While the Light Lasts and Other Stories

It starts with a tale of despair that defines romance in The House of Dreams. Written in her early years, the signature style is so subtle that it might only be realized in hindsight. Surely not the best of her creations, it could really be her path to lesser fame had not a novelist friend came to her aid with encouraging directions. That it was required for the budding author was acknowledged by Christie when she paid her respect to Philpotts while already established in a literary career. It is followed by The Actress, a thrillingly fascinating narrative that is short but crisp. This drama is intensely psychological, revealing the inherent cowardice that is exploited to stage the apparently vicious trap. Thrills continues in The Edge, which befits the title in varied ways as the frustrated dame fights the desperate wife in a battle of nerves with a fatal climax that is deceptively tragic. Each piece has afterword which gives a little bit of perspective to the works. The following features Poirot in the mystery with title Christmas Adventure, which is though a reread, but the title was different while the charm similarly satiating. The Lonely God is romance weaved in mystery that blesses the same with the delightful Heavenly appeal. The twist in the tale was predictable yet satisfactorily welcome as the long lost artist meets the lost love at the feet of the Deity with apparently a dearth of worshipers but still standing supreme with the sacrifices that a God can only offer. Disappointment will be in store while reading Manx Gold but the afterword will be more than a satisfactory justification of its apparent vague treasure chase. Written for attracting tourists for the Isle of Man, the clues are strewn in the text for its readers to detect. Within a Wall is a black romance with a crooked sense of desire. While the silent lover seeks love in helping the needy, the calm companion longs the same in possesiveness. The touch of cunning returns with Poirot in unravelling The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest that contained a murdered body, hidden apparently in a room full of guests and their attendees. Being the original to 'The Mystery of the Spanish Chest', perspective played the vital pivot to identify the criminal while evidences supported the hypothesis. Guilt and comfort play a black tale in While the Light Lasts, where the apparent relief to the anxious heart paints a tragedy that lies hidden from the coarser eyes. It seemed to reflect a certain status conscious author giving vent to her ambitious nature camouflaged in a manner, which is both convenient and elegant.

Parker Pyne Investigates

If you are not happy, then Parker Pyne awaits you to take your case and make you hearty. With a fee payable in advance, you can let the love detective take care of your case just like Mrs Packington in The Case of the Middle-Ages Housewife. If adventure is your choice, you will be matched with romance with a touch of mystery as was The Case of the Disconcerted Soldier scripted by his acquaintance, Mrs Ariadne Oliver, the novelist who will see to the thrills of it. Fees varies for each case, but that is justified as each case is specially crafted to suit the clients' requirements. But there is an inherent investigator in Pyne who makes his presence felt time and again, starting from The Case of the Distressed Lady where curiously, though happiness to the client is robbed off but the same in the reader will be guaranteed. But sometimes it becomes a bit more than tricky where happiness looms round the corner but the client takes a sudden turn as in The Case of the Discontented Husband, taking the agency of happiness by surprise. However, the honest proprietor is never deterred by these outcomes and will even lose money if the cause is so deserving like in The Case of the City Clerk, where, unbeknownst to the client, he embarks upon an adventure with political consequences and international importance, yet cleverly embroidered by the seller of happiness that satisfies all interested parties. But never have been the satisfaction more heartfelt than in The Case of The Rich Woman, where unhappiness due to excessive wealth is solved with a plan so elaborate that it will defy imagination yet will be rendered classic by the humble ambience. But the real mischievous prank is in Have You Got Everything You Want? where the adoration for the newly married hubby is smirked by a sudden discovery that puts doubt in the mind of the wife, but for a chance meeting with the agent of happiness, each matter is solved in a series of humorous twists. As opposed to slight mischief, the next involves a murder near The Gate of Baghdad, where the killer and the killed are in the same troupe as is the sleuth. Following at its heel is a curious death that happened long ago in The House at Shiraz that would have remained buried in the darkest past if not the merchant of cheerfulness would turn sleuthing for the sake of happiness. His investigative streak continues in The Pearl of Price in deducing the whereabouts of a seemingly expensive pearl but the interesting point is the portraiture of the sleuth. The author has developed the character in such a way that he sometimes seem to resemble Poirot but then she adds that additional detail which makes Parker unique with his very own way of looking into perspectives and justifies the requirement of different characters to solve different sets of crisis. The short and crisp Death on the Nile is a murder mystery on a boat where the small pool of suspect seems to help the retired civil servant in the Department of Records to narrow it down on the perpetrator with the real evidence that lay aside the pile of false. Sequel to it, with a subtle clue lying hidden in some remarks, is the mystery of The Oracle at Delphi, where kidnapping and ransom constitutes the primary plot but the more interesting plot lies hidden till the climactic phase. Though a premonition remains irrationally unexplained, but the classic style bears the incomparable Christie signature written all over it.

