The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories

This was a quick read. I thought it would be better. I was drawn to it for the title story "Witness for the Prosecution". I've seen the movie so many times, but never read the story. I didn't realize it was a short story. This was the best one of the lot. I didn't understand the "Fourth Man". I saw the ending coming on "Where there's a will". The Blue Jar was very good as was the Mystery of the Spanish Shawl".

Thought this was a collection of above-average Christie stories, many with a spooky, psychological, or spiritual vibe. My favorites were The Mystery of the Blue Jar, Mr Eastwood's Adventure (though I think it should have been called the Mystery of the Second Cucumber, come on), and Philomel Cottage (that ending!!)

The title story is one that was made into a movie and the most well known of the collection. The rest are a mixed bag. All with her classic twist. Some I found much better than others. I quite liked The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl which had a bit of humor to it. There were a few with mental subconscious or paranormal touches that I really didn't care for. Only one includes Poirot though the series entry links the book to him. I found it interesting that an Inspector Verell was the investigator in one story and the name was used in another story as a member of a thievery ring. Most of these stories had her typical character types but not as many blatantly prejudicial or negatively stereotyped as in other works of hers that I have read.

I'm not much of a fan of mystery short stories, even by the Queen of Crime herself. These were mostly rather obvious, if I can guess what the clues and outcomes are then it is not a great mystery. I did enjoy The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl and Philomel Cottage but found the more supernatural ones just weird. I think this finally clear out all my Agatha Christies backlog.

Review: These are some of Christie's lessor known stories, although one stars Hercule Poirot. They range from 'normal' mysteries to rather creepy tales. In any case, all were fun to read.

The Witness for the Prosecution and Other stories contains eleven stories including ten miscellaneous stories and one Hercule Poirot story. My favourites were the miscellaneous stories; The Witness for the Prosecution, Wireless (also known as Where There's a Will), The Mystery of the Blue Jar and Accident. My least favourite was the miscellaneous story, Mr. Eastwood's Adventure (which is also known as The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl). The overall collection rating is 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars. Individual story reviews and ratings are below.

MISC: THE WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION: *****
MISC: THE RED SIGNAL: ***
MISC: THE FOURTH MAN: ***
MISC: S.O.S.: ***
MISC: WHERE THERE'S A WILL/WIRELESS: *****
MISC: THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE JAR: show more *****
MISC: SING A SONG OF SIXPENCE: ***
MISC: MR. EASTWOOD'S ADVENTURE/THE MYSTERY OF THE SPANISH SHAWL: **
MISC: PHILOMEL COTTAGE: ***
MISC: ACCIDENT: *****
POIROT: THE SECOND GONG: ***

MISC: THE WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION: *****

A lawyer takes on a case of a man accused of the murder of an elderly rich lady but finds it hard to corroborate his alibi. This was terrific. I loved how the wife gets him off. Lol testifying against him and then providing evidence that she was lying in order to prove that the alibi was true (even though it wasn't). How diabolical. It was a great twist. And the ending was mind blowing. 5 stars.

MISC: THE RED SIGNAL: ***

A medium warns the men at a dinner party not to go home. This one was good. The ending was surprising, didn't see it coming. I liked. 3 stars.

MISC: THE FOURTH MAN: ***

Four men on a train discuss multiple personality disorder. This was alright. I guessed where it was going. Didn't really like it much though. 3 stars.

MISC: S.O.S.: ***

A man's car breaks down and he takes shelter with a family nearby who seem to have secrets. This was strange. The atmosphere was creepy. There was a bit of mystery which was alright. 3 stars.

MISC: WHERE THERE'S A WILL/WIRELESS: *****

A nephew convinces his aunt to buy a radio. But she soon starts hearing the voice of her dead husband speaking to her, telling her he's coming for her. I enjoyed this one. The spooky atmosphere of the voice was good. And I loved the conclusion. It's always nice when people get what's coming to them. Plus I guessed most of it.

He felt that Somebody had been playing with him—playing with him like a cat with a mouse. Somebody must be laughing . . .

Christie, Agatha. The Last Seance (p. 188). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

Well I certainly am. 5 stars.

MISC: THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE JAR: *****

A young man thinks he's going mad when he continues to hear a woman yelling murder every morning while golfing; a woman no one else can hear. This was funny. Ming jar. Ooh ouch. Poor guy. 5 stars.

MISC: SING A SONG OF SIXPENCE: ***

A man regrets his offer of help to a young woman when she proceeds to take him up on it. This was kind of funny but the solution kind of sucked. There was no real reasoning behind it. On the other hand I liked Sir Edward.

'Oh, Sir Edward. How wonderful of you - how wonderful you are,' said Magdalen when he had finished his brief recital. 'You've saved us all. How can I ever thank you?'
Sir Edward smiled down at her and patted her hand gently. He was very much the great man. Little Magdalen had been very charming on the Siluric. That bloom of seventeen - wonderful! She had completely lost it now, of course.
'Next time you need a friend-' he said.
'I'll come straight to you.'
'No, no,' cried Sir Edward in alarm. 'That's just what I don't want you to do. Go to a younger man.'

He extricated himself with dexterity from the grateful household and hailing a taxi sank into it with a sigh of relief.

Christie, Agatha. The Witness for the Prosecution (p. 226). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

Even if he was a letch - sleeping with a seventeen year old? And especially at like 60? Seriously? Ugh.

In any case, I loved that he was all 'I offered thinking she'd never take me up on it and now I'm stuck'. Serves him right. 3 stars.

MISC: MR. EASTWOOD'S ADVENTURE/THE MYSTERY OF THE SPANISH SHAWL: **

A writer has trouble writing a story and finds inspiration from his life. I didn't really like this much. It was kind of dumb. There was no real explanation for why he was targeted. And the ending was a bit abrupt for my liking. 2 stars.

MISC: PHILOMEL COTTAGE: ***

A woman comes into money and instead of marrying her crush, she meets and marries a man she's known for a week. I don't know that I really got this. It started out well and was interesting and then the ending kind of baffled me. So she didn't do it? She did? Why did he die? I didn't really get it. 3 stars.

MISC: ACCIDENT: *****

A retired police investigator recognises a lady from an old case. Ooh brutal. I love the brutal ones. Mrs Merrowdene is fierce. I thought for a minute it was a red herring and that the husband was going to kill the wife instead but no. 5 stars.

POIROT: THE SECOND GONG: ***

The owner of a large estate sends for Poirot when he discovers he is being swindled, but when Poirot arrives Hubert Lytcham Roche has just committed suicide. This is a earlier, pared down version of Dead Man's Mirror and is really just the bare bones of the crime. It has a clever solution and is an easy read. 3 stars. show less

An excellent set of short Christie mysteries, including one with Poirot and the story she turned into a popular play with a twist ending, The Witness for the Prosecution.