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编辑推荐From Publishers WeeklyOsborne completes his homage to Christie with this third and final adaptation of an original Christie play, following Black Coffee (1998) and The Unexpected Guest (1999). Though the play was written in 1954, the story suffers little from the passage of time, and aside from the static setting, reads well as a novel. Christie's exquisite timing and clever sleight-of-mind tricks are a delight, while Osborne has the good sense not to embroider the tale. A typical closed cast of characters occupies the temporary country home of Henry and Clarissa Hailsham-Brown: the seemingly scatterbrained Clarissa; her stepdaughter, Pippa; the odious Oliver Costello, who has married Pippa's mother; Sir Rowland Delahaye, Clarissa's godfather and a man of honor; an outspoken gardener; a butler; a cook; and Inspector Lord, the rather diffident policeman. When Clarissa discovers a body in the drawing room, she decides that it mustn't be found there. Her plans to dispose of the body are interrupted by the arrival of a rather diffident policeman, Inspector Lord, who has come to check out an anonymous tip that a murder has been committed. Christie's bag of tricks includes hidden doorways, secret drawers, French windows and concealed identitiesDall used to amusing effect. As with Osborne's previous novelizations, this is a welcome addition to the Christie canon and is sure to reach mystery bestseller lists. The cover, with a spider in a web against a green faux-marble background, is as catchy as they come. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From AudioFile Dame Agatha's creaky stage mystery is here recycled as a novella by the mere expedient of expanding her stage directions into narrative. Beautiful Clarissa, who dreams of finding a corpse in her living room, one day actually finds one. Hugh Fraser's best efforts fail to make this anything but dreary going. Y.R. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine--This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition. From Booklist This third and last of Christie's plays to be novelized by Osborne--following Black Coffee (1998) and The Unexpected Guest (1999)--betrays its origins in its crisp dialogue and smooth action. Twists, turns, and things that are not what they seem abound, of course, as Clarissa, the younger second wife of Henry Hailsham-Brown, amuses herself in deception and flirtation in their rented country home. However, when the current spouse of Henry's first wife, an odious sort, turns up dead at her very feet, Clarissa must be resourceful indeed. Her young stepdaughter hated and feared the dead man, and Henry himself is bringing home a diplomat on a secret mission, so the whole thing must be cleared up posthaste. Despite Clarissa's best efforts, the police show up, and a series of deceptions within deceptions foment a neat, exaggerated, and quite attractive puzzle. Another Christie on the bookshelf, huzzah. GraceAnne DeCandido Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Review "Christie's exquisite timing and clever sleight-of-hand tricks are a delight...this is a welcome addition to the Christie cannon."--Publishers Weekly "Great fun. The perfect way to distract you from the cares of the day."--Arizona Daily Star "Agatha Christie is the champion deceiver of our time."--The New York Times --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition. |
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