The Witness for the Prosecution

It seems like I finished this book a long time ago since I read about three-fourths of it on the flight to DC and the rest in the airport waiting for our flight to Dallas on the way home. The book in question is Agatha Christie's The Witness for the Prosecution, and Other Stories (1932 - my copy, pictured here, is a 1948 Dell printing).

This is the first Agatha Christie book I've ever read -- I like mysteries, but generally ones that are more of the shady pulp variety than the upstanding British variety. I'd always sort of associated Christie with old people, Masterpiece Theatre, and Angela Lansbury. Part of the reason I picked this book up at a booksale was (obviously) the cover. I was also interested in it because the title story was made into a movie by Billy Wilder in 1957, and I read a bunch about it and Charles Laughton's performance in the book about Wilder that I read recently. I really like Wilder's movies, and I want to see this one, not only because I've now read the book, but also because both Marlene Dietrich and Elsa "Bride of Frankenstein" Lanchester are in it. Yes.

As for this collection, I enjoyed it a lot -- it was perfect for reading in an airport as all the stories were engaging, filled with twists, and relatively short. The title story in particular was very satisfying. I have a full-length mystery novel of Christie's in my pile, and I'm excited to give it a chance. If I like her, I can keep myself busy with her ninety-gazillion other books.