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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
dark
relaxing
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Um livro excelente, repleto de contos deliciosos de uma mente genial. O meu primeiro Agatha Christie, que certamente não será o último!
A posse of detectives…
The latest in HarperCollins’ series of collections of Agatha Christie’s short stories, this one contains twelve stories featuring all of her best known detectives, Miss Marple, Poirot and Tommy and Tuppence, and a couple of the lesser known ones, Parker Pyne and Harley Quin. While all of these stories have appeared many times in various collections and anthologies over the years, I must say the design of these hardbacks is gorgeous, themed with seasonal colours and highlighted with shiny foil. As a bonus, each book includes an excerpt from Christie’s autobiography, and in this one that takes the form of a nicely spooky early poem on the subject of the woods in autumn. The books would make perfect gifts for a Christie fan even if they already knew the stories, and would be a lovely way to introduce a newcomer to her work. However, they are also available as Kindle versions and audiobooks for those who prefer, with the narrators of the audiobooks usually culled from earlier collections, so in this one the narrators include Hugh Fraser, David Suchet, Christopher Lee and Nigel Hawthorne, among others – a pretty stellar line-up!
I gave six of the stories five stars and the other six got four, so that makes this an excellent collection overall in my judgement. Some of the stories are quite well known, but despite my years of fan worship of Ms Christie there were still a sprinkling that were new to me (or perhaps that I read so long ago they feel new). Here’s a brief look at some of the ones I enjoyed most:
Murder in the Mews starring Poirot and Japp – When Japp is called in to investigate a death, he thinks Poirot might be interested and invites him along. The dead woman is Mrs Allan, and on the surface it looks as if she shot herself. However the doctor has doubts about the feasibility of this, and Poirot and Japp soon agree that it’s a murder rigged to look like suicide. But what reason did anyone have to murder Mrs Allan? It appears that a long-forgotten scandal may be at the root of the mystery. This is the longest story in the collection – not quite novella length but close, and that allows room for some character development and a more complex mystery than is sometimes the case in short stories. There’s also a strong sense of justice in this one.
The Lemesurier Inheritance starring Poirot and Hastings – A family curse says that no eldest son will ever inherit the Lemesurier fortune, and indeed the eldest sons have died before inheriting over several generations. Now the mother of the current eldest son, a boy in his teens, has come to Poirot for advice. She doesn’t believe in curses, but she’s concerned that her son has had three narrow escapes from death in the last few months. Her husband, a true believer, shrugs it off as only to be expected and unavoidable since the boy is doomed. Can Poirot save the boy? If it isn’t the curse at work, who is trying to kill him and why? This is an early story, from 1923, and the style positively reeks of the influence of Conan Doyle’s Holmes’ stories. It’s Hastings’ voice – it’s almost indistinguishable from the voice of that other most famous sidekick, Watson. This one also has a mildly risqué ending which made me laugh at its unexpectedness – I don’t associate Christie and risqué humour!
The House of Lurking Death starring Tommy and Tuppence – Taken from the Partners in Crime collection in which T&T are masquerading as Blunt’s Brilliant Detectives, and in each story they try to copy the style of a fictional ’tec of the day. In this one they choose Inspector Hanaud and his sidekick Ricardo, and have much fun with Tommy pretending to be slightly French. A young woman consults them about a spate of non-fatal poisonings in her neighbourhood. T&T promise to go down to her house the next day to investigate but, alas, too late! That evening the young woman dies of apparent food poisoning along with her cousin and a maid. It’s up to T&T to discover if the poisoning was deliberate and if so, whodunit and why. Well, really it’s up to Tuppence who as always is the real brains of the outfit! Too brainy to be Ricardo…
The Witness for the Prosecution – None of the regulars appear in this one. It started out as a play originally and must be one of her best known stories, largely because it was made into a wonderful film starring Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich among others in a stellar cast! A rich old lady has been murdered and Leonard Vole has been charged with the crime. His defence barrister believes him innocent, especially since Leonard tells him his devoted wife will be able to give him an alibi. But the mysterious Romaine doesn’t! Instead she does everything to have him found guilty. Can his defence barrister get him off? Very dark and twisty, and I believe this is the original version of the story – in later versions Christie added a melodramatic ending more suitable for film and stage which also works well, but it was interesting to see here how the first version ended.
