Customer Reviews

MURDER IN THE MEWS

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Murder in the Mews begins with a country house murder in the perfect Christie fashion in "Dead Man's Mirror" (ideas of which seemed to have filtered into the film, Gosford Park). This book consists of three more longish stories that outshine most of those in Agatha Christie's other short story collections. These stories are all typically English of their period and show off their great detective creation, Hercule Poirot, in a less pompous form than the novels often portray him. The author has taken the time in these short pieces to assemble a large cast and a great variety of clues to hold any reader's interest. Almost as good as her full novels and that is saying a lot.

This collection has appeared under 2 titles that I know of: _Murder in the Mews and Other Stories_ and _Dead Man's Mirror_.

Where a story has appeared elsewhere under an alternate title, the title given in this book is listed first.

"Dead Man's Mirror", a.k.a. "Hercule Poirot and the Broken Mirror" - An alternate version of this story also appears as "The Second Gong" in _The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories_. The dead man in question engaged Poirot to come to his country home to clear up an unspecified scandal, but before their first face-to-face encounter, the client is found shot dead in a locked room containing a broken wall mirror.

"The Incredible Theft" - Essentially the same story as "The Submarine Plans" in _The Under Dog and Other Stories_.

"Murder in the Mews", a.k.a. "Good Night for a Murder" - Always thrifty with good ideas, Christie used the same story structure in "The Market Basing Mystery" (see _The Under Dog and Other Stories_), although the stage setting, personalities of the supporting characters, and motives are different.

"Triangle at Rhodes", a.k.a. "Before It's Too Late", "Double Alibi" - As Poirot remarks to a fellow-guest at the seaside, he finds human behaviour somewhat monotonous, since it repeats itself so often - in patterns, such as the triangle. In this case, the notorious beauty Valentine Chantry, accompanied by her 5th (or is he 6th?) husband Commander Chantry is a fellow-guest, and despite her hulking brute of a husband, appears to be taking an interest in Douglas Gold - a handsome man with a pleasant wife but apparently no wits to speak of. Poirot, foreseeing trouble, eventually makes one of his rare attempts to prevent a crime before it takes place. Such attempts are rarely successful...

As with many of Agatha Christie's works, "Murder in the Mews" goes by another title ("Dead Man's Mirror") which is one of four stories included in this Poirot collection. No matter what it is called, it is a fine example of the queen of mystery at her prime as her erudite sleuth unravels a few very tangled mysteries.

The collection begins with the title piece, in which a young widow has apparently committed suicide. Yet several things stick in Poirot's craw making him think that the facts presented do not match up to the verdict given. "Dead Man's Mirror" is a closed set mystery, so the suspects are few. When summoned rather curtly by Sir Gervase Chevenix-Gore on a matter of some delicacy, Poirot is insulted and perplexed, but strangely curious. Upon his arrival, Sir Gervase is found dead in his study of apparent suicide, but Poirot knows it was murder, and since several people within the house had a motive, it is a tricky case of solving which one committed the deed. "The Incredible Theft" features spying and the disappearance of important and sensitive documents at a time of great danger and is frankly a little too easy to solve. The collection wraps up with "Triangle at Rhodes" where Poirot hopes for a quiet vacation but encounters a crime of passion - just his luck. This time Poirot witnesses the killer in action, making the drama leading up to the event more exciting than the solving, which is also a tad easy.

Featuring her usual twists and turns, the four stories collected in Christie's "Murder in the Mews" are delightful puzzles for any mystery fan. It is a fast-paced, delightful escape into a time that was with motives that exist still today.

Murder in the Mews brought together 4 short stories by Agatha Christie, most if not all were also published in other collections (albeit with minor alternations). I did feel a little cheated when I discovered it. Nonetheless, the two which I had not read did give undeniable pleasure.

Murder in the Mews took place on a location which Poirot and Inspector Japp happened to stroll by on the night of the crime. Despite it being Guy Fawkes day, it was such a place that they remarked it would have been perfect for a murder. And the next day, they were summoned to attend to a suspicious suicide at the very same location. In this short story, Christie tantalised the readers with a myriad of clues, most of which would mislead rather than clarify. A worthwhile mystery.

In the Dead Man's Mirror, Poirot was summoned by an old fashioned aristocrat, only to arrive moments before he apparently committed suicide. This story appeared in another publication as "The Second Gong". Suspicions were cast on the dead man's adopted daughter and his nephew - especially when it came to light that the aristocrat intended to cut them off without a penny if they did not abide by his wishes to marry each other. It was important in this story for the reader to visualise as accurately as possible the scene of the murder in order to find proof whether it was suicide or murder.

The Incredible Theft was almost a carbon copy of "The Submarine Plans". Two leading British politicians had a small weekend party which included a well-suspected female spy. Ostensibly, she was included to entrap her, to catch her in the act. However, when vital plans were stolen without a clue, the politicians had to call in Poirot to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Poirot had to question all those present carefully to clear their names, or nail them with the evidence.

The last story, "Triangle at Rhodes", had Poirot on holiday in a resort at Rhodes. Other guests at the resort included a glamourous socialite who was flirting with other men despite the presence of a jealous husband. In the absence of Hastings (which would not have fitted well into the setting), Christie used another female guest to hold conversations with Poirot to flesh out the narration. Being familiar now with Christie's sleight-of-hand tricks, I was not misdirected. However, it took an unrevealed-before-hand witnessing of Poirot to nail the culprit when someone did die in the triangle of passion.

