Cat O' Nine Tales by Jeffery Archer


Taken from the book jacket :

Cat O’Nine Tales is the 5th collection of irresistible short stories from the master storyteller. These yearns are ingeniously plotted, with richly drawn characters and deliciously unexpected conclusions and with the added bonus of illustrations by the internationally acclaimed artist, Ronald Searle.

I love the rich red cover of this book.  Very striking and attractive. A very much added appeal.  I wonder if the colour contributes to the sales volume of this book.  I wonder if any surveys were carried out on the appeal of covers vs sales of books.  Sorry, I digress.

Anyway, there are a total of 12 stories in Cat O'Nine Tales. Hm....shouldn't the title be Cat O'Twelve Tales then?  Perhaps it refers to nine lives a cat is supposed to have and I guess if you have been convicted of a crime and been behind bars, it meant that you have used up one life of the nine that you have. Is it? I don't know. Just thinking outloud.  Sorry, I digress again.

Back to the book, the stories are all part of the legacy that Sir Jeffery Archer gained while spending about 2 years behind bars for perjury from year 2001 to 2003. Some of these stories were told to him directly while some are stories that he picked up along the way. Whichever method he obtained the stories, they are all delightfully Jeffery Archer style and are all delightful read.

The stories all told of some crime of another.  Some of the prepetrators got away with the crime and some did not.  Starting with the 1st story The Man Who Robbed His Own Post Office (my absolute favourite) to the last, In the Eye of the Beholder, Jeffery Archer spins his tales in such a way that you forgot they are short stories and are surprised when one tale ends and the next begins.

I enjoyed my time with the book. Thank you, NS for lending this to me. :)

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