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I read 'The Unexpected Guest' on a lazy day with nothing much to do. I shortlisted it brilliantly by going by its cutesy little length as I wanted something light to read and wanted to be done with it in a day.
The book reads rather like a play what with the setting of the house described with a handy map at the beginning. It begins with the much-cliched scene of a stranger having his car stuck in the rains and he arrives at a house only to discover that a murder has been committed at the house. The stranger finds the murdered man's wife and suspects her of having committed the crime. However, as more and more characters emerge (including a servant, the murdered man's wife's lover, and a rather obscure old enemy of the man), the mystery deepens.
Written with the fast no-nonsense speed of Agatha Christie, there is never a dull moment in the plot. There is an incredible amount of planning gone in writing this short page-turner. There are many twists all through the book and the most important one is when the most suspected characters are revealed to be innocent. However, the motive behind the crime lacked the essence as I had expected from the entire buildup.
Overall, the book is a fun read and can be a great companion on an off day.
[WHOA! It just struck me while writing this post (the second paragraph) that the 1973 Hindi movie 'Dhund' is based on this book. Googled and Wikipedia confirmed. Filing this sudden realization under 'Benefits of writing'.]
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