I would recommend reading the book but not buying it.

"Triangle at Rhodes" was the very first Agatha Christie story I ever read, as an American boy growing up in France. I wish one of her biographers could place it for me precisely when it was written, for it seems at one point Christie was literally moving Poirot all around the world, on the Orient Express of course, then in Mesopotamia to meet Nurse Amy Leatheran, and out to the ruins in APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH and on that fatal cruise on the Karnak on DEATH ON THE NILE. I feel sure that "Triangle at Rhodes" must fit right in there but alas, I have no idea where Rhodes is or where it is in relation to Petra (APPOINTMENT) and indeed, maybe there were two world voyages for Poirot, and his little trek to Rhodes might have been just a holiday jaunt in the final days right before the war. You know how the second half of PARKER PYNE sends Pyne to a different Mid East capital? Same big boom of travel writing on Christie's part? She must have known the war was coming and that her travels would be curtailed, and during WWII her novels stayed strictly at home, with the exception of two highly exceptional books, the Mary Westmacott ABSENT IN THE SPRING, and the historical epic DEATH COMES AS THE END.

If you've read "Triangle at Rhodes," then the mystery of EVIL UNDER THE SUN won't be a surprise to you, and I must say that it's so much better worked out in the novel than in the short story that following the differences is a lesson in stagecraft.

Of the four stories in this book, only MURDER IN THE MEWS itself is really a first class achievement, for whenever Christie writes about the Sapphic she really lets her romantic nature go haywire. The relationship between the two roommates, Jane Penderleith and Barbara Allen, is never really made explicit, but certainly Mrs. Allen's decision to remarry precipitated the great crisis that leads to her death. Jane is one of Christie's great tragic characters, and her love for Barbara is a stark, real thing, the product I expect of Christie's early immersion in the Greek classic drama. Over and over again she has these Iphigenia slash Cassandra heroines who alone know the whole truth and who either say it out loud, shocking their communities, or keep it silent out of a greater, more pagan love for another. It strikes me also that MURDER IN THE MEWS might be the only Christie book whose *title* actually proves a lie, so to speak, or might there be others? Help me out here.

Poirot is at it again solving two suicides (or are they?), a theft, and anticipating one homicide. Christie turns in three novellas and a short story, and all four are excellent. Christie, however, proves predictable in her unpredictability. In three of the stories, simply pick out the least suspicion-worthy individual in the cast of suspects and you have your perpetrator.

"Dead Man's Mirror" tells the story of the apparent suicide of a megalomaniac nobleman. It starts off as fine locked room mystery, and the motives for murder among the suspects are numerous. Poirot pieces the matter together from the array of clues he uncovers and eventually nabs the killer by the exercise of his "little grey cells". He didn't have to work nearly that hard. Christie overlooks one phenomenon of close range gunshot wounds--backspatter. All Poirot had to do was look around and see who had clothing begrimed by backspattered blood.

In "The Incredible Theft" the culprit is obvious from the outset, but who among the cast of suspects did the culprit use to actually purloin the papers? Poirot works through the problem with admirable insight and solves the mystery quite handily. I set the story down quite satisfied, but then it occurred to me that the problem was seriously flawed. When you finish the story, see if you can't figure out a simple way for the thief to have taken the papers completely without detection.

"Murder in the Mews", another apparent suicide case, serves up a story so realistic it could have actually happened. Christie sets out clue after clue to show that the death wasn't suicide, but again she omits one telling clue. In my experience, most women who commit suicide with a handgun shoot themselves in the chest, not in the head. This serves as a good rule of thumb, but women shoot themselves in the head often enough that you can't completely rule out suicide on that basis alone. Poirot's solution dumbfounds the police and the reader alike, but the story comes to a very satisfying conclusion.

"Triangle at Rhodes" serves up another story that is true-to-life enough to have actually happened. Poirot, on vacation, observes a love triangle developing on the sunny beachs of Rhodes, and successfully predicts murder. He fails in his attempt to prevent the murder, but is on had to see to it that justice is meted out to the guilty. The least true-to-life aspect of the story is Poirot's prescience in predicting not only the pending murder, but the victim and the guilty. How he does this is not revealed, and the clues provided in the leadup were not enough for anyone to be able to predict murder with any degree of certainty.

Three short stories featuring Hercule Poirot, this compilation is pure mystery. Vintage mystery, if you will. It has a very old-fashioned feel (as most of Christie's work does) and is quite refreshing every now and then. There's not a lot of back story or sub-plots, everything revolved around the case. Simple and precise, and if you're the type that enjoys trying to figure out the mystery, this is the type of book for you. I like Agatha Christie (though Miss Marple is a rather annoying character) and the way she constructs the mysteries so that they are solvable by the reader is very unique. I'd recommend this to any mystery lover, and highly recommend it to mystery purists.

Agatha Christie once again captivated me in her mysterious work, "Murder in the Mews. It is a short story that you just can not put down. While you are at it, read the other three short stories combined into the book! I highly suggest this and all other Christie masterpieces to anyone who loves a good mystery! If Christie were still alive, I would say "You've done it again! Excellent!"

4 stories are fantasticlly good.hercule flaunts his shrewd wit in this book.if you are an aficionado of whodunnit books,you must not miss this suspense treat.i think that is enough.

This is the best book by Agatha Christie that I`ve ever read!Very well-written and very clever.It`s the book every A.C" fan should read.