The Witness for the Prosecution & Other Stories
5 Complete Stories
By Agatha Christie
Read by Christopher Lee
Audio Editions Mystery Masters
A Complete & Unabridged Recording on 3 Cassettes (Also available on CD) The Audio Partners Publishing Corp.
ISBN: 1-57270-397-0
Genre: Mystery, Short Stories
Reviewed by Rochelle Caviness - August 26, 2004
The Witness for the Prosecution & Other Stories is a collection of five outstanding short stories by Agatha Christie. The Audio Editions Mystery Masters rendition of this book is read by Christopher Lee, whose deep English-accented voice gives authority and panache to this reading.
The stories in this collection include:
The Witness for the Prosecution
This story finds Leonard Vole on trial for the murder of Emily French. An elderly spinster, Vole is assumed to have wooed her for the purposes of stealing her money, a deceit that led to her death. As his trial progress, Vole's case to prove his innocence is marred by the testimony of the prosecution's star witness - Vole's wife.
This is one of Christie's best short stories, and her best courthouse drama. The main 'detective' in this story is Mayherne, Vole's solicitor, and the events surrounding French's murder comes out throughout the trail. The Witness for the Prosecution is tightly plotted, thrilling, and it has a satisfying and unexpected ending.
The Red Signal
Sir Arlington West is a famous alienist (a specialist on mental disease) who occasionally receives 'red signals' which are signs of impending danger. West's nephew also receives 'red signals', but he is untrained and has difficulty interpreting the signals that he receives. So he is puzzled when he gets the 'red signal' at a dinner party, after all who could pose any danger to him when everyone at the party is his friend? Or could this danger signal be associated with Clare Trent, his unattainable love interest who just happens to be his best friend's wife.
The Fourth Man
Unlike most of Christie's mystery stories, The Fourth Man takes on more of a supernatural bent than is her norm. This story finds four men sitting in a train compartment. Three of the men, who are respectively a minister, a doctor, and lawyer are wiling away their time by discussing a prominent case of a young girl who had suffered from multiple personalities. The fourth man in the compartment is remarkably silent throughout the discussion... This is one of Christie's supernatural stories.
S.O.S.
When Mortimer Cleveland is stranded in the country by two flat tires, he seeks refuge with the Dinsmead family. The family had recently moved to the isolated country house in which Cleveland finds them. With the exception of the father, they are a dour lot, and Cleveland can't wait to leave. His stay is prolonged, however, when he finds three letters, S - O - S, scrawled in the dust by his bedside. This message sets him on a course that will change everyone's life - including his own.
The Mystery of the Blue Jar
Every morning, without fail, Jack Hartington hears a cry of, "Murder, help, murder!" coming from a cottage that he routinely passes while playing golf. Unfortunately, for Jack, no one else can hear the voice. He begins to question whether or not he is actually hearing the cry, and sets out to determine if someone is really crying out, or if it is all a hoax. His only chance to find out the truth behind the voice is the haunting visions of a blue jar that appear in the dreams of a young woman who lives in the cottage.
The Witness for the Prosecution & Other Stories is an excellent collection of Christie stories. All of the stories in this collection are presented complete and unabridged. Lee is an excellent choice for the reader, especially for the main story, The Witness for the Prosecution in which he is amazingly believable as the solicitor. In short, this is an excellent collection that will give you a taste of Christie's writing genius and skill at crafting tightly woven mysteries and supernatural stories.
Click Here for a complete list of all the books written by Agatha Christie.
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The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding, by Agatha Christie.
A collection of six Christmas-themed short mystery stories. Five feature indomitable Belgium detective, Hercule Poirot and one Miss Jane Marple. (Large Print)
Great Horror Stories, by Edgar Allan Poe.
This anthology features nine of Poe's most macabre short stories.