Appointment With Death

In the remote outskirts of Petra, sat the still deadbody of Mrs Boynton, the sadist head of the Boynton family. Was she killed or did she died a natural death? With the remaining members of the Boynton family having chances and motives for killing the cruel lady whose hypnotic spell had, so far, kept them mentally exhausted, it remains on Poirot to clear the doubts. Without the findings of autopsy, it depends on Poirot to analyze the psychology of the witnesses to sieve through their interviews to arrive at the truth.
A revelation, that I had here was, the hypothesis of Poirot that if criminals are allowed to speak, the truth is automatically leaked out by them, which I found quite enlightening.

After the Funeral

It all happened after a funeral when the sudden remark of one of the attendees gave a new perspective to the apparently normal death of Richard Abbernethie. Added to the mystery was the brutal murder of his sister, Cora, by a hatchet in her own home. This unsettled the mind of Richard's solicitor, Mr Entwhistle, who consulted the self proclaimed best brain in the business, Poirot. The psychological game had been already set afoot and mishap was waiting round the corner. The web of evil had been spun that tried to entangle the others. When the members of the Abernethie clan was shedding doubts on each other, Poirot entered the arena in disguise. But the disguise was shortlived, as was the mist that engulfed the minds of people. What remained was how the evil was trapped in this enjoyable whodunit which might not keep you guessing till the climax but will surely keep its grip on your mind till all is revealed. Presented in the signature Christie style of narrating from various perspectives save a few that includes the sleuth, the investigator is introduced quite near the finale that gave the characters the required space to make impression to make the mystery even more enticing.

The Secret of Chimneys

As you go through the book, you will feel that you are going through the scenes of a drama rather than a novel. Yes, the description of events are more filled with discussions rather than reflections on the mysteries. The loquaciousness is the only consistent thing about the story that contains at least three mysteries woven into a single fabric and no dearth of suspects. Interestingly, as the mystery gathers pace, the number of sleuths increase. We have Battle, then comes the detective from the French police. Several other amateurs and professionals in the respective field also tries their hand at trying to crack the mystery that consists of a murder, a theft from days past, attempted robbery which attracts the suspects and the detectives in the same place.
The Chimneys, the great country estate seems to hold secrets that threatens the Royalty and the politics of a small fictional country ruled by the monarchy and which had seen much bloodshed and scandals. Curiously, the supposed errand of the apparent unrelated yet adventurous young man, puts him and his life in the midst of the dangerous race for control. As a murder occurs in the premises where several political personage has taken residence, the professionals are called.
The shrewdly deceptive Battle enters and so does several other mystery seekers. A gem, stolen long ago but apparently hidden in the Chimneys, seems again to attract the thief who stole it. The person, released from the gallows gives the slip to the police and seems to lurk in the vicinity. A master of disguise, he seems to blend with the others in plain sight. Attempt of robbery for a particular manuscript of allegedly risky memoir threatens the balance of nations. Added to this is another death and a bundle of scandalous letters.
As the reader will find, that there is no dearth of mystery but however, the entire novel along with the signature Christie twists will fall short of expectations at the major portions where adventure predominates over mystery.

