptly and rather loudly. Miss Marple looks up to see why and sees several people nearby.

О противостоянии командира подразделения егерей капитана Кондратьева с полевым командиром Алазаевым. «Водителю отчего-то постоянно хотелось выбраться из колеи, словно здесь ему было неуютно. Но до него по ней прошел уже не один десяток машин, а значит, если боевики и оставили здесь…»