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Saturday, March 23, 2024

A Deadly Affair - Classic Mystery Review

Goodreads: A Deadly Affair by Agatha Christie

Rating: Loved It! (5 Stars)
Source:   Purchased

Description:  Love can propel us to our greatest heights . . . and darkest depths. In this new collection of Agatha Christie short stories, witness the dark side of love—crimes of passion, games of the heart, and deadly affairs. This pulse-pounding compendium features beloved detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, master of charades Parker Pyne, the enigmatic Harley Quin, and the adventurous Tommy and Tuppence, all on the ready to solve a tantalizing mystery.

In “The Face of Helen,” a night at the Royal Opera could reach a deadly crescendo for a woman caught in a dicey love triangle; “Finessing the King” delivers a curious ad in the personals that could mask sinister intentions; who’s in danger of getting stung in “Wasp’s Nest” depends on rounding up suspects and solving a murder—before it even happens; and more tales that make for essential reading that Christie fans old and new will simply love to death.

Genre:  Mystery - Classic 

Why I Picked This Book:  It's an Agatha Christie short story collection - I couldn't resist!  

My Impression: Even though I have all of these stories in other collections I couldn't resist picking this one up.  This is a collection of short stories all focused on romantic relationships.  Several of these involve Christie's main detectives - Marple and Poirot - and others involve her lesser known detectives who are no less entertaining - Mr. Sattherwaite and Mr. Parker Pyne as well as Tommy and Tuppence.  There are also a few stand alones.  

This is a good mix of stories involving different types of mysteries and Christie's writing experiments.  In addition to the usual murder mysteries some stories involve an paranormal element or studies in human nature.  All make for good reading - especially if you're new to Christie and don't already have these stories on your shelves in other collections.  My very favorite thing in this book was a personal essay at the end where Christie talked about two youthful suiters.  It was a fun peek at the personal life of one of my personal authors.

This was a great book to read while reading a few heavier books.  I could take a short story break with a Christie story when I had had just a bit too much heaviness and it was perfect.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Of course!  I am basically continuously rereading Agatha Christie's books.

Would I Recommend this Book? If you love Christie or if you want to read more of her this is a great collection.

* I received this book in exchange for an honest review.  As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *

3 comments:

  1. I love Agatha Christie, but I haven't ever read any of her short stories. Glad this collection ended up being a good mix.

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  2. I really enjoy Agatha Christie. I have print books, ebooks, audiobooks. Miss Marple is my favorite but I enjoy all her characters.

    Anne - Books of My Heart

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  3. Sounds like the perfect book for the Agatha Christie expert.

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