The Clocks

An unidentified man lies dead in a blind woman's house. Surrounded by four stopped clocks, the body is discovered by a typewritist. An apparently innocent passer by, who is also in knowhow with the police and Poirot, coordinates with the authorities. Narrated mostly from his perspective, the story unfolds its hues as one of the most perplexing investigations due chiefly to no identification of the victim. So when police seems to crawl through the sleuthing, the master is challenged to solve the crime sitting in the drawing room. A couple of more deaths occur. As doubts on many creep up it seems Poirot can only solve it. But he is actually primarily absent in most of the situations. So the way he solves the crime is a real revelation for all.
Written in an uncharacteristic slackened pace with a riddle subtly hinted upon to solve for the readers this Christie will rank a bit on the lower side but its unique style of crime keeps the signature intact..

The Mysterious Mr Quin

The elusive Mr Quin makes his presence felt whenever there is mystery involved. Be it murder or romance, the subtle hints by him seems enough to Mr Satterthwaite for unravelling the intricate puzzles of life. His sudden introduction in The Coming of Mr Quin seems just perfect as the story not only solves a long awaited cause of death but it also unveils threat to the love that stands on a delicate pier. In the next a double murder occurs and Mr Satterthwaite has only the clue of The Shadow on the Glass to solve the crime beyond everybody's doubt. A chance meeting At the 'Bells and Motley' seems to save the innocent but a peculiar clue lies hidden in The Sign in the Sky that leads relief to the well wisher of the falsely accused. It is more a romantic story of The Soul of the Croupier but mystery still remains for Harley Quin to guide Mr Satterthwaite to light. The sudden appearance of The Man from the Sea again seems God sent as Harley Quin directs Mr Satterthwaite to join two estranged heart as tragedy looms right throughout the narrative. A melancholy feels the air starting from the sinister The Voice in the Dark followed by The Face of Helen but whereas serious crime is solved in one it seems to be averted in the other. A painter draws The Dead Harlequin which attracts Satterthwaite and curious events follows while The Bird with the Broken Wing seems to reveal a mad criminal hidden behind the veil of respectability. Rolling precariously towards The World's End for picnic seems to be fated for something more and the Harlequin's Lane offers the solution to the eternal love for the heart that bleeds.

The unique creation of the author seems to bind romance and mystery in a way never found elsewhere which is intense yet enjoyable.

The Man in the Brown Suit

The story is a novel that is both mystery interspersed with romance. The signature Christie twists abound but for the finale which actually is a bit disappointment. But the great novelty of the plot is in its storytelling that surpasses any in the series that I have come across so far. Written partly from the perspective of the sleuth Anne Beddingfield it narrates the other part from perspective of another interesting character. What it does is that it kicks in a contrasting humour to the central plot that makes it an enjoyable entertainment. The villain actually proves to be the best part of the novel not only by the character but for the ingenuous way the person evolves in the story. So besides the disappointment at the final chapter the book will be a great pastime.

The plot starts when the adventure loving Anne suddenly confronts a man getting electrocuted at the underground platform which seems a bit odd to her due to something she senses. A second death of a woman nearby also seemed to be linked to the incident that she witnessed. Thus, armed with only a seemingly laughable amount of money Anne embarks on a journey for adventure, career, travel and a thirst to solve the mystery. The dangers that poses in the way will keep the suspense heightened to the extreme. Recommended not only for the story but for collection as it actually has the touch of the classic in it.

Sparkling Cyanide

I had bought this book at a second hand store and with it brought By The Pricking of My Thumbs as well. It will always be a good bargain as had I not bought the same, I would not have got to read parts of this book as by the virtue of a mistake in the stitching, parts of the books have been interchanged. It seems more of a coincidence that I bought them at once.
Well enough of the interesting shopping, let us now look at the story. A rich heiress to a fortune marries a person years older than her and brings her only little sister to live with them. At a party tragedy strikes as the depressed heiress collapses, revealing cyanide poisoning to be the cause of the apparent suicide. Curiousness strikes the husband days later as he gets anonymous letters pointing it to be a murder. The sister also unearths some doubts as to her faithfulness. With clues strewn here and there, the husband sets to trap the murderer in the same setting about a year later. But tragedy strikes once more as the husband is murdered in front of everyone at the same way.
With several characters to investigate upon, the primary investigators find a sleuth hidden among the suspects. With revelations as surprising as the actual mastermind of the heinous crimes, the accessory of the murder will not be so surprising when identified.

