Reviews

Останній сеанс by Agatha Christie

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momoxshi's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

4.0

Another short story collection from Agatha Christie, but this one more focused on supernatural events (or seemingly supernatural) sprinkled with her usual mystery.

A handful of stories are already familiar to me as I've read a few other short story collection of Christie's.

A few notable favorites are as follows: The Last Seance, In a Glass Darkly, The Idol House of Astarte, Philomel Cottage, Wireless, The Mystery of the Blue Jar, The Blue Geranium, and The Dressmaker's Doll. I like the fact that this started off with The Last Seance. Having a serious supernatural story makes it funnier to read the endings of those stories that didn't actually have anything supernatural in them.

I wasn't a fan of The Strange Case of Sir Arthur Carmichael and The Red Signal but the rest ranged from pretty good to adequate.

mindsplinters's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

A collection of various Christie short stories with a supernatural or other-worldly bent. Lots of fun and only a few Miss Marple or Poirots. It's nice to see Christie playing with other characters in a much shorter space of work.

munyapenny's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

agirlsnightbookbash's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

postmodernblues's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious relaxing tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

sophiarose1816's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I was looking for a good spooky season listen that would be borderline freaky without totally crossing the line into horror. The Last Seance, a collection of Agatha Christie's spookiest tales all in one place. I'm pretty sure most of the stories were ones I've read in other collections. The first story- the title story- is one I'm sure that was new to me. However, the fact that all of this tone were pulled together into one collection is the strength and attraction for The Last Seance anthology.

The Last Séance
A medium with a bad feeling about her last client is proven right. This one was not borderline, but actual horror.

In a Glass Darkly
A man sees what he thinks is a premonition of his best friend's sister being strangled by her fiancee. Years later, he sees the truth of that vision.

S.O.S.
A house with a sinister atmosphere may be responsible for the bad things some of the inhabitants are plotting. Good use of atmosphere.

The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb
Poirot and Hastings investigate death by mummy curse in Egypt.

The Fourth Man
Another that crossed the line to the horror side when four men discuss a case of personality disorder. A gorgeous musically talented girl bullies a sub-par girl from the same foster home all their lives. The bullying includes the bully using hypnotism to make mental suggestions that seem to later come true.

The Idol House of Astarte
Miss Marple and some friends listen to a clergyman tell a story about the time he witnessed a man killed by seemingly supernatural forces. Miss Marple is the only one who sees the truth.

The Gipsy
A full-on supernatural tale using a cassandra-like gypsy woman trying to influence a young man to protect him and his friend finding the whole thing curious.

Philomel Cottage
A woman has a disturbing dream that causes her to get at her husband's past- right in the nick of time.

The Lamp
A haunted house ghost story that is bittersweet.

The Dream
Poirot solves the mystery of a rich man who supposedly committed suicide after having a recurring dream that he killed himself.

Wireless
A radio transmits a ghostly voice from beyond telling an old woman that she will soon be reunited with her long-dead husband.

The Wife of the Kenite
A German spy is on the run in South Africa and takes refuge at an isolated farm and is uneasy about the situation when the truth comes on him too late.

The Mystery of the Blue Jar
A mysterious voice and a cottage with a history has a young golfer thinking he's going mad and depending on a 'soul' doctor to help him investigate the situation.

The Strange Case of Sir Arthur Carmichael
Is Sir Arthur truly turning into a cat? A household with dark currents.

The Blue Gernaium
Miss Marple solves the case of the hypochondriac who gets a fatal prediction from a psychic.

The Call of Wings
An uncanny story about a millionaire who gives up his fortune in time to save a life and get carried about on wings.

The Flock of Geryon
With the help of Poirot and Japp, a clever woman attempts to debunk a charming cult leader to save her friend. (The Nemean Lion in the The Labours of Hercules)

The Red Signal
A man uses intuition to escape a plot to set him up for the murder of his uncle who is a specialist in insanity..

The Dressmaker's Doll
Another borderline horror in tone as a doll creeps out first the customers and then the staff of a dressmaker's shop. What does the doll want?

The Hound of Death
A man tells the story of a priestess of an ancient religion who was reincarnated as a nun who uses supernatural means to save her convent from the Nazis.

The whole collection was perfect in tone for those looking for old-style supernatural storytelling. Fenella Woolgar did a fab job of telling the tales and voicing each story's cast of characters with good variety for gender, class, and nationality.