The Witness for the Prosecution and Other stories contains eleven stories including ten miscellaneous stories and one Hercule Poirot story. My favourites were the miscellaneous stories; The Witness for the Prosecution, Wireless (also known as Where There's a Will), The Mystery of the Blue Jar and Accident. My least favourite was the miscellaneous story, Mr. Eastwood's Adventure (which is also known as The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl). The overall collection rating is 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars. Individual story reviews and ratings are below.

MISC: THE WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION: *****
MISC: THE RED SIGNAL: ***
MISC: THE FOURTH MAN: ***
MISC: S.O.S.: ***
MISC: WHERE THERE'S A WILL/WIRELESS: *****
MISC: THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE JAR: *****
MISC: SING A SONG OF SIXPENCE: ***
MISC: MR. EASTWOOD'S ADVENTURE/THE MYSTERY OF THE SPANISH SHAWL: **
MISC: PHILOMEL COTTAGE: ***
MISC: ACCIDENT: *****
POIROT: THE SECOND GONG: ***

MISC: THE WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION: *****

A lawyer takes on a case of a man accused of the murder of an elderly rich lady but finds it hard to corroborate his alibi. This was terrific. I loved how the wife gets him off. Lol testifying against him and then providing evidence that she was lying in order to prove that the alibi was true (even though it wasn't). How diabolical. It was a great twist. And the ending was mind blowing. 5 stars.

MISC: THE RED SIGNAL: ***

A medium warns the men at a dinner party not to go home. This one was good. The ending was surprising, didn't see it coming. I liked. 3 stars.

MISC: THE FOURTH MAN: ***

Four men on a train discuss multiple personality disorder. This was alright. I guessed where it was going. Didn't really like it much though. 3 stars.

MISC: S.O.S.: ***

A man's car breaks down and he takes shelter with a family nearby who seem to have secrets. This was strange. The atmosphere was creepy. There was a bit of mystery which was alright. 3 stars.

MISC: WHERE THERE'S A WILL/WIRELESS: *****

A nephew convinces his aunt to buy a radio. But she soon starts hearing the voice of her dead husband speaking to her, telling her he's coming for her. I enjoyed this one. The spooky atmosphere of the voice was good. And I loved the conclusion. It's always nice when people get what's coming to them. Plus I guessed most of it.

He felt that Somebody had been playing with him—playing with him like a cat with a mouse. Somebody must be laughing . . .

Christie, Agatha. The Last Seance (p. 188). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

Well I certainly am. 5 stars.

MISC: THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE JAR: *****

A young man thinks he's going mad when he continues to hear a woman yelling murder every morning while golfing; a woman no one else can hear. This was funny. Ming jar. Ooh ouch. Poor guy. 5 stars.

MISC: SING A SONG OF SIXPENCE: ***

A man regrets his offer of help to a young woman when she proceeds to take him up on it. This was kind of funny but the solution kind of sucked. There was no real reasoning behind it. On the other hand I liked Sir Edward.

'Oh, Sir Edward. How wonderful of you - how wonderful you are,' said Magdalen when he had finished his brief recital. 'You've saved us all. How can I ever thank you?'
Sir Edward smiled down at her and patted her hand gently. He was very much the great man. Little Magdalen had been very charming on the Siluric. That bloom of seventeen - wonderful! She had completely lost it now, of course.
'Next time you need a friend-' he said.
'I'll come straight to you.'
'No, no,' cried Sir Edward in alarm. 'That's just what I don't want you to do. Go to a younger man.'

He extricated himself with dexterity from the grateful household and hailing a taxi sank into it with a sigh of relief.

Christie, Agatha. The Witness for the Prosecution (p. 226). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

Even if he was a letch - sleeping with a seventeen year old? And especially at like 60? Seriously? Ugh.

In any case, I loved that he was all 'I offered thinking she'd never take me up on it and now I'm stuck'. Serves him right. 3 stars.