The Complete Battles of Hastings Vol 2

Containing four of the gripping mysteries penned by Christie, this volume delves deep inside human psychology. When the wife wants her husband dead and Lord Edgware Dies, it remains upto Hercule Poirot to unravel the truth to save the innocent. Following the chilling revelation that shocks many comes the challenge of The ABC Murders where the villain seems to pick victims following alphabetical sequence. It again remains upto Poirot to find a logic behind the randomness to pinpoint the evil. Next is the case of the victim who appoints Poirot through a letter that arrives after her death. Clues are left for the wise along with a Dumb Witness. This is perhaps the most horrifying of the lot where the coldness of the murderer is terrifyingly sketched. The  finale is the Curtain: Poirot's Last Case which seemed more thrilling as I read it after a long time. Undoubtedly this is my favourite Poirot story with the sleuth confronts the ultimate villain as he sits dying from the ailments of the body. The psychology of murder, the identity of probable murderer, how a murder is designed and how it becomes an obsession has never been better analyzed. Thus as curtain comes down to the life of the master detective Arthur Hastings seems to learn more and more whose own character in the backdrop evolves that though markedly contrasts that of his partner but is so much familiar with the readers that they comfortably inside the events resonating with the mood of each tale.

The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories

The collection contains a bunch of Christie stories that are not all detective fiction but related to crime in one way or the other. The classic Christie touch is predominant in Song of Sixpence and The Second Gong, the last featuring the "irreproachably dressed" private eye Hercule Poirot. Each is a murder mystery which is solved by the pro and involves the obvious clue cleverly hidden by the masterly literature. The Mystery of the Blue Jar and The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl are fascinating narratives where humour and suspense intersperse to offer the timely reliefs among the short thrillers. The Fourth Man is a tale of the supernaturals and so are The Red Signal and S.O.S. though in the later two suspense and detection plays the upper hand. Where There's a Will is a thrilling revelation of exploitation of the human psychology but its apt climax assures no gain to the evil. But nothing compares to the spine- chilling Accident and the terrifying revelation of Philomel Cottage. The opening anecdote of The Witness for the Prosecution is a mix of mystery, thrill and suspense which combine to keep it different than the rest.

Hercule Poirot The Complete Short Stories

The short and smart detective had held my fascination the first time I got to know him, but through television series. So when I saw the book containing the complete short stories I lost no time but got hold of it in the early part of the millenium. But still today the stories are as intellectually charming as ever. Devoid of a rush of adrenaline, this kicks in the real stimulant refreshing the spirits at any time. The passionately orderly, daintily dressed complete to the patent leather boots, with an obsessive fussiness over tidiness, the little Belgian, the self proclaimed greatest (maybe without an error there too!), deductive genius had always proved his point in matters baffling the authorities. With a diversity of characters to deal with, the psychologist in Poirot always seem to catch the basic of the problem before others. With a reasoning unmatched with the authorities, the little detective with his shrewd traps has been the saviour to the police in several cases. Thus Harper Collins is to be complimented on their compilation of all the short stories featuring the Hercules of the mystery genre but it had surely made a mistake by stating that it contains more than fifty stories by counting the foreward of one of the collections making the total just one more than the half century. But this is really one of a kind getting the complete set in one book. The treasure trove is listed below.

