Try a real book sometime. There are plenty on amazon. You could try Our Mutual Friend by C Dickens.

And sometimes, he uses the old principle that if you have enough problems, you can make them start solving each other. :) If you like these, particularly the earlier stories, I recommend that you try Chesterton's collection, _The Club of Queer Trades_.

"The Case of the Middle-Aged Wife" - Maria Packington is suffering through what would now be called her husband's mid-life crisis: he's taken up with a pretty young typist at work. (Not an actual affair, but he takes her out to restaurants, gives up golf to take her on the river). Remember, Parker works to cure unhappiness, not to investigate people, so his treatment starts in a novel way: a beauty specialist, a dressmaker, and handsome young Claude Luttrell to introduce Mrs. Packington to London night-life.

"The Case of the Discontented Soldier" - "I can assure you, Major Wilbraham, that 96% of retired empire builders are unhappy. They exchange an active life, a life full of responsibility, a life of possible danger - for what?" After lunching with Madeleine de Sara, the major is pretty well taped by Pyne's staff, and they find a problem suited to his skills.

"The Case of the Distressed Lady" - Daphne St. John, having run up gambling debts, gave in to temptation: she had a paste replica made of an expensive ring, belonging to a friend, and exchanged it with the original. Now she just wants someone to replace the original before Mrs. Dortheimer sends the ring to the jeweler for resetting.

"The Case of the Discontented Husband" - Reginald Wade's wife wants to divorce him and marry a long-haired artistic type (he himself diffidently disclaims any knowledge of that sort of thing; golf and tennis are his line). Parker Pyne rebukes him for taking an overly humble attitude, and sends in the glamorous Madeleine de Sara to help turn the tables.

"The Case of the City Clerk" - Mr. Roberts' life has been a ceaseless struggle to survive; all he asks for is one adventure, to give him something to remember in his daily round afterwards. An old friend of Parker's who's still in government service needs to have some papers carried secretly to Geneva, and the logical choice in his own department is highly suspect. Voila...

"The Case of the Rich Woman" - Mrs. Rymer's late husband was a working man in a factory, until his inventions began making money. Being rich was fun at first - but her new 'friends' look down on her, her old friends avoid her, and she's tried everything she can think of to get some fun out of her money. Pyne comes up with something more than his usual treatments for boredom this time.

"Have You Got Everything You Want?" - Elsie Jeffries, a rich young woman on the train to Istanbul, will meet her husband there - a straitlaced, good looking young man, almost dull. But she comes to Pyne, a fellow passenger on holiday, because she found part of a note in his handwriting - something about 'my wife' and 'before Venice would be the best time.'

"The Gate of Baghdad" - The opening poem later appears in the novel _Postern of Fate_. Pyne signs on for the 36-hour road trip from Damascus to Baghdad, but murder interrupts his journey across the desert.

"The House at Shiraz" - Pyne has left Baghdad for Persia; the German pilot who brought him helps him explain to customs about the bug powder he carries. Having struck up an acquaintance, the pilot reminisces about two Englishwomen he carried out there: Lady Esther Carr and her maid. The flowerlike beauty of Muriel King was what touched his heart, but she died in a tragic fall from a balcony. Pyne begins poking into Lady Esther's history, remembering a rumour of insanity in her father's family...

"The Pearl of Price" - Pyne is part of a tourist party at Petra, along with an American magnate, accompanied by his daughter Carol and his secretary, an archaeologist, a French colonel on leave, and a worn-out M.P. All respectable people, above suspicion - until Carol's pearls disappear.

"Death on the Nile" - No, not *that* case. Pyne is still trying to get on with his holiday, when yet another woman calls him in for consultation. Lady Grayle has enjoyed poor health for years - but now she's not enjoying it at all. In fact, she suspects that her husband is poisoning her. But does she want him proved innocent - or guilty?

"The Oracle at Delphi" - Mrs. Peters has accompanied her artistic 18-year-old son to Delphi (even though she'd rather be at a luxurious hotel in Paris or the Riviera). Then he disappears - and she receives a ransom note. Enter Mr. Parker Pyne...

I absolutely adore this collection. It is not only my favourite collection of short stories ever, it is one of my all time favourite Agatha Christie novels. It ranks, in my opinion, alongside the greats such as "Towards Zero" "Murder Is Easy" and "Death Comes as the End". The stories are so interesting and so incredibly enjoyable. I loved every word of them. Anyone who likes psychology will be fascinated by this excellent collection of stories.

