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fraise's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-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
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Murder, Racial slurs, Violence, and Sexism
Moderate: Drug use and Xenophobia
Minor: Classism, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness
mal_eficent's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I didn’t realise this was a collection of all Hastings stories before starting and was delighted to listen to the poor man get bullied by his friend. The third story even had some snippets about renting in London in the 1920s - nice to know it’s always been considered hell!
Compared to Christie’s longer stories these are a little formulaic - Poirot meets worried person, fact finds, something dramatic happens, then quiet reveal. The redeeming feature (other than Christie being able to come up with satisfyingly complex murders) is that Poirot is at his most gloriously arrogant and acidic in all of them.
The audiobook performance by Suchet was a delight - his accents are amazing and his normal voice so different from Poirot’s that it makes the narration stand out even more. If you can find it, it’s well worth a listen.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Death
brookeew's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
A great collection classic Agatha Christie mysteries
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
manu_k's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
A very entertaining read. Agatha Christie continues to amaze me with her words and her mysteries.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Kidnapping, Blood, Death, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use
kloughlin's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
lucyselim's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-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 is my first short story collection by Agatha Christie and I thought they were very clever and intriguing. Despite their length I think they are still able to give just enough information for you to investigate yourself without also giving it away. A very enjoyable read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Drug use, Violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Misogyny, and Medical content
silver_valkyrie_reads's review
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Book five of my personal read through of Agatha Christie in publication order, and the first book of short stories in that read through!
At first I found the short story format very annoying, because Hastings had plenty time in each story to be an arrogant idiot, as usual, but not enough time to redeem himself and make me like him again, as he usually does in a novel. After the first couple of stories though, I found he generally barely even had to time to be obnoxiously arrogant, so it balanced out, and I was able to enjoy the stories pretty well from that point on.
Knowing Agatha Christie plots as well as I do in general I could usually spot the misdirection ("Oh, that's definitely NOT the vital clue" "so he's not the murderer then...") but typically didn't predict what the actual reveal would be.
This one might be a good book to ease younger mystery lovers into mysteries written for adults.
At first I found the short story format very annoying, because Hastings had plenty time in each story to be an arrogant idiot, as usual, but not enough time to redeem himself and make me like him again, as he usually does in a novel. After the first couple of stories though, I found he generally barely even had to time to be obnoxiously arrogant, so it balanced out, and I was able to enjoy the stories pretty well from that point on.
Knowing Agatha Christie plots as well as I do in general I could usually spot the misdirection ("Oh, that's definitely NOT the vital clue" "so he's not the murderer then...") but typically didn't predict what the actual reveal would be.
This one might be a good book to ease younger mystery lovers into mysteries written for adults.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Racial slurs
mx_eyebrows's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Death, Xenophobia, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Misogyny
Minor: Antisemitism
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