‘Witness for the Prosecution’ (1948) guilty of being great
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): This collection of 11 short stories is filled with Agatha Christie gems, starting with the titular tale.
Books
‘Witness for the Prosecution’ (1948) guilty of being great
‘Sad Cypress’ (1940) a powerful Poirot potboiler
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): Christie approaches this one from new angles: a court case, and relationships that seem real.
Christie’s ‘Murder is Easy’ (1939) is easy to like
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): Agatha Christie explores the idea that getting away with murder could be easy for someone of the right temperament.
Crichton takes step backward with ‘Easy Go’ (1968)
Michael Crichton Monday (Book review): Crichton’s third John Lange novel, also known as “The Last Tomb,” promises more than it delivers.
‘Patriotic Murders’ (1940) is both political and personal
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): It’s perhaps unavoidably complex, but this is one of Agatha Christie’s stronger political/espionage novels.
‘Appointment with Death’ (1938) probes unhappy family
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): Agatha Christie lets the reader play psychologist, as nearly every member of the Boynton family has a motive to murder.
Crichton’s ‘Scratch One’ (1967) a too-tangled web
Michael Crichton Monday (Book review): Crichton introduces an Everyman answer to James Bond in his overly ambitious second John Lange novel.
Christie delivers variety in ‘Regatta Mystery’ (1939)
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): Poirot and Christie’s other top detectives trade the stage in this excellent collection of nine short stories.
Christie tries novella form in ‘Dead Man’s Mirror’ (1937)
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): I enjoyed all four of these Poirot yarns from Agatha Christie. The last two have particularly satisfying endings.
Crichton’s ‘Airframe’ (1996) reaches new heights
Michael Crichton Monday (Book review): In the last of his three 1990s non-SF novels, Crichton again makes a seemingly bland topic enthralling.