Tales of the Unexpected [vol 2] (by Roald Dahl )

(Amazon UK link)

This book, 'Tales of the Unexpected [volume 2] is the second collection of twist-in-the-tail short stories by celebrated children's writer Roald Dahl. Sometimes the two volume are published as a single, larger one, and apparently some of the short stories are also contained in other collections.

Having found the first volume of 'Tales of the Unexpected' rather bizarre, and darker than my usual taste in fiction, I'm not entirely sure why I picked up this second book, other than for completeness.

Once again, all the plots are extremely strange. Dahl is best known for his decidedly odd, sometimes macabre children's books and that tendency is reflected all the more in these short stories for adults.

Still, the stories are all very well written and there are some highly ingenious twists. They are thought-provoking, in places, too. One or two of them are likely to stay in my mind for a while.

As with the first volume, this is not really my style of book. But it was good to pass a few hours with light reading.