Witness for the Prosectution

Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie is about a series of murders that take place and they all tie together in the end. The main one is about a man who is accused with murder. He is accused of murdering a rich, elderly woman who becomes interested in him, and even gives him money in her will. Strong evidence and motive make it seem obvious that the man is the murderer. His lawyer does find an alibi with his wife, although it doesn’t seem like enough to save him from his fate. Strangly, he is found innocent because of some suspicious letters that relate to his wife. The man appears to now be safe because of double jeopardy, but that is not the case. He falls in love with another woman, and announces his plans to run away with her. His wife kills them both, and the same lawyer is excited to take on the case. Despite what you may think, that is not the ending, the end is about the solving of the case and unveiling the truth.
The general mood of the book was anticipation. Through out the book there was foreshadowing and clues to follow. You were never sure what was going to happen next because once you thought that you had it figured out, it was a new chapter with a new mini-plot and characters, or the story shifted direction.
I wouldn’t recommend this book, unless you are really patient. There were many things that were frustrating about this book. When things start to get interesting, you are brought to a different element of the story that isn’t as exciting. The setting and characters were hard to follow because at the end of every chapter, it switched to a different set of characters in a different place. It was hard to figure out where they fit into the story, and just when you started getting excited, the chapter ended. It’s also hard to remember where characters come from, and why they are included into the story. I usually like the works of Agatha Christie, but this is one of the books I wouldn’t recommend.

~Katie