Christin R. (raksha38) reviewed on 10/26/2011 + 203 more book reviews

I really dont like Christies short stories. The elements I dislike about her writing in longer books arent so bad. Like, in The Clocks that stupid subplot about Colin Lamb falling in love and proposing to a woman he admits several times he knows nothing about isnt so bad, since it only comes up about every 50 pages or so and the rest of the time youre focused on the mystery. But in the short stories, theres not pages and pages of other things to distract from the crappy things, so the bad elements are magnified. Seriously, what the hell is with her and having men propose to women they only met that day? The third time I read a short story where that happened, I just about threw the book across the room. And the stories where the couple has been engaged or dating for some time, the story tends to focus on the man becoming completely overbearing and manly and the woman swooning as a result. So gross. Thats what I get for reading books written in 1924, I guess.

And on top of all that, the things I do like about her writing (the intricate mysteries and the winding path the protagonists take toward solving them) arent really present here. By definition, these stories are short, so theres just not time for the mysteries to even get started, much less get complicated.

Still, there were a few stories worth reading sprinkled about. Thats why I didnt stop reading altogether. Jane in Search of a Job was the best one in the book. Jane is in desperate need of work, so she answers an ad in the news paper looking for a woman whose appearance is similar to hers. When she shows up at the appointed time and place, shes hired to be a stand-in for Grand Duchess. Or is she?

On the whole: meh. I think Im done with Agatha Christie for now.

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