MISC: MR. EASTWOOD'S ADVENTURE/THE MYSTERY OF THE SPANISH SHAWL: **

A writer has trouble writing a story and finds inspiration from his life. I didn't really like this much. It was kind of dumb. There was no real explanation for why he was targeted. And the ending was a bit abrupt for my liking. 2 stars.

MISC: PHILOMEL COTTAGE: ***

A woman comes into money and instead of marrying her crush, she meets and marries a man she's known for a week. I don't know that I really got this. It started out well and was interesting and then the ending kind of baffled me. So she didn't do it? She did? Why did he die? I didn't really get it. 3 stars.

MISC: ACCIDENT: *****

A retired police investigator recognises a lady from an old case. Ooh brutal. I love the brutal ones. Mrs Merrowdene is fierce. I thought for a minute it was a red herring and that the husband was going to kill the wife instead but no. 5 stars.

POIROT: THE SECOND GONG: ***

The owner of a large estate sends for Poirot when he discovers he is being swindled, but when Poirot arrives Hubert Lytcham Roche has just committed suicide. This is a earlier, pared down version of Dead Man's Mirror and is really just the bare bones of the crime. It has a clever solution and is an easy read. 3 stars. ( )

4/8/22

11 tales of baffling crime and brilliant deduction showcase Agatha Christie at her dazzling best.

Thought this was a collection of above-average Christie stories, many with a spooky, psychological, or spiritual vibe. My favorites were The Mystery of the Blue Jar, Mr Eastwood's Adventure (though I think it should have been called the Mystery of the Second Cucumber, come on), and Philomel Cottage (that ending!!) ( )

All in all I liked most of the stories in this collection. The story starring Poirot was the weakest in my opinion.

"Witness for the Prosecution" (5 stars)-A lawyer is trying to keep his client from the gallows. The man says his wife can prove that he was home at the time an elderly women was murdered. The wife seems feel of spite for some reason. A mysterious witness swears she can prove the man's innocence. The ending will knock your socks off.

"The Red Signal" (5 stars)-A dinner party leaves a man with the horrible feeling that something horrible is about to happen.

"The Fourth Man" (4 stars)-I did like that the story revolved around a man who knew the backstory to a famed woman with multiple personalities. I still don't really understand though the how behind some of this. No spoilers. Still a very good short story.

"S.O.S." (3.5 stars)-This one was so confusing. I had to read it through twice to just make out what was going on. A man stays at a cottage with a family and finds that someone wrote S.O.S. in dust in a nightstand in the bedroom he is staying in.

"Wireless" (3.5 stars)-A tale about greed that ends on a surprising note. I really did like the ending to this one since it reminds me of a type of ending that the show Tales from the Crypt would have done.

"The Mystery of the Blue Jar" (3 stars)-I thought the main character in this one was not that smart. The ending proved it. It felt a bit rushed to me too since once again I thought it was way too much set up for something that may not have worked out in the end. So what would have been the back-up plan?

"Sing a Song of Sixpence" (4 stars)-Honestly the ending cracked me up. A retired attorney is called upon by a young woman "he made love" to to help out figuring out who murdered her aunt. The lawyer in question spends a good deal of time talking about how she's not as attractive as she was when she was young. The reveal to who did the crime was interesting. I just laughed at the ending to this.

"The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl" (3 stars)-A man receives a phone call telling him he has to go and save a woman's life. I once again question the main character's intelligence. Even I realized something weird was going on.

"Philomel Cottage" (5 stars)-A newly wed woman is starting to get harbingers of death that revolve around an older love and her new husband. I loved the ending to this one. I also found an online link to this story if you care to read it: https://www.shortstoryproject.com/philomel-cottage/

"Accident" (5 stars)-This one had a really surprising ending. I enjoyed it a lot. It's about an ex-inspector who spies a woman who he believes to be a murderer. Everything that connects this woman shows that she seems to know some very unlucky people who keep having "accidents". By the end of the story you found out the truth.

"The Second Gong" (3 stars)-A locked room mystery starring Hercule Poirot. Ehh. Sorry, I was definitely not feeling this one at all. A weak ending which I thought was an above average short story collection. ( )