Reviews

I went in thinking this would be a collection of creepy, dynamic ghost stories. What I got was overly predictable scenes and some that didn’t even make sense.

barnfieldkatherine033's review against another edition

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dark mysterious

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

3.5

marcus_bines's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

An interesting collection of variable stories, some quite spooky, some more criminal.

Reading / listening to this (which is what I did) is similar to watching Doctor Who, where seemingly supernatural / horrific occurrences always turn out to be aliens. Here, seemingly supernatural occurrences frequently turn out to be criminals using people's fears or superstitions to their advantage. Across the collection there are a lot of fortunes to be gained or lost or inherited, many references to mediums and spiritualists and a lot of cleverly-hidden crimes. Some of the stories feature Christie's recurring sleuths Poirot or Marple, so you know those ones will have a final act reveal of the criminal.

Overall I enjoyed listening to it, but I think I'd have preferred delving into a novel of hers.

daisy_anne's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

gwendle_vs_literature's review against another edition

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dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a fun little collection of Agatha Christie’s short stories pertaining to the supernatural. There was a fairly even split between stories where the supernatural element was real, and ones were it was a hoax — and a couple where it was there but not the main focus of the story. When a story featured Poirot or Miss Marple you knew that the exposé was coming, but other times I didn’t know which way things would land until they’d landed. As with many books where short stories have been collected by an editor rather than written as a cohesive collection by the author there is no through-line connecting each story to the next and propelling you through the narrative, so I found it difficult to build momentum — there was no drive to turn the page and keep going. (In the book’s defence though, I read it while recovering from a broken wrist, and difficulties with holding it comfortably and concentrating also played a part in slowing me down).

Overall a solid collection of Christie’s more occult works.

stupidasscupid777's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

not my favorite of her work, but its agatha christie so im still fine with it.

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