The Unexpected Guest [Hardcover]

Charles Osborne (Adapter), Agatha Christie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1999

Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time with her works outsold only by Shakespeare and the Bible. She is regarded by generations of fans as the greatest mystery writer ever, and her novels are read and cherished the world over.

Clarissa, the young wife of a Foreign Office Diplomat, delights in tweaking the sensibilities of her more serious friends and for playing a game she calls "supposing" - imagining a difficult situation and figuring out how people would respond. But Clarissa's lighthearted game becomes deadly serious when she discovers the dead body of an unknown person in her own drawing room. If that wasn't bad enough, her husband is on the way home with an important foreign politician and the attendant scandal of the dead body would irrevocably damage his career at the very least. Therefore, Clarissa decides to dispose of the body and persuades her three houseguests to help.

But before she can get the body off the premises, a policeman arrives at her front door. The police received an anonymous tip about a murder in the house and have shown up to investigate. Now Clarissa must keep the body hidden, convince the skeptical police inspector that there has been no murder, and, in the meantime, find out who has been murdered, why, and what the body is doing in her house.

Originally written by Agatha Christie as a play in 1954, now rendered as a novel by Charles Osborne, Spider's Web is a compelling tale of murder and deceit sure to entertain and amuse the legions of Christie's fans worldwide.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As he did with Black Coffee (1998), Osborne has taken one of Christie's original play scripts and turned it into a (slight) novel. For those who can't see the play in production or who find a script dull or difficult reading, Osborne's adaptation may fill a need. But Osborne has added little flesh to the bones of the drama, which, with its single-room setting, absolutely retains the feel of a play merely masquerading as a novel rather than transformed into one. That's not all bad, as this novelization preserves the lightning-quick pace of the original. Christie's play had its premiere in 1958, yet remains undated by the passing years. When a stranger having car trouble at night on a lonely road enters a house through the French windows of its study, he finds an invalid who has been shot dead and a woman (his wife) standing nearby and holding a gun. Apparently on impulse, the stranger decides to help the woman hide her crime. Those two plus a small castAthe victim's mother; the victim's teenage half-brother; his housekeeper/secretary; and his male nurseAparade kaleidoscopically in and out of the study with two investigating police officers. Christie cleverly shifts suspicion and parcels out new facts and perspectives in marvelous fashion, proving ingeniously that the obvious isn't always obvious. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Like a martini--crisp, dry, sophisticated, habit-forming, ever-so-slightly dated--Christite's smoothly polished mysteries go down easy. This one was written as a stage play, first performed in 1958, and is here adapted into novel form by Osborne, who last year published a novelization of Christie's Black Coffee . Like Christie's endlessly running Mousetrap, the plot here is full of twists around a single room, with people who are not what they seem. Michael Starkwedder's car runs into a ditch in Wales in the fog, and when he opens the French doors of the nearest house he finds an attractive woman with a gun in her hand, and the very dead corpse of her husband in a wheelchair in the same room. Mentally deficient relatives, loyal and twisted servants, patient inspectors, family secrets, and dramatic dialogue will satisfy all devotees of Christie's neat plotting, even without either Poirot or Marple. Ready for the beach or the fireside. GraceAnne A. DeCandido

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 210 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1ST edition (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031224262X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312242626
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #573,743 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I would give this 4 and 3/4 stars if I could, September 24, 2000

By 

An Aussie reader (Canberra, ACT Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Unexpected Guest (Hardcover)

Even though I am 13 years of age, I have read about three-quarters of the books Agatha Christie has written. Most of the books I have read by her I found to be flawless and exciting. I am a devoted fan of her books and refuse to read other murder-mysteries. When I found out there was a "new" Agatha Christie book out I went straight to the shops to buy it. I found the book to be very enjoyable and even though it only took me 24 hours to read it (I couldn't put it down and stayed up 'till the early hours of the morning to read it until I got caught and had to go to sleep) I thought it was excellent. I usually find that the beginning of Agatha Christie books are a bit confusing but this was one of the least. The murder in the book is a masked mystery until the sureness is proved wrong. I found the book didn't have much suspense but I don't think it mattered. Charles Osborne writes very much like Agatha Christie and he even added things that Agatha Christie didn't usually add like a map of the room the murder occured in. For all people who read and liked The Murder of Roger Ackroyd this book is an absolute must.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I enjoyed it, July 19, 2000

By 

Brenda "MYSHELFDOTCOM" (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Unexpected Guest (Hardcover)

It's November in South Wales. A stranded motorist walks up on a house for help, but finds a murder instead. And so Christie's play, The Unexpected Guest, now novelized by Charles Osborne, begins. The gentleman, Mark Starkwedder, after knocking, walks into an unlocked terrace door in hopes of calling for help, what he stumbles on is Richard Warwick dead in his wheel chair, and the wife, Laura Warwick, standing in the dark with the gun. I don't want to go any further because the rest is vital to the mystery and how it gets so out of control. Included in the mystery are Mr. Warwick's mother, a brother, a valet, a housekeeper, a nurse, a neighbor, a Chief Inspector, and a detective. Each character is introduced and each part is vital to the plot. The plot is classic British traditional with 9/10 of the scenes being played out in one room (map included), characters coming and going, a moody Chief Inspector, a mellow detective, and a lot of impressive curves, with the ending being the ultimate curve.

Charles Osborne has done his best to novelize a rare treat, and in my humble opinion, he did a grand job. The scenes and conversation, to me, were true to the play, almost to the point that, while reading, I could envision the characters on stage. Now I've heard the complaints-- "It's to slow." "It's to confined." Well, it was a play, and that is the reasoning for the limited movement and conversation. I think readers should appreciate that Mr. Osborne has brought to life another wonderful Christie mystery. It's a great Christie fix for those fans that have read or seen all her mysteries.

Charles Osborne is an authority on theater and opera. He is also a writer and has authored The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie and novelized Agatha Christie's other play, Black Coffee.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Disappointing Read, January 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Unexpected Guest (Hardcover)

Being an avid mystery fan and a great fan of Agatha Christie, I was delighted when I came upon this novel. My delight turned to dismay as I started reading this "novel". I use this term loosely since it reads more like the play that it was originally meant to be. The book reminded me of a Nancy Drew mystery , which were favorites of mine in the fifth grade. If I ever get a craving for a good old fashioned Agatha Christie mystery, I'll just have to re-read one of her classics, and enjoy watching her plays performed on stage, as Miss Christie intended.