I am always a bit disappointed when Christie puts a supernatural element in her short stories. I prefer the mystery to be explained by human cunning or cleverness. Several of these stories have a hint of the supernatural. Most of them do not. What a writer she is, though - all of them were very compelling reading! ( )

if you read a lot of Christie beware as this is essentially the stories from "The Hound of Death" repacked... ( )

In this collection of short mystery stories, Christie displays her usual adroit plotting and surprise endings. In some of the stories, the supernatural figures as another character in its own right, while in others the supernatural is used as a blind for nefarious human actions. Several of the stories don't have the happy ending where the bad guy gets punished — at least three end with the murderer either murdering the detective or getting clean away with, well, murder. I also found that some of the characters seemed borrowed from other Christie books I'd read. I suppose it's because she relies so much on types to delineate a character quickly to the reader.

I read this on the beach during vacation and it was quite enjoyable. Recommended for fans of mystery and suspense. ( )

http://spacebeer.blogspot.com/2006/08... ( )