The Mousetrap and Selected Plays

The Mousetrap and Selected Plays is a collection of four plays by Agatha Christie. It was published in the UK by Harper Collins in 1993.

The book contains four plays, And Then There Were None, Appointment with Death, The Hollow and The Mousetrap. All of these plays are based on some other previously published Christie work.

The first play in the book is And Then There Were None. It is a 1943 play. The play is based on the 1939 novel of the same name. This three act play takes place in an Island off the coast of Devon.

This play has a different conclusion from the novel as the novel’s conclusion was deemed unusable for the stage. I haven’t read the novel so I can’t say which is better or worse but the play is good. The way the tension show more builds up right till the very end is quite impressive.

As for the characters this is more of an ensemble act (just the way a play should have) so no single character stands out.

Appointment with Death is a 1945 three act play. It is based on her 1938 novel novel of the same name, which featured her famous creation Hercule Poirot.

This is not one of the usual ‘British countryside’ Christies. The play takes place in and around Petra, among its deserts and caves. The scorching heat of the desert plays a significant role here.

This adaptation is known as one of the most drastic reworking of a novel Christie ever did. Firstly, it eliminates the central figure of the story, Hercule Poirot. Secondly, it changes the identity of the killer.

The character of Mrs. Boynton is menacing to say the least. The kind of hold she has over her family is just plain frightening. The rest of the Boyntons are rather uninteresting. But that is the impression (of themselves) they are supposed to give to the audience/reader as it shows how much like lifeless dummies they have become at the hands of their tormentor. The characters of Dr Gerard and Sarah King are interesting. The scenes between Alderman Higgs and Lady Westholme are fun, especially as Higgs gets to have the last word (literally).

The next play, The Hollow is a 1951 three act play based on a 1946 Hercule Poirot novel of the same name.

I’ve read The Hollow both as a novel and as a play and in my opinion it works better as a play (is it any surprise that Christie herself felt that the novel would make a good play when many of the others felt it wouldn’t?)

She also maintained that the novel, The Hollow was “ruined” by the appearance of Poirot, which is again something I totally agree with. She decided to cut him out all together from the play and rework the story accordingly.

Among the characters, Lady Angkatell stands out. She may be a bit odd but she’s definitely a very original person. I liked her. The character of Dr John Christow is very self-centred. But so is Henrietta Angkatell. With Christow it’s obvious whereas with Henrietta it is less so.

And finally, The Mousetrap. The origins of this two act play is sort of complex. It was initially a short radio play named Three Blind Mice. This version of the play is based on a short story that was based on the original radio play! The name The Mousetrap comes (somewhat surprisingly) from the play Hamlet.

I found Mollie and Giles Ralston to be annoying. I didn’t like them and couldn’t really connect with them. I was especially irritated when Giles began to jump to conclusions regarding Mollie’s visit to London and her relationship with Christopher. Most of the other characters are bland and wooden or stereotypical.

Having said all that I must say that the story, the central theme, the setting, the narrative and the final twist are all simply splendid! I know of no other story where the setting and the plot of the story rises above its mundane characters! Just the isolation of the Monkswell Manor and the ever increasing suspense is enough for me to say that this play is definitely worth a read!

It is interesting to see how Christie reworked her own ideas and created new entities. To me a play only manages to intensify the suspenseful elements of her stories. The Mousetrap and Selected Plays is one of my favourites and I highly recommend it. show less

A collection of short mysteries. Pleasing not so much for the difficulty of solving them, they're not difficult, but for the charm of the detectives and the stories.

Classic story of murder in a guest house - hampered by a snowstorm and cut phone lines. I enjoyed the story but I'd like to see the play performed.

Collection of 4 playscripts including The Mousetrap, and 3 other plays, adapted by Christie from her books.
The plays in this volume are: "The Mousetrap", "The Hollow", "And Then There Were None" (a.k.a "Ten little Indians"), & "Appointment With Death".
A nice addition to your Christie collection, and interesting to see how the plays were later novelised, or vice versa.
Note: This is the UK edition.
There's a different US edition; "The Mousetrap and Other Plays", which appears to have more plays in it than this one.