Customer Reviews

Spider's Web

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In Cobblestone Court, Henry and Clarissa Hailsham-Brown host three guests: Sir Rowland Delahaye, Hugo Birch, and Jeremy Warrender. However, Clarissa soon discovers the corpse of an unknown guest in the drawing room. Knowing her spouse plans to bring home a bigwig, Clarissa decides to hide the body until she can get around to figuring what to do next. In the course of temporarily disposing the deceased, police Inspector Lord arrives, stating he received a tip that murder occurred here.

Clarissa revises her plan to include keeping the police from knowing that someone was in deed murdered in her home. She continues to serve as a gracious host to her guests and her spouse's dinner company while at the same time deciding to uncover the identities of the body and the killer by herself.

SPIDER'S WEB, the third adaptation of an Agatha Christie play to a novel (see BLACK COFFEE and THE UNEXPECTED GUEST), is pure 100-proof Christie and not lite. The story line contains the elements that have made the renowned author so beloved. Fans of Ms. Christie and anyone who enjoys a featherbrained English amateur sleuth will fully enjoy this tale that shows Charles Osborne fully understands the grandmistress of mystery.

Harriet Klausner

This is the 3rd and final Osborne adaptation of an Agatha Christie play into novel form. I liked it the best of the three. It reads more like a play than a novel--so if you are expecting the normal Christie novel, you may very well be disappointed. However, if you have read the novels, this is a lovely addition to your list of Christie's and a rare opportunity to envision her plays. True, the plays could just as easily have been bound and published. But, Osborne has apparently done little, if anything, to detract from the plays themselves. So, IMHO, he has done a great service both to Agatha and to the mystery reading public by publishing these works. As for the content, this particular work is a riot! I loved the story, the twists and turns (and there are many of them), the cleverness, etc. It IS after all, a Christie! And a very good one at that. Enjoy!

The question here is: Is watered-down Agatha Christie as satisfying as the real thing? My answer is: Not hardly.

Had this book been a 150-page $4.95 paperback, I might have a different opinion; as a stretched-out 219-page hard-cover selling for $23.95, it's a wonderful lesson in padding. I read it in one sitting--slightly less than two hours--and found myself afterwards wondering why.

I'm not sure that novelizing a play is a really worthwhile adventure. On stage, after all, one doesn't need descriptions of things or people in order to comprehend or understand them. One of Christie's specializations was her depth of characterization, and this is totally lacking here. There is almost no description--of anything, including motivation, which was another of her strengths.

There is humor in this tale of a British Country House party, with the appropriate twists and turns to the plot to make it an engaging and different sort of tale. It is definitely a period piece--written in 1954, but clearly harking back to the early 30s in mannerisms, if not in fact. When a murder happens, it nearly turns into a farce, what with the body disappearing on a regular basis.

As a light, quick read, it is enjoyable, but I kept thinking that, because of its simplicity, it could almost be more successful if marketed as a young adult or new reader book. On the other hand, if the book brings new readers to Christie's large catalog, nicely listed at the beginning of the book, then it will have succeeded admirably. The three stars I've given the book are in no way to be construed as disrespectful of Dame Agatha or her work, or that of the novel-izer, Charles Osborne, who has previously done the same to two of Christie's other plays. Rather, they are an expression of dissatisfaction with the publisher for the stretching out and over-pricing of this volume.

and Charles Osborne has transcribed it beautifully in his third novel adaptation of Christie's plays. Spider's Web is a light, easy, and fun read that encompasses all the elements of an English houseparty. The mansion complete with French doors for easy entrance by a murderer, the lovable hostess, the diverse houseguests, the professional detective, the required red herrings, the secret panel, and just for good measure, a sympathetic child---all combine for a delightful mystery.

Clarissa is the beloved mistress of the manor, and her self-proclaimed duty is to hide a body she finds in her parlor so that it won't interfere with her distinguished husband's entertaining a V.I.P. later in the evening. Into her web of lies and deceit she brings her three doting houseguests, a brusque female gardener, and the butler. Truth will out in the end, and whether you guess the culprit or not, you will enjoy this fast-paced, delightful evening with the British upper class.

Agatha Christie's book Spider's Web is a great companion to And then There Were None. Clarissa invites three houseguests to her wonderful elegant country mansion just out side out of London. The house is full of happiness. Clarissa is telling everyone the game of supposing she plays. Like suppose I found a dead body in the house what would I do. Or what if the house got robbed. But all fun games soon turn to seriousness when she finds a dead body in her drawing room. She tries to hide the body trying to save her husbands foreign office career and tries to get the guests to help and not tell. But suddenly a police inspector knocks on the door saying there has been a call that there was a murder here. Will the inspector find the body or will Clarrissa's lies keep the police away and have you spinning a round in a Spider's Web. 'I suppose when you're making things up you get carried away and that makes it sound more convincing.' Will she get caught in the Web? With every lie she goes deeper and deeper.

I liked this book because it kept on getting interesting causing this book to be a fast read. Almost every chapter a new character walks into the spider's web and Clarissa makes a desperate lie to get out of the web.

..this would have been better as a short story. Well, it was! The main twist of the story is found in a Poirot short story, "The Mystery of the Cheap Flat." I'm not sure which was written first, but it worked better with Poirot. The heroine is along the lines of Tuppence. In fact, there is very little original matter in the whole story. It's still a fun read, great for killing an hour or two. I read it during my daughter's soccer practice. But I don't really recommend it unless you're just really bored. Agatha did it so much better!

Usually, adaptations of plays into novels, especially Agatha Christie's are very stiff and hard to read. This one is particularly smooth and entertaining with very little stage direction. I enjoyed it alot.

The Unexpected Guest was, in my opinion, Osborne's best adaption, so it was hard to follow that. However, like all Christie's stories, this one does have some really well drawn characters. The nosy gardener with the boisterous laugh has to be one of her best supporting players. Even when she's annoying, she's a howl. Not great but still a nice addition to the
A.C. canon.

This was one of the best books I've ever read! It's a definate for all Christie fans. When Clarissa finds a dead body in her living room, she has no idea what to do. She convinces three men to rid the body of her house - before her husband comes home with a vey imporant guest. But the men have no time to dispose of the body - because the police arrive first! Panacking, Clarissa stirs up a lie to fool the police with. With more twists, turns, lies, and surprises than a soap opera, everybody will love this book.

Originally written as a play by Agatha Christie in 1954, this book was successfully adapted as a novel by Charles Osborne in 2000. All of Christie's books are listed in the front of this book which is a nice touch for Christie fans. This is the typical English country house murder that Christie did so well. Clarissa, the main character of this book, has a vivid imagination and likes to play pranks on her friends. She is sometimes a stranger to the truth which adds to the plot. This is perfect reading for a cold winter's afternoon.