| Publisher | HarperCollins |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 22 July 2021 |
| ISBN-10 | 0008470936 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0008470937 |
| Format | hardcover |
| Pages | 272 |
| Price | £ 14.99 |
Midsummer Mysteries
by
A collection of short stories by Agatha Christie, each originally published in the 1920s.
Review
This collection of 12 short stories by Agatha Christie gives no clue to who collected them or why these particular stories were chosen, a mystery certainly in keeping with the sense of the stories, all of which were originally published in the 1920s.
The first story in the book is an introduction by Agatha Christie, a story about herself as a little girl. The purpose is unclear but this might be there to illustrate her belief in the importance of trying to analyse cause and effect in relation to people’s actions, rather than just looking at evidence, a view of which Poirot would surely approve.
The context of each story is often used to create the mystery, such as settings relating to classical Greece, as in The Oracle at Delphi or Sinister Stranger; or to classical fables as in the case of Harlequin’s Lane; or settings relating to foreign shores such as Death on the Nile and The Rajahs Emerald.
These stories mainly depend on people’s suspicions at the time of anyone they perceived as different. They need to be read with the 1920s clearly in mind, although there are sufficient modern echoes to catch a reader’s eye. For example, when up-and-coming prime minister Lord Mayfield is found to have committed a crime, Poirot tells him “My Lord, if you could not make the best of both worlds, you could not be a politician!”
The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman introduces Poirot and his method of solving mysteries by using ‘the little grey cells’ and not having too great a reliance just on the evidence alone. This method is demonstrated as being particularly useful in the final story The Incredible Theft, which at 58 pages is the longest in the book. By contrast, the story Death on the Nile could be despatched in just 15 pages.
This brevity throughout the book is interesting in that there seems to be no expectation by the author of the need to work on the emotions of the reader; no need to work up the degree of suspense, or fear. The plain facts seem to be all that is necessary to tell the story – a clear difference in writing style in crime fiction between then and now, perhaps.
This collection is certainly worth reading for a little light amusement and an exercising of the mind, despite the out-dated and, in today’s world, potentially offensive views of many of the leading characters. But of course, in today’s world many would find the protagonists themselves to be completely unacceptable!
The first story in the book is an introduction by Agatha Christie, a story about herself as a little girl. The purpose is unclear but this might be there to illustrate her belief in the importance of trying to analyse cause and effect in relation to people’s actions, rather than just looking at evidence, a view of which Poirot would surely approve.
The context of each story is often used to create the mystery, such as settings relating to classical Greece, as in The Oracle at Delphi or Sinister Stranger; or to classical fables as in the case of Harlequin’s Lane; or settings relating to foreign shores such as Death on the Nile and The Rajahs Emerald.
These stories mainly depend on people’s suspicions at the time of anyone they perceived as different. They need to be read with the 1920s clearly in mind, although there are sufficient modern echoes to catch a reader’s eye. For example, when up-and-coming prime minister Lord Mayfield is found to have committed a crime, Poirot tells him “My Lord, if you could not make the best of both worlds, you could not be a politician!”
The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman introduces Poirot and his method of solving mysteries by using ‘the little grey cells’ and not having too great a reliance just on the evidence alone. This method is demonstrated as being particularly useful in the final story The Incredible Theft, which at 58 pages is the longest in the book. By contrast, the story Death on the Nile could be despatched in just 15 pages.
This brevity throughout the book is interesting in that there seems to be no expectation by the author of the need to work on the emotions of the reader; no need to work up the degree of suspense, or fear. The plain facts seem to be all that is necessary to tell the story – a clear difference in writing style in crime fiction between then and now, perhaps.
This collection is certainly worth reading for a little light amusement and an exercising of the mind, despite the out-dated and, in today’s world, potentially offensive views of many of the leading characters. But of course, in today’s world many would find the protagonists themselves to be completely unacceptable!
Reviewed 17 December 2022 by Sylvia Maughan
