The Last Seance: Tales of the Supernatural by Agatha Christie

Well, if I've done anything in 2019, it was to finally read some Agatha Christie. Another author I've admired from afar, but never felt compelled to read. This new short story collection caught my eye, and I'm so glad it did. 

First, I'll say this book isn't a casual, read it in a few hours collection of stories. It's actually quite lengthy--over 350 pages. Just goes to show how prolific Agatha Christie was in her writing career. Only one of the stories had never been published in the U.S.: The Wife of the Kenite. All the other stories had been published multiple times in short story compilations and magazines over the years in both the U.K. and the U.S. The publishing reach of Agatha Christie was astounding. 

There are twenty short stories in The Last Seance, and each was gripping and smartly written. I quickly fell victim to Agatha Christie's style of writing, and I couldn't even begin to pick one of the stories as my favorite. Some were straight out murder mysteries; others had a paranormal bent. People murdered for money or spite, others were frightened to death. Clever killers were outdone by simple deductive reasoning from some of Agatha's prime characters: Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Each story was fairly short, and that made it easy to read a few, take a break, then return for more. I don't read many short story collections, but when I do, I realize how much I enjoy the built in breaks between stories. 

This collection has it all: haunted houses, mysterious characters, marriages gone wrong, and sly con artists. It was a fantastic introduction to Agatha Christie's style of writing and her world of mysteries. She's got me hooked. 

Rating: 4/6 for a solid collection of short stories that keep you trying to figure out the whodunnit before the characters do. Short stories that dive right into the meat of the mystery, and keep you wanting more. I can't wait to read more Agatha Christie! 

Available in paperback and ebook.