Elle Hartford

I picked this up because I was feeling Halloween-y, but to be honest, Halloween doesn't figure very prominently in the plot. But still, it was very engaging! I had my suspicions all along, but a few of the twists at the end still caught me by surprise. An intriguing mystery!

Such a fun trip to a Scottish town! I loved this start to the series. Fiona is a sweet MC, and her immediate chemistry with a certain someone added a lot of interest to the story. :) The actual action happens in such a short period of time–I found myself feeling a bit bad for her, she must have been so tired, haha–but it wraps up satisfactorily and leaves lots of room for growth in the next books.

I sat on this review for a while, thinking about it. Some of the criticisms other reviews point out are totally valid–dated observations, quick & somewhat questionable relationships. However . . . I really did enjoy this book! Ariadne is such a fun “stand in” for Christie, and I really enjoyed her presence and interactions with Poirot. The mystery itself unfolds slowly, true, but it is fascinating in the end, and resolves well. And I kind of enjoyed the relationship twist, though it is sudden. (As often happens in these stories!) Overall, I think this might be one of my favorite–or at least among the most memorable–Poirot adventures so far.

I didn't read any reviews before I began, and did not realize off the bat that this is actually a collection of short stories, not a novella! My copy is pretty old school and doesn't have a table of contents (and the back cover copy is pretty limited, focusing only on the titular story). So I was a little surprised at the pacing and sudden end of the actual “Witness for the Prosecution” story, haha. That said, many of the stories are enjoyable and suspenseful, and it was a nice quick read!

A worthy installment in the series, full of holiday cheer (and murderous drama!). I loved some of the jokes, and the mystery itself was intriguing–I called part of it midway through, but still was very curious about the rest!