Thursday, October 3, 2019

The Last Seance - Classic Mystery Review

Goodreads: The Last Seance: Tales of the Supernatural by Agatha Christie

Rating:  Good
Source: Edelweiss

Description:  For lovers of the supernatural and the macabre comes this collection of ghostly and chilling stories from legendary mystery writer Agatha Christie. Fantastic psychic visions, specters looming in the shadows, encounters with deities, a man who switches bodies with a cat—be sure to keep the light on whilst reading these tales.
The Last Séance gathers twenty stories, some featuring Christie’s beloved detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, in one haunting compendium that explores all things occult and paranormal, and is an essential omnibus for Christie fans.

Genre: Mystery - Short Story, Classic

Why I Picked This Book:  Christie is my absolute favorite and there was no way I can resist a newly published collection of short stories even though I've read all of them except one.

My Impression:  I knew that Christie dabbled in the supernatural from time to time but I really was surprised to see just how many stories there were!  Some have Miss Marple and some feature Poirot but for the most part these were stand alones.  Agatha Christie is probably my favorite author of all time but this collection was a bit inconsistent.  Some stories were delightfully creepy and others were a bit flat and drawn out.  You can clearly see her experimenting with the supernatural elements and sometimes the experiment succeeded beautifully and other times not so much.  I enjoyed seeing the changes in her writing and just the variety of story she was able to bring to life.  However, if you're not a fan of Christie I suspect you might be underwhelmed by this collection as a whole.  Unfortunately, there's a reason why these aren't her best known stories.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  I am always rereading Agatha Christie's books and that isn't going to change anytime soon!

Would I Recommend this Book?  While I always recommend Christie I think this book might be for more diehard fans then readers just discovering her books.

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

4 comments:

  1. I hadn't realised that Christie had dipped her toes into the supernatural world! Thank you for sharing, Katherine.

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  2. It is great to have a long time author that you can delight in and reread. Good on her for experimenting. I am sure she didn't want her writing life to be dull!

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  3. I did not know about Agatha Christie's interest in the supernatural. I am intrigued.

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  4. This sounds like a good collection of stories, if not great. I definitely will have to look for it. I really like Christie too.

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