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The Unexpected Guest
Agatha Christie & Charles Osbourne Book Review

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Plot Summary of The Unexpected Guest
"When John Starkwedder drives into a ditch in thick fog on a country road, he walks to the nearest house for help - only to find a woman standing over the body of her dead husband with a gun in her hand. It looks like an open and shut murder case, but it soon becomes clear that the dead man's wife may be covering up for someone - and there are a whole host of people in the house with both motive and opportunity to commit the murder. This is a novel by Charles Osbourne based on the original play by Agatha Christie.
"

Stephen Coombs, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of The Unexpected Guest
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 60%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%




Tone of story - very upbeat
How difficult to spot villain? - Somewhat obvious
Time/era of story: - 1930's-1950's
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - nearly 100%
Special suspect? - relative
Misc. Murder Plotlets - butler provides unemotional service - local police w/ IQ of a houseplant - Proving innocence of very obvious suspect - Big focus on forensic evidence - Killer purposely leaves clues
Kind of investigator - british mystery (I say!)
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - feelings towards lover
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - business executive
Age: - 40's-50's
Eccentric/Mental: Yes
Eccentric: - obsessed
How much violence does he/she use? - a little
Ethnicity/Race - British
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - homemaker
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a substantial amount
How sensitive is this character? - soggy whimpering jelly muffin
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK
Small town? Yes
Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee
Misc setting - fancy mansion

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 2
Unusual forms of death - perforation--bullets
Unusual form of death? Yes
Amount of dialog - mostly dialog
Most similar books to The Unexpected Guest
The Hollow by Agatha Christie
The Case is Closed by Patricia Wentworth
Wildfire at Midnight by Mary Stewart
The Case of the Dangerous Dowager by Erle Stanley Gardner
White Jazz by James Ellroy


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Agatha Christie & Charles Osbourne Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Stephen Coombs  

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