I think my very favourite story is "The Case of the Discontended Husband" which, as well as being my favourite in this collection, is also my favourite short story ever.

These are hugely interesting and wonderfully entertaining. If you are looking for a diverting read and are interesting in human nature, this is definitely the book for you. (Also, watch out for the stories set in foreign parts. Christie excells when she sets her stories abroad.)

It is very unusual that i will give any short story collection any more than a three star rating (at best) as i am not a fan of their form or style, but this is possibly the only exception. It is nothing short of first class.

The story begins when she meets an attractive young man named Edward in FitzJames Gardens one afternoon. They have an immediate bonding, but Edward is scheduled to leave very soon for Baghdad in connection with his job with a cultural arts group called The Olive Branch. Not one to be easily discouraged, Victoria sets about finding a position that will allow her to follow Edward to Baghdad. Her search for him in this colorful city involves her with many suspicious characters, a badly wounded man who dies in her hotel room, and a great look at an archaeological dig, a particular specialty of Mrs. Christie's.

It is all wildly incredible, definitely improbable, but still an entertaining work with many likeable and well-drawn characters.

This is an excellent book. Its exciting and tense, there are twists aplenty, which keep the material fresh and interesting. It's packed full of interesting and enigmatic characters. Sir Rupert Crofton Lee, Carmichael, Dakin, etc, all of whom we dont see a great deal of, but we are left wanting to know a lot more about them. A sure sign of good characters and characterisation.

The plot is intriguing, and you are never entirely sure of what is going on, who is who, what is what, etc, up until the final pages, then it all becomes clear.

The setting is great...the sweltering heat and dustiness of Baghdad is an excellent setting for this type of story (indeed, any type of story) and really adds to the atmosphere.

Victoria Jones is a likeable lead character, human and quirky. (Sometimes annoying?) But in the end, you care for what happens to her.

The backing cast of characters is large, but great. And overall, the freshness of this story, the excitement and intrigue contained within its pages, all adds up to make this a very different, but very high class Christie read.

The characters depicted in The Moving Finger are crudely sketched, becoming almost unbelievable. For example, the main character, narrator and lacking all credibility, starts to annoy you after the first ten pages with his single-minded comments and simply ruins the pace of the story. When Miss Marple appears on the last pages, she cannot rescue the story, because the solution she proposes seems to have but few connections the actual story.

The village characters are picturesque, and Christie does a good job of keeping you guessing right up til the end. It really is a "moving finger" of suspicion!

Overall, a favorite read and reread!

This book is notable for its excellent characterizations. From the community-minded doctor's sister, to the charming spinster who rents the Burtons her home, to the dazzling governess of the lawyer's young boys, Mrs. Christie gives us a village filled with quirky and interesting people. Most notable is Megan Hunter, perhaps her finest young girl protagonist, who is transformed from the dowdy stepdaughter to an exquisite Cinderella.

The narrative style is light and entertaining, the romance sweet, and the murder quite deadly in this fun and always ingenuous offering from the mistress of mystery.

Mrs. Christie herself recalls this story in her autobiography as a personal favorite that has stood the test of time. As charming as it no doubt was when first published in 1943, The Moving Finger is a most satisfying read.

the ending is quite a shock, as in most agatha christie books, but the course of the story is engaging with the courtship or love story angle of tommy and tuppence

this is, if im not mistaken the second book written by agatha christie, thus already a classic and with its qualities, it is indeed a christie staple!

Although this is widely considered to be the best of Christie's short story-collections, I do have some doubts about this statement. Personally I am not a big fan of the short stories featuring Hercule Poirot, where Jane Marple has had more success in this format. An obvious weakness of this particular collection is that in quite a few stories the conclusion is so utterly obvious, that you don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to solve the mystery. What makes this collection worth reading though is the skilfully incorporated links to Greek mythology: sometimes quite burlesque, sometimes very subtle.

The stories listed in this collection are "The Apples of the Hesperides", "The Arcadian Deer", "The Augean Stables", "The Capture of Cerberus", "The Cretan Bull", "The Erymanthian Boar", "The Flock of Geryon", "The Gridle of Hyppolita", "The Horses of Diomedes", "The Lernean Hydra", "The Nemean Lion" and "The Stymphalean Birds".

