'The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories' by Agatha Christie is a collection of short mystery stories that showcase Christie's adroit plotting and surprise endings. The stories range from 'normal' mysteries to rather creepy tales, with some featuring supernatural elements as another character in its own right. The book includes mysteries, puzzles, and simply unbelievable occurrences, all presented in a taut, fast-paced, and satisfying manner by the Queen of Crime Writing.
Genres:
Tropes/Plot Devices:
Topics:
Notes:
Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The stories may contain themes of murder, mental illness, and supernatural implications, which could be sensitive content for some readers.
From The Publisher:
Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories is a collection of eleven tantalizing tales of murder and other criminal pursuits-including the classic title story, the basis for the 1957 Oscar-nominated Billy Wilder film starring Marlene Dietrich, Tyrone Power, and Charles Laughton.
A murder trial takes a diabolical turn when the wife of the accused takes the stand. . . . A woman's sixth sense-and a loaded revolver-signal premonitions of doom. . . . A stranded motorist seeks refuge in a remote mansion and is greeted with a dire warning. . . . Detective Hercule Poirot faces his greatest challenge when his services are enlisted-by the victim-in a bizarre locked-room murder.
From the stunning title story (which inspired the classic film thriller) to the rarest gems in detective fiction, these eleven tales of baffling crime and brilliant deduction showcase Agatha Christie at her dazzling best.
Ratings (9)
Incredible (2) | |
Loved It (5) | |
Liked It (1) | |
It Was OK (1) |
Reader Stats (23):
Read It (10) | |
Want To Read (9) | |
Not Interested (4) |
1 comment(s)
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: *****
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.
What can you read after
The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories?
When you click the Amazon link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commision, at no cost to you.
