The Witness for the Prosecution: and Other Stories [Mass Market Paperback]

Agatha Christie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1984

Shocking testimony turns an open-and-shut murder case upside down in the title story of a mystery anthology that also includes ""S.O.S,"" ""Sing a Song of Sixpence,"" ""The Fourth Man,"" ""The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl,"" and six other tales. Reissue."

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Agatha Christie was born in Torquay in 1890 and became, quite simply, the best-selling novelist in history. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, written towards the end of the First World War, introduced us to Hercule Poirot, who was to become the most popular detective in crime fiction since Sherlock Holmes. She is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and another billion in over 100 foreign languages. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 19 plays, and six novels under the name of Mary Westmacott. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From AudioFile

Special kudos to the voice casting executive at Audio Editions for this project! Horror screen icon Christopher Lee, thrust suddenly into the spotlight again in his 80s, thanks to his stint in LORD OF THE RINGS, steps up to the mike and delivers a vocal masterpiece. Lee embodies blue bloods and cockneys alike with equal aplomb, burnishing Christie's mysteries to a high and satisfying finish. The material is perfectly chosen as well--strong, tight mysteries with three-dimensional characters, particularly the title story with its sophisticated, Sherlock Holmes-ish surprise ending. More lavish packaging would be a nice touch for this audiobook, but that's a niggling concern--this collection of mysteries finds its solution in sterling acting and recording. D.J.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (February 1, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425068099
• ISBN-13: 978-0425068090
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,407,276 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Agatha Christie was born in 1890 and created the detective Hercule Poirot in her debut novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920). She achieved wide popularity with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) and produced a total of eighty novels and short-story collections over six decades.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 11 short stories without Poirot or Marple, January 1, 2003

By 

Michele L. Worley (Kingdom of the Mouse, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Witness for the Prosecution (St. Martin's Minotaur Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Each story herein, except "The Second Gong", has also appeared in either _The Hound of Death_ or _The Listerdale Mystery_. Some of the stories are fantasy fiction rather than mysteries, but don't be *too* quick to assign supernatural causes to anything.

"Accident" (1929) - Evans (formerly Inspector Evans of the CID) recognizes in the six-years-married Merrowdenes the notorious Mrs. Anthony, acquitted of poisoning her first husband - judged to have died of an accidental overdose of arsenic. As a girl, her stepfather accidentally fell to his death from a cliff during a walk. Not looking good for *Mr.* Merrowdene...

"The Fourth Man" (December 1925) As a supernatural story, best appreciated in Christie's fantasy-dominated collection _The Hound of Death_. Three ever-so-superior professional men - minister, physician, and lawyer - begin discussing a famous multiple personality case during a night train journey. Even though they're missing a fourth point of view - that of the man in the street - they ignore the fourth man in their compartment...

"The Mystery of the Blue Jar" (1933) Jack Hartington lives for golf; since he's 24 and has to earn a living, he lives near a golf course where he can practice every morning before work. Then screams no one else hears begin coming from a cottage near the course, every morning at the same time - and whatever's going on centers around the image of a woman holding a blue jar.

"The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl" a.k.a. "Mr. Eastwood's Adventure" (August 1924) Anthony Eastwood is stuck, trying to create a plot for the title "The Mystery of the Second Cucumber", when a mysterious phone call with 1 word - 'cucumber' - entangles him in a *real* mystery.

"Philomel Cottage" (November 1924) Businesslike Alix King expected to marry Dick Windyford, fellow clerk, when they could afford it - but he was too proud to propose when she got a windfall inheritance. Then Gerald Martin swept her off her feet in a whirlwind courtship - a perfect stranger. But like Bluebeard's wives, Alix gets curious about his past...

"The Red Signal" (June 1924) Sir Alington West, a distinguished alienist, has no time for ESP. His nephew Dermot has had a few 'red signals' in his life, but as his uncle points out, he'd seen signs of impending mortal peril and just hadn't consciously put them together. But why should he have it during a party - when the only danger is his hidden love for his best friend's wife?

"The Second Gong" - An early version of "Dead Man's Mirror", written first but published later. I recommend the expanded rewrite in the _Dead Man's Mirror_ collection.

"Sing a Song of Sixpence" (1934) Elderly Sir Edward Palliser, K.C., never expected to see Magdalen Vaughn again after a shipboard romance - let alone to be taken up on his offer to help if she ever needed it! Her family sponged off Great-aunt Lily Crabtree, who has been brutally murdered - and they're the chief suspects.

"S.O.S." (February 1926) The Dinsmead family - pompous father, worn-down mother, and 3 grown children - moved to a lonely country home rather abruptly upon Mr. Dinsmead's retirement from the building trade. They're all unhappy, except the father, who seems to have something up his sleeve. Then a stranger (parapsychologist Mortimer Cleveland), stranded for the night by a flat tire, finds a mysterious message written in the dust beside his bed...

"Where There's a Will" a.k.a. "Wireless" (1926) Mary Harter's physician, in the style of the old school, was far more blunt about the seriousness of her heart condition to her nephew than to her. Charles, making a parade of his superior knowledge of modern technology, wheedles her into getting not only an elevator, but a radio...which seems to justify all her misgivings about these electrical contraptions when it begins relaying messages from her late husband, saying that he's coming for her...

"The Witness for the Prosecution" (1933) Unlike the Billy Wilder film version, here the viewpoint character and chief investigator is the prisoner's solicitor, Mayherne; the K.C. conducting the court case isn't even named. The information brought out during testimony in the film mostly appears during Vole's interview with Mayherne. The adaptation was faithful, except that here Vole's first meeting with Emily French is more dramatic, and her fluffy-headed eccentric image wasn't translated to film. The ending of the story, though, isn't as trite the movie's.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Satisfying Short Sagas of Surprise and Suspense, October 4, 2000

By 

George R Dekle "Bob Dekle" (Lake City, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Witness for the Prosecution: and Other Stories (Mass Market Paperback)

Anyone familiar with the 1957 Billy Wilder film "Witness for the Prosecution" knows the plot of the title story. The short story, however, is told from an entirely different vantage point. The change in focus doesn't rob the story of any of its sting, and the product is every bit as entertaining as the excellent movie.

Christie tells the remaining stories in a taut, fast-paced, and satisfying manner, and more than once brings the story to a quite unexpected climax.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars IMPRESSIVE, June 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Witness for the Prosecution: and Other Stories (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the best of Christie's short stories. They are ingenious works with quick and instant gratification, sometimes the best for those who can't wait. Of course there are a couple of bummers, but if you need short stories these are the best you can get. Philomel Cottage is one I would recommend leaving the lights on for. That thing haunted me for days to come!