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obfuscatress's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Sexism
miak2's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
"Eh - Eh! How often must I tell you that clues come from within? In the little grey cells of the brain lies the solution of every mystery." p.6
2.5 stars
All in all, these were fairly enjoyable stories, some more than others. However, that's really all they were. 20 pages isn't really enough to set up characters, a mystery, and a compelling resolution. (Although, I recognize that many of the characters were from her other works - maybe if I were more familiar with Poiroit or Satterthwaite, I'd have been more excited to read these stories). Unfortunately, a lot of the twists were fairly predictable - again largely due to the constricting nature of the short story. My favorites were those that broke from the straightforward 'whodunnit' (ironic because And Then There Were None was a top tier mystery for me!) The ones that stuck out most to me were the Wasps' Nest and The Case of the Rich Woman, both of which had really unique premises and interesting twists.
Also, I know that these were written in the 20s-40s, but it did get frustrating reading about women characters whose only descriptors were physical beauty (and reading from men's perspectives about women being pretty or ugly or indecisive or ill-tempered). I know it's a product of its time, and I'm not judging it too harshly for that, but it did get annoying.
At the end of the day, these did make for pleasant reads, and I'm glad I got to check out more of Christie's works. However, they largely just weren't very memorable to me, and I'd be surprised if I remember the plot of any of these aside from my two favorites in six months time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Murder