1. The Attair at the Victory Ball
2. The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan
3. The King of Clubs
4. The Disappearance of Mr Davenheim
5. The Plymouth Express
6. The Adventure of the Western Star
7. The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor
8. The Kidnapped Prime Minister
9. The Million Dollar Bond Robbery
10. The Adventure of the Cheap Flat
11. The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge
12. The Chocolate Box
13. The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb
14. The Veiled Lady
15. The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly
16. The Market Basing Mystery
17. The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman
18. The Case of the Missing Will
19. The Incredible Theft
20. The Adventure of the Clapham Cook
21. The Lost Mine
22. The Cornish Mystery
23. The Double Clue
24. The Adventure of the Christimas Pudding
25. The Lemesurier Inheritance
26. The Under dog
27. Double Sin
28. Wasps' Nest
29. The Third-Floor Flat
30. the Mystery of the Spanish Chest
31. Dead Man's Mirror
32. How Does Your Garden Grow?
33. Problem at Sea
34. Tringle at Rhodes
35. Murder in the Mews
36. Yellow Iris
37. The Dream
38. The Labours of Hercules - Foreward
39. The Nemean Lion
40. The Lernean Hydra
41. The Arcadin Deer
42. The Erymanthian Boar
43. The Augean Stables
44. The Stymphalean Birds
45. The Cretan Bull
46. The Horses of Diomeded
47. The Girdle of Hyppolita
48. The Flock of Geryon
49. The Apples of the Hesperides
50. The Capture of Cerberus
51. Four-and Twenty Blackbirds

Well these stories may be categorised as anybody wishes but there is a classification that may be not of the conventional type. Theres are stories narrated by the composed Captain Hastings, there are others by Christie where Poirot almost plays the lone hand, others necessitates the assistance of the faithful George and some of them features Miss Lemon the methodical secretary. Also special mention may be made of 28, 34, 37, 43 which are favourites.

Miss Marple The Complete Short Stories

•   From The Thirteen Problems
• The Tuesday Night club
• The Idol House of Astarte
• Ingots of Gold
• The Bloodstained Pavement
• Motive v Opportunity
• The Thumb Mark of St Peter
• The Blue Germanium
• The Companion
• The Four Suspects
• A Christmas Tragedy
• The Herb of Death
• The Affair at the Bungalow
• Death by Drowning

• From Miss Marple's Final Cases
• Miss Marple Tells a Story
• Strange Jest
• Tape-Measure Murder
• The Case of the Caretaker
• The Case of the Perfect Maid
• Sanctuary
• From The Adventures of the Christmas Pudding
• Greenshaw's Folly

Harper Collins' effort for the complete short story collection of Christie's Miss Marple along with the auhtoress' introduction of the character, had been a jewel of my collection as the aged spinster had gradually become a favourite as I grew up. Initially her stories seemed boring to me but with maturity I found them interesting in the sense of the unique utilization of analogy in solving problems. This is not only very true but the tend to generalize on the human nature and amplifying or attenuating the supposed effects according to the ambient conditions indicates the scientific or more correctly the statistical way of dealing with problems. This aspect had been the most appealing in Miss Marple's adventures. The surrounding may be a village but her  hypothesis applied to more apparently bizzare activities in the cities as well.

Thus whether it was a complicated murder mystery or a nonchalant remark or some unusual theft, everybody who knew Miss Marple also knew that she had the solution that stumped others. Her simple way of approaching the problem and comparing it with the parallel that happened in St. Mary Mead where she spent the most of her life almost always resulted in the truth that lay hidden from the worldly folks. Her enthralling art of deduction and her firm belief in punishing the evil made her a nemesis to all evil near her. In many ways she remains the average kind hearted village elder - fussy, an infrequent babbler, shrewd but good at heart, all ears to the village scandals. But underneath her apparent older self, the energetic analyst remains dormant to the public. Thus when the others see her busy with her sewing - her only established hobby - underneath she may be deducing knowledge from the facts strewn here and there. Thus the chief constables and the seekers of justice takes the help from this grand old lady - their surer hope for the truth - whenever a baffling mystery challenges the limit of their wisdom.

Postern of Fate

The couple that unearthed secrets of the enemy camp has now aged and wants to retire to a village life devoid of sleuthing. But mystery seems always to follow them and so does murder. Thus again the aged duo teams up with the police and the like to unearth a long lasting secret that left clues in certain particular places. Though the excitement starts early but it dampens midway, so unlike Christie novel, but the rambling of the aged couple seems sometimes too much and near the end it is not with the signature Christie twist. The mystery was woven fantastically but it seemed an abrupt way of unravelling it. Another disappointing fact was that several of their earlier exploits have been quoted here and may prove a spoiler for those who reads this before the others.

N or M?

