This was the first time that a Christie book had been published in the UK but not in the US, although all of the stories contained within it appeared in later US collections (see "US book appearances of stories" below). Unusually, most of these are tales of fate and the supernatural, with comparatively little detective content. This collection is most notable for the first appearance in a book of Christie's short story "The Witness for the Prosecution". The author subsequently wrote an award-winning play based on this story which has been adapted for film and twice for television.