So a great collection in a beautifully produced edition. Perfect for the long dark evenings of autumn…
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, HarperCollins.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
The latest in HarperCollins’ series of collections of Agatha Christie’s short stories, this one contains twelve stories featuring all of her best known detectives, Miss Marple, Poirot and Tommy and Tuppence, and a couple of the lesser known ones, Parker Pyne and Harley Quin. While all of these stories have appeared many times in various collections and anthologies over the years, I must say the design of these hardbacks is gorgeous, themed with seasonal colours and highlighted with shiny foil. As a bonus, each book includes an excerpt from Christie’s autobiography, and in this one that takes the form of a nicely spooky early poem on the subject of the woods in autumn. The books would make perfect gifts for a Christie fan even if they already knew the stories, and would be a lovely way to introduce a newcomer to her work. However, they are also available as Kindle versions and audiobooks for those who prefer, with the narrators of the audiobooks usually culled from earlier collections, so in this one the narrators include Hugh Fraser, David Suchet, Christopher Lee and Nigel Hawthorne, among others – a pretty stellar line-up!
I gave six of the stories five stars and the other six got four, so that makes this an excellent collection overall in my judgement. Some of the stories are quite well known, but despite my years of fan worship of Ms Christie there were still a sprinkling that were new to me (or perhaps that I read so long ago they feel new). Here’s a brief look at some of the ones I enjoyed most:
Murder in the Mews starring Poirot and Japp – When Japp is called in to investigate a death, he thinks Poirot might be interested and invites him along. The dead woman is Mrs Allan, and on the surface it looks as if she shot herself. However the doctor has doubts about the feasibility of this, and Poirot and Japp soon agree that it’s a murder rigged to look like suicide. But what reason did anyone have to murder Mrs Allan? It appears that a long-forgotten scandal may be at the root of the mystery. This is the longest story in the collection – not quite novella length but close, and that allows room for some character development and a more complex mystery than is sometimes the case in short stories. There’s also a strong sense of justice in this one.
The Lemesurier Inheritance starring Poirot and Hastings – A family curse says that no eldest son will ever inherit the Lemesurier fortune, and indeed the eldest sons have died before inheriting over several generations. Now the mother of the current eldest son, a boy in his teens, has come to Poirot for advice. She doesn’t believe in curses, but she’s concerned that her son has had three narrow escapes from death in the last few months. Her husband, a true believer, shrugs it off as only to be expected and unavoidable since the boy is doomed. Can Poirot save the boy? If it isn’t the curse at work, who is trying to kill him and why? This is an early story, from 1923, and the style positively reeks of the influence of Conan Doyle’s Holmes’ stories. It’s Hastings’ voice – it’s almost indistinguishable from the voice of that other most famous sidekick, Watson. This one also has a mildly risqué ending which made me laugh at its unexpectedness – I don’t associate Christie and risqué humour!
The House of Lurking Death starring Tommy and Tuppence – Taken from the Partners in Crime collection in which T&T are masquerading as Blunt’s Brilliant Detectives, and in each story they try to copy the style of a fictional ’tec of the day. In this one they choose Inspector Hanaud and his sidekick Ricardo, and have much fun with Tommy pretending to be slightly French. A young woman consults them about a spate of non-fatal poisonings in her neighbourhood. T&T promise to go down to her house the next day to investigate but, alas, too late! That evening the young woman dies of apparent food poisoning along with her cousin and a maid. It’s up to T&T to discover if the poisoning was deliberate and if so, whodunit and why. Well, really it’s up to Tuppence who as always is the real brains of the outfit! Too brainy to be Ricardo…
The Witness for the Prosecution – None of the regulars appear in this one. It started out as a play originally and must be one of her best known stories, largely because it was made into a wonderful film starring Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich among others in a stellar cast! A rich old lady has been murdered and Leonard Vole has been charged with the crime. His defence barrister believes him innocent, especially since Leonard tells him his devoted wife will be able to give him an alibi. But the mysterious Romaine doesn’t! Instead she does everything to have him found guilty. Can his defence barrister get him off? Very dark and twisty, and I believe this is the original version of the story – in later versions Christie added a melodramatic ending more suitable for film and stage which also works well, but it was interesting to see here how the first version ended.
So a great collection in a beautifully produced edition. Perfect for the long dark evenings of autumn…
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, HarperCollins.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
2024 has marked an introduction into the world of agatha christie for me. i’ve read the first two miss marple mysteries, and now i’ve gotten to read autumn chills, a collection of short stories featuring a whole host of characters i’ve not yet gotten to meet, including poirot, tommy and tuppence, and harley quin. i don’t normally do seasonal reads, but i’m glad i did this one - coincidentally getting to read the first story, about a murder which takes place on bonfire night, actually on bonfire night with the sound of fireworks in the background, was too perfect!
✧ full review on my tumblr ✧
✧ full review on my tumblr ✧