The story of espionage and counter-espionage, Tommy and Tuppence with Albert in tow appears in yet another breath taking novel wrapped up in mystery with a thrilling culmination waiting for them and the readers alike. Always on the look out of an exciting adventure, in their middle ages, the couple seemed to get bored devoid of any action during the war times. But their friend, the ever mysterious Mr. Carter seems to have a surprise for them. When conspiracy of the enemy camp successfully generates corrupt Government officials, the duo are called on to find the rot and to get clues leading to the next attack. Camouflaged under false identities they are directed to a remote location and a apparently harmless habitat called Sans Souci where they are excepted to find two of the most daring spies for the enemy camps. There in the midst of the seemingly retired army personnels, inquisitive old ladies, refugees, harmless family persons, they must unmask the enemy. Exciting at every turn of the page, though this may not be the best spy story, but will be as exciting a story of detection as any other.

Partners in Crime

The happily married sleuths are back, now under the guise of what they really like to be - brilliant detectives, literally so as Blunt's Brillinat Detectives have been replaced by the Beresfords. While Tommy poses as the brilliant Mr. Blunt, Tuppence takes up the stance of the inconscupious secretary Ms. Robinson but in now way less inquisitive than him. As the pair tries to play the parts of master detectives of classics it is always that their super intelligence and sometimes few stroke of luck that they solve the problems posed to them while laying out the trap superbly for the ultimate villain for whom this elaborate hoax is played to the minutest detail. So the partners in crime or more correctly the partners in foiling the criminal activities takes us thru an exciting path strewn with intrguing plots solved by their master intelligence.

The Secret Adversary

Tommy and Tuppence's first adventure is both a thrilling chase and comedy interspersed. Tommy's practical views and the intuition of Tuppence matches the villaniously shrewd brain of the antagonist as the Young Adventurers set upon to unearth a long lost secret threatening the future of an entire nation. The document seemed to have changed hands from a secret agent to a civilian but all traces to the latter apparently vanished with the sinking of the ship where both were travelling. Five years after as the Government tries hard to recover it the sinister Mr. Brown with his commonplace appearance seems to outwit the professionals at every stage. As Brown and his associates plans a coup it is upto Tuppence and Tommy to outwit the criminals. In this help comes from Julius Hersheimmer, the American cousin of Jane Finn, the civilian in whose possession the papers are allegedly kept and James Peel Edgerton K.C. But the young sleuths are not sure whom to trust and whom to not as murder happens in front of their eyes and each step they take seem to fall in one sort of trap or the other. As Tommy and Tuppence tries to uncover the true face behind each mask the countdown starts for the coup. An excellent twist, as always in these mystery novels, awaits the readers near the finale but the way it has been set up speaks highly of the master writer. Though the subtelity of her later novels is a bit missing but this one is sure to bring enjoyment to the readers. A baffling mystery with a touch of romance makes this story a welcome premiere for two new adventurers.

The Complete Ariadne Oliver Vol.-II

The most biographical of Christie's character, Mrs. Ariadne Oliver accompanies the authoress' most egoist sleuth Hercule Poirot in three of the cases and finds herself a lone audience in the fourth one. The content of this volume are

