Best laid plans

I had planned to re-dedicate my Sundays to keeping up the posts on my blog, however..... I had forgotten that starting a new job can be quite tiring and spent my Sunday relaxing, doing a small food shop and making a start on another puzzle. But I am quite happy to report that at the start of week 2 at my new job I have managed to find some time to do a little update.


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While the Light lasts - Agatha Christie
Another happy return to the work of one of my favourite authors.
Point to note: normally I am not one for reading forewords or afterwords but it was worth it for this collection of stories.

House of Dreams
I liked the fact that this one was unlike anything I have ever read by Christie. It is sort of a ghost story or a supernatural mystery. A young man falls in love with a girl who cannot marry him because of a deep dark family secret (much to the relief of another interested female party). The young man keeps seeing a house in his dreams and in the end it is his downfall and he gets lost looking for it.

The Actress
Nice little story about a woman rising to the occasion with an Oscar winning performance when it matters most. There is the threat of blackmail but in the end we have the con who is being conned. You think you know what is going on but Christie twists it round on you with a nice little reveal at the end. The bad guy gets his just deserts and the lady actress is left to live her life as she pleases.

The Edge
Set in a small village where we find a thwarted lover, an unforgiving soul bent on vengeance.
Clare was hoping to be the next lady of the Manor but she was passed up for an out of town girl in the shape of Vivien. By chance Clare gets a comes across Vivien's secret and uses it to torment her. It seems that all is going well for Clare but then  she crosses a line and pushes Vivien too far. But... what goes around, comes around.

Christmas Adventure
Mr Poirot is spending his Christmas re-uniting a pair of lovers and solving the mystery of the Christmas Pudding... oh and there is something about a rogue and an diamond but don't let that spoil the story for you.
This is a nice, tight little mystery for Poirot. It is light and fluffy and totally enjoyable to read.

The Lonely God
The statue of a small god is the meeting place of two strangers who become much more than that. Then fate intervenes and pushes them apart, however, it inspires our man, Frank to make a true work of art himself. In the end and the lovers are re-united but it is a fitting end although a bit soppy.

Manx Gold
Please don't do what I did and not read the foreword on this one... READ IT! the whole thing makes more sense if you do. This is a nice little story about two young people who go on a quest to find a treasure left to them by a relative. Others are trying to get to the treasure to so it is a race to see who gets the loot.
The story was used in a treasure hunt to improve tourism in the Isle of Man.... hope it worked as it is a lovely idea to have treasure hunt with clues designed by Christie. Awesome.

Within a Wall
A kind of serious story about art, survival and whether or not you sell your soul and turn a blind eye to the truth for the "love" of a beautiful woman. An artist seems to do some paint by numbers works but is also truly inspired by someone who he seems to almost hate or resent. His wife seems to have more of a need to keep herself in dresses than her child in decent clothing or to inspire her husband's work and even the help of a long suffering friend is not enough to make the lady happy.
It ends badly for the friend and you get the feeling our painter is not far behind as the lady devours everything around her to satisfy her own needs.... wonder what becomes of the child?

The Mystery of the Bagdad Chest
Another nice little mystery for Poirot to resolve.
He comes to the aid of a man who seems to be obviously guilty of murder but it turns out to be a bit more complicated than that. A nice little mystery involving a big chest, a body and a bit of smoke and mirrors from a vengeful, jealous husband.

While the light lasts
A woman meets the man she loved before and he hopes to pick up where they left off all those years ago. She seems to be bit more ambivalent to changing her life around again and with words left unsaid things take a dramatic turn for the worse for the old lover.


This was a really nice collection of stories from Christie and the nice thing was that there several different genres in this collection. They were all little gems and it was nice to have the variation and to be able to see what Poirot could do in only 10 or so pages.
Nicely written, well paced stories, a great read and as I mentioned nice to have a little extra information on each story about how it came about and/or what it was based on.


Title: While the Light lasts
Author: Agatha Christie
252 pages
Harper Collins Publishers
ISBN# 0-00-715485-2


Books to be read: 144