Agatha Christie is one of the greatest mystery writers of all time but I have read some of her better books. Don't get me wrong, this book was a fun read for any mystery lover, but it lacked the plot and suspence needed to first grab the readers attention. The plot was also trite and underdeveloped. Mrs. Oliver, the mystery writer who is in charge of the hunt, pretty much eludes to the fact that there will be a murder. As a character, she does not know, but we as the reader understand the hint that Christie is trying to give.

The ending, however, did surprise me. I would not have expect innocent and frail Mrs. Folliatt could hide such a deep secret about her son. In these last pages, Christie does redeem herself for the rest of the book with interesting descriptions and a insightful look into the human mind.

Although the plot was underdeveloped and murder was inevitable, Christie wrote about dynamic characters in the novel that had human qualities. I much preferred another one of her novels, a name which i cannot remember, but as always, Agatha Christie had managed to puzzle us once again. She is truely the "Queen of Crime!"

Crime writer Ariadne Oliver calls upon her friend, Hercule Poirot. She has been hired to provide a Mystery Hunt at Sir George Stubbs' annual Fete. She has a "hunch" that all is not well. Ms. Oliver is prescient; her mock "victim" turns into a real one. There is no shortage of suspects, but Poirot and the authorities are baffled.

Ms. Christie rains clues as big as rocks along with her usual red herrings. The problem for the astute reader is not who (though Ms. Christie conceals the murderer with her usual adroitness), but how and why. "Dead Man's Folly" is a very busy book, and the scattered presence of Ariadne Oliver (one of my least favorite continuing characters) is perhaps one distraction too many. Subtract one star for overdone motivation, and another one-half for Ms. Oliver's constant dithering. Rating: 3-1/2 stars.

This is the third example of Charles Osborne's mission to convert Agatha Christie's stage plays into novel format. For some strange reason, considering the excellent job he made of "Black Coffee", this time he has, most surprisingly, produced an absolute clunker.

First and foremost it lacks any effective characterisation. I got the feeling that I was reading a description of the play by someone who was very competent at remembering the dialogue, but who really wasn't very interested in either the characters or the play itself.

The story, such as it is, moves along in a jerky and very obviously contrived manner - the sort of thing you only notice in a live performance if the actors are second rate.

My second criticism concerns the plot itself, which might well have been sufficient for a two hour play, but is far too meagre to justify a full-length novelisation. It is, in fact, a combination of two ideas that appeared elsewhere as short stories - one as a Poirot tale first published in 1923, and one which was subsequently (1979) included in "Miss Marple's Final Cases" .

In short, though the original (1954) play was described as a "comedy thriller", the novel is entirely bereft of either humour or thrills. Definitely not worth any kind of recommendation.

Clarissa is the beloved mistress of the manor, and her self-proclaimed duty is to hide a body she finds in her parlor so that it won't interfere with her distinguished husband's entertaining a V.I.P. later in the evening. Into her web of lies and deceit she brings her three doting houseguests, a brusque female gardener, and the butler. Truth will out in the end, and whether you guess the culprit or not, you will enjoy this fast-paced, delightful evening with the British upper class.

I won't read The Unexpected Guest, just as I didn't continue to read Robert Goldsborough's game imitation of the Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout. Rex's voice, too, is gone forever.

Whether or not you'll enjoy this book depends on what you read a book for. If you find yourself reading phrases over a second time, savoring the way the author used precisely the right words to speak right to you, you won't like this book. If you like a neat little puzzle, especially in the lightweight style of the drawing-room mysteries of the '30s and '40s, Black Coffee will satisfy you, though like others, I did wonder why the author chose to focus in on the murderer's hand at that crucial moment. Mrs. Christie would be appalled.

p.s. - After blabbing on and on about the wonderful Agatha Christie mysteries to my twelve-year-old cousin (whom I'm very close in relationship to), I've managed to get her hooked on the Agatha Christie novels. Hurray for me! Now I have a close friend to converse over with these wonderful books! We also exchange our Agatha Christie books with each other now, and recommend ones that we've borrowed from the library or another friend. I strongly recommended Black Coffee to her. She, too, has not read any Miss Marple mysteries yet, and is thoroughly interested in Hercule Poirot's cases. Ms. Christie has quite a brilliant mind, and we praise her for that.