Classics Crime Fiction Mystery

Witness for the Prosecution and Selected Plays

Name: Witness for the Prosecution and Selected Plays
Rating: 4.07 (4480 reviews)
Author: Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie

4.07 4.5k Ratings

Ongoing Status

44 Views

Start Reading

Synopsis

This is the first-ever publication in book form of Witness for the Prosecution, Christie’s highly successful stage thriller which was made into a film by Billy Wilder. Also included are Towards Zero, Verdict and Go Back for Murder.

Books similar to Witness for the Prosecution and Selected Plays

And Then There Were None

★ 4.27

Agatha Christie

First, there were ten—a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a little private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal—and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. A famous nursery rhyme is framed and hung in every room of the mansion:

"Ten little boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine. Nine little boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight. Eight little boys traveling in Devon; One said he'd stay there then there were seven. Seven little boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in half and then there were six. Six little boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five. Five little boys going in for law; One got in Chancery and then there were four. Four little boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three. Three little boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two. Two little boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one. One little boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none."

When they realize that murders are occurring as described in the rhyme, terror mounts. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. Who has choreographed this dastardly scheme? And who will be left to tell the tale? Only the dead are above suspicion.

Murder on the Orient Express

★ 4.2

Agatha Christie

Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the famous Orient Express in its tracks as it travels through the mountainous Balkans. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year but, by the morning, it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside.

One of the passengers is none other than detective Hercule Poirot. On vacation.

Isolated and with a killer on board, Poirot must identify the murderer—in case he or she decides to strike again.

Crooked House

★ 4.08

Agatha Christie

Described by the queen of mystery herself as one of her favorites of her published work, Crooked House is a classic Agatha Christie thriller revolving around a devastating family mystery.

The Leonides are one big happy family living in a sprawling, ramshackle mansion. That is until the head of the household, Aristide, is murdered with a fatal barbiturate injection.

Suspicion naturally falls on the old man’s young widow, fifty years his junior. But the murderer has reckoned without the tenacity of Charles Hayward, fiancé of the late millionaire’s granddaughter.

A Murder Is Announced

★ 4.01

Agatha Christie

"A Murder is Announced" is a staple of crime fiction and often considered as the best Miss Marple novel. The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn, including Jane Marple who is staying nearby, are agog with curiosity over an advertisement in the local gazette which reads: ‘A murder is announced and will take place on Friday October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30 p.m.’ Is this a childish practical joke? Or a hoax intended to scare poor Letitia Blacklock? Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, a crowd gathers at Little Paddocks at the appointed time when, without warning, the lights go out…

The novel was promoted on both sides of the Atlantic as Agatha Christie's 50th book and published in 1950 by William Collins.

Librarian's note: this entry is for the novel, "A Murder is Announced." Collections and other Miss Marple stories are located elsewhere on Goodreads. The series includes 12 novels and 20 short stories. Entries for the short stories can be found by searching Goodreads for: "a Miss Marple Short Story."

Endless Night

★ 3.81

Agatha Christie

Gipsy’s Acre was a truly beautiful upland site with views out to sea – and in Michael Rogers it stirred a child-like fantasy. There, amongst the dark fir trees, he planned to build a house, find a girl and live happily ever after. Yet, as he left the village, a shadow of menace hung over the land. For this was the place where accidents happened. Perhaps Michael should have heeded the locals’ warnings: ‘There’s no luck for them as meddles with Gipsy’s Acre.’ Michael Rogers is a man who is about to learn the true meaning of the old saying ‘In my end is my beginning.’

The title Endless Night was taken from William Blake’s Auguries of Innocence and describes Christie’s favourite theme in the novel: a “twisted” character, who always chooses evil over good.

Christie finished Endless Night in six weeks, as opposed to the three-four months that most of her other novels took. Despite being in her seventies while writing it, she told an interviewer that being Michael, the twenty-something narrator, “wasn’t difficult. After all, you hear people like him talking all the time.”

The book is dedicated to Christie's relative "Nora Prichard from whom I first heard the legend of Gipsy's Acre." Gipsy's Acre was a field on the Welsh moors.

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?

★ 3.91

Agatha Christie

,,Miért nem szóltak Evansnak?" - ezt kérdezi a haldokló, akit Bobby Jones talál a népszerű golfpálya alatt, a völgyben. Bobby először is arra lenne kíváncsi, ki zuhant a szakadékba, és halt meg a szeme láttára, azonosító iratot ugyanis nem találnak a férfinál. Csak egy gyönyörű fiatal nő fényképét... Bobby nyomozni kezd, és hamarosan kiderül, hogy a végzetes baleset nem véletlen történt: ez bizony gyilkosság volt, mégpedig igen rejtélyes gyilkosság. Szerencsére Bobbynak merész segítőtársa is akad Lady Frances Derwent személyében. Frankie, ahogy az ifjú arisztokrata lányt mindenki nevezi, hatalmas lelkesedéssel veti bele magát a rejtélybe. Az sem riasztja vissza, hogy Bobbyt is, őt is megpróbálják eltenni láb alól. A meglepetésekben és kalandokban bővelkedő könyv végére kiderül, kicsoda Evans, miért nem szóltak neki, és hogy egy lelkész negyedik fia és egy arisztokrata lánya csak nyomozóként alkot-e nyerő párost.

The Pale Horse

★ 3.84

Agatha Christie

"Wickedness...such wickedness...."
The dying woman turned to Father Gorman with agony in her eyes. "Stopped....It must be stopped....You will...."

The priest spoke with reassuring authority. "I will do what is necessary. You can trust me."

Father Gorman tucked the list of names she had given him into his shoe. It was a meaningless list; the names were of people who had nothing in common.

On his way home, Father Gorman was murdered. But the police found the list and when Mark Easterbrook came to inquire into the circumstances of the people listed, he began to discover a connection between them, and an ominous pattern....

Every name of that list was either already dead or, he suspected, marked for murder.

The Man in the Brown Suit

★ 3.95

Agatha Christie

Pretty, young Anne came to London looking for adventure. In fact, adventure comes looking for her—and finds her immediately at Hyde Park Corner tube station. Anne is present on the platform when a thin man, reeking of mothballs, loses his balance and is electrocuted on the rails.

The Scotland Yard verdict is accidental death. But Anne is not satisfied. After all, who was the man in the brown suit who examined the body? And why did he race off, leaving a cryptic message behind: "17-122 Kilmorden Castle"?

Twisty, clever, and intriguing, The Man in the Brown Suit showcases Agatha Christie once again at her very best.

Witness for the Prosecution and Selected Plays

Books similar to Witness for the Prosecution and Selected Plays

And Then There Were None

Murder on the Orient Express

Crooked House

A Murder Is Announced

Endless Night

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?

The Pale Horse

The Man in the Brown Suit

Welcome Back!