Rating: 
Summary: Not a Christie Despite the Name
Review: I am of the opinion that this book and Black Coffee were written to capitalize on the Christie name. Of course, a lot of things have been written that capitalize on the Christie name, but to capitalize on the Christie name and to not do it well is hard to tolerate. The Unexpected Guest and Black Coffee were both plays before they were novels, and they read like plays. Christie herself often altered novels to plays and plays to novels, but she had an instinctive understanding of both genres and was able to make the necessary alterations, cuts or expansions. So much so that the book Ten Little Indians and the play Ten Little Indians have different endings. This is also true of Witness for the Prosecution and a host of other novellas, stories, novels and their plays. The novels The Unexpected Guest and Black Coffee, however, are simply plays with the tags "he said" and "she said" thrown in. The descriptions sound like prop instructions. The flavor of Christie's prose--the nuances, tangents, discussions of character, the humor, the "twinkle" (for lack of a better word)--is missing. Charles Osborne meant well, I think, but the transformation of Christie's plays to novel form should either have been given to a writer of Christie's temperament and ability (as Sayers' Throne and Dominations was expertly finished by Jill Paton Walsh) or not attempted at all. The result is definitely sup-par. Recommendation: For fans, anything Christie appeals, but keep your expectations low.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but too...
Review: I am only 16 but I am a avid reader of mystery novels. I feel that this a great book, but like other agatha cristie books, it is too short. I read in about 3 and 1/2 hours, while watching tv. Since I got this from a book club I cant say anything about the price, but, if you want this book wait for the paperback.
Rating: 
Summary: An OK Book
Review: I love reading Agatha Christie's mystery books, but when I read this one it didn't seem very good. I thought that it was more predictable than her other books.
Rating:
Summary: It was an exciting thriller
Review: Im not usually a big reader but i had to read a book by Agatha Christie for a book report. I liked this book because as soon as I started to read it got my attention. The more u read this book the harder it is to put down. I also enjoyed this book because it wasn't another one of those boring books this book had many twists and turns. I thought i knew who the murderer was at one point and then it took a huge turn and it was somebody else that i'd never think.
Rating: 
Summary: I enjoyed it
Review: It's November in South Wales. A stranded motorist walks up on a house for help, but finds a murder instead. And so Christie's play, The Unexpected Guest, now novelized by Charles Osborne, begins. The gentleman, Mark Starkwedder, after knocking, walks into an unlocked terrace door in hopes of calling for help, what he stumbles on is Richard Warwick dead in his wheel chair, and the wife, Laura Warwick, standing in the dark with the gun. I don't want to go any further because the rest is vital to the mystery and how it gets so out of control. Included in the mystery are Mr. Warwick's mother, a brother, a valet, a housekeeper, a nurse, a neighbor, a Chief Inspector, and a detective. Each character is introduced and each part is vital to the plot. The plot is classic British traditional with 9/10 of the scenes being played out in one room (map included), characters coming and going, a moody Chief Inspector, a mellow detective, and a lot of impressive curves, with the ending being the ultimate curve. Charles Osborne has done his best to novelize a rare treat, and in my humble opinion, he did a grand job. The scenes and conversation, to me, were true to the play, almost to the point that, while reading, I could envision the characters on stage. Now I've heard the complaints-- "It's to slow." "It's to confined." Well, it was a play, and that is the reasoning for the limited movement and conversation. I think readers should appreciate that Mr. Osborne has brought to life another wonderful Christie mystery. It's a great Christie fix for those fans that have read or seen all her mysteries. Charles Osborne is an authority on theater and opera. He is also a writer and has authored The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie and novelized Agatha Christie's other play, Black Coffee.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Black Coffee
Review: Oh, yes. The story is better and the twists and turns are more plentiful with the added bonus of a "surprise ending". But I surmise seeing the story unfolding up on stage (as was originally intended) brings quite a different experience to the person than reading about it. On stage the pace can be so quick, the viewer doesn't necessarily has the time to reflect nor the luxury to go back and re-read pages. I say that because the burst of adrenalin the reader gets from the surprise ending comes suddenly crashing down when upon further reflection, he/she realizes that the ending is so implausible. To be truthful, I thought the protagonist was being playful at the end. Pulling her leg so to speak, for what he was saying was just such a joke! Imagine my surprise when I realized the reader is supposed to take his confession seriously! Good drama, maybe. But that does not necessarily translate to a good novel.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Christie adaptation
Review: On a very foggy night in Wales, Michael Starkwedder runs his car into a ditch. He goes to the nearest house where he finds Laura Warwick who confesses to having murdered her husband, Richard, a person confined to a wheelchair. Instead of calling the police, he coaxes Laura into telling her story. She provides him with the details of why and how she killed her abusive spouse. Michael agrees to help her hide the truth by blaming it on someone else. Laura chooses MacGregor. The Canadian tourist hates Richard for running over his child in a DUI incident in which the law dropped the charges against the pompous Richard. Sergeant Cadwallader and Inspector Thomas investigate only to learn that the Canadian died two years ago. What is the nest step for Michael and Laura? BLACK COFFEE, the latest adaptation of an Agatha Christie play, was an entertaining novella that fans fully enjoyed. The second "Agatha light" tale, THE UNEXPECTED GUEST, is an entertaining story that continues to stays true to the twists that became the trademark of the great Ms. Christie. Charles Osborne does a brilliant conversion that will please fans of the famous novelist and bring in new readers who will hunt for one-hundred per cent pure Christie works. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Not up to the usual Christie standards.
Review: On the whole, I enjoyed this book, but throughout the whole thing I just felt that there should be something....more. I realize this book was an adaption of a play, but even without having known the ending, I figured it out long in advance. Although the plot wasn't as intricately woven as some, all in all it was an easy read that would be good on a rainy afternoon.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to the usual Christie standards.
Review: On the whole, I enjoyed this book, but throughout the whole thing I just felt that there should be something....more. I realize this book was an adaption of a play, but even without having known the ending, I figured it out long in advance. Although the plot wasn't as intricately woven as some, all in all it was an easy read that would be good on a rainy afternoon.
Rating:
Summary: Print the Play Instead
Review: Osborne adds nothing to our pleasure, and the way he expands tags of the stage directions is pretty irritating. I hope they paid him a lot of money to do these hack jobs on Christie's already perfect plays, because he sure killed whatever credibility he had as a poet, critic and essayist. HJe wrote a good book on Agatha Christie, but why go to him to turn the plays into novels? Surely a fiction writer would have been a better choice.
The Unexpected Guest wasn't even one of Christie's plays but when it is played properly on stage the character of Richard Warwick gets analyzed from many different perspectives until it becomes like Citizen Kane, a prism of a dead man's life. For better or worse (and usually for worse) he affected the lives of everyone around him--his wife, his mother, his retarded half-brother Jan, and others. I wonder what Christie originally intended to do with her tale's biggest loophole--what happened to Nurse Warburton, the corrupt nurse whom Richard Warwick bribed to give false testimony during the inquest into the death of the boy he ran over? I always imagine that, if the police dug deeper, they would find that "Warby" had been murdered also--shot to death, just like Richard. What do you fans think?
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