1. Third Girl
2. Hallowe'en Party
3. Elephants Can Remember
4. The Pale Horse

Even an avid reader of Christie stories, I was not prepared for the incident that triggered the 1st case. In what I think a most curious start to an Agatha Chrisite novel that I've ever read, a girl rushes to Poirot apartment, informs him that she thinks she had killed somebody and leaves hurriedly. Quite obviously it was enough to upset the fussy detective's breakfast and he starts on a mission to unravel the mystery. He gets help from the mystery writer Mrs. Oliver and together they set upon a trail of truth and a body, both of which seems to be cleverly camouflaged. One thing that I noticed in this novel was that, starting from the confused client several of the major charaters are the 'next generation' types that is so unlikely of Christie and her fans who mainly associate her narrations with a more conservative and British surroundings. But this story, so to say seems more Amercanised which was clearly needed for the plot's sake and Christies again shows her talent of critically portraying all the generations in style. Though the end seemed somewhat obvious, at least a part of it, but the Christie twist will again keep even the critical of readers fascinated at this quite convincing yet cleverly concealed motive. Another point worth noticing is that this novel portrays a gradally ageing Poirot when we see how he relies on certain clues supplied by a Mr. Goby, another pvt. investigator who does much of the research part but the grey matter churning is left for the master himself.
The 2nd story begins with a teenager's murder during a Hallowe'en party where Mrs. Oliver was present as a guest. She requests Poirot to investigate the death and thus sets the detective unearthing a trail of truth shrouded by an evil past. Here too reference to Poirot getting old can be observed. A very interesting character in this drama is a Ms. Emlyn, a character closely resembling Ms. Marple with whom Poirot seems to compare notes on occassions. This may be the closest that Christie has brought Poirot face to face with Ms. Marple type lady and quite surprisingly Poirot is shown to be less egoist in her presence.
The 3rd story is about a mysterious double death that took place years ago requiring attention for such a long time. This story can be loosely categorised as a classic as it is more of a novel than a mystery. True it contains evil but curiuosly it evokes sympathy for the criminal at its completion. It is also devoid of any arrests and Poirot only unearths the mystery that had surrounded the episode and which remained dormant for years. Mrs. Oliver actively plays her part in gathering information from the 'elephant's that she labels for the aged persons with a memory like the quadruped. Actually it is only these 'elephant'ine minds that helps Poirot to gather the loose threads and though the ultimate truth is a bit predictive but the reading is enjoyable.
The final story is a Christie wonder where the author brilliantly camouflages the crime with her masterly imagination. The final twist will produce shok to the readers and also the unravelling may seem a bit simplified but the shroud of witchcraft that gets the better of the story is worth appreciating.

The Sittaford Mystery

Another Agatha Christie classic that begins with a seance that starts with a jolly note during an evening tea party but soon turns grim as it predicts murder of one Captain Trevelyan who was situated miles away from them. One of the participants of the seance, Major Burnaby, a friend of Trevelyan, soon sets to enquire about his pal and he was the first person to make the gruesome discovery. Inspector Narracott is appointed in charge of the case and he soon arrests one of the Captain's nephew, Jim Pearson with all the circumstantial evidences that points to his guilt. But in his mind, he was still not convinced of Jim's crime as is his fiance Emily. Emily, a not-so-easy-to-stop woman befriends a journalist Charles Enderby and these two amateur sleuths starts enquiring the locals about any incident that can help them unravel the crime. This Christie classic was one of my favourites and as I read it for the second time, fully aware of who the criminal is, I just could not help admire the style of the author in throwing the reader off the track while presenting all the details and motives that can help one point out the murderer. A highly entertaining read that ends with the signature Christie style twist.

Ordeal By Innocence

Another Agatha Christie classic but my enjoyment was marred by knowing the plot in advance, that too from its picturised version viewed quite sometimes back. So I could not enjoy the flavour of the mystery very much though the thrilling ending in the signature Christie style could glue me tightly to the final chapters that once more revealed to me the mastery of Christie's writing! That I knew the criminal didn't matter much in the final chapters but the sheer way of presentation kept me enthralled to the very end. Still I must say that the ending was rather poor compared to other Christie novels that I'd read though I'll recommend this again and again to mystery lovers for its surprising twist.
The storyline is itself a new one where we find a young boy, previously accused of murdering his foster mother, being given a free pardon after two years based on a very late evidence. But it was too late in the sense that the boy had died while in jail. So though the family was in one hand pleased at having the truth unveiled but the cloud of suspicion also engulfed them as it was obvious that the murder was an inside job, given the time and condition of the event. Thus as the case reopened once again, the members of the family starts doubting each other and the pain and anguish become apparent in the conversations that covers the most part of the story. Fresh evidences are sought out and the whole aspect is considered from a different point of view. Some tries to unearth the actual criminal and thus becomes a threat to the murderer. Some tries to keep the past in the dark and thus becomes obstacles in the path of truth. Thus the web is formed and readers will find this complex situation well handled by the author. This is more of a psychological battle between the good and the evil and the phrase 'innocent must not suffer' ultimately prevails. A very complex plot and enjoyable to those who loves psychological plots.