Tag Archives: Agatha Christie

Road Trip Reads

19 Oct

My husband and I have found that listening to audiobooks makes the miles fly by in an otherwise boring trip. We are hooked on Agatha Christie‘s Hercule Poirot series and are slowly working our way through. The funny little man with the big mustaches and the egg-shaped head has become a big favorite with us. The past two weekends found us traveling to family events and a football game in Mississippi. Here are the three books that accompanied us:

UnknownIn the classic The Big Four, the great Poirot is caught up in a deadly game of international intrigue as he races to uncover the strange mystery of “Number Four.”

This novel was originally published as a series of short stories. The book develops through various cases brought before Poirot and Captain Hastings. They are always just one step behind the 4 masterminds of crime and conspiracy. This one combines the mystery and spy novel genres and was my husband’s favorite.

 

51eWhCRMNPL._SX306_BO1,204,203,200_Murder on the Orient Express. Just after midnight, a snowdrift stopped the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train was surprisingly full for the time of the year. But by the morning there was one passenger fewer. An American lay dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside.

With tension mounting, detective Hercule Poirot comes up with not one, but two solutions to the crime.

Poirot uses all of his detection skills in this novel. A fun whodunit in which everyone is suspect, but the means and motives are obscure. This one kept us guessing and puzzling.

UnknownIn the Christie classic Peril at End House, a young woman who has recently survived a series of very close calls appears to be the target of a dedicated killer—and it’s up to Hercule Poirot to save her life.

Poirot and Hastings are back together in this novel with a big twist at the end. We have grown quite fond of the detecting duo, although we are not sure just why Hastings puts up with Poirot. 😉

 

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Two for The Road — The Mysterious Affair at Styles and Lord Edgeware Dies

4 Aug

Agatha_ChristieMy husband and I hit the road in July to clean up and close on a condo our youngest son used while in college. Goodbye to an era, but an opportunity for new things. We had plenty of listening time as we traveled across the southeast and chose two Agatha Christie novels to keep us company as the miles rolled by. Here’s my take on them.

 

UnknownThe Mysterious Affair at Styles. In her first published mystery, Agatha Christie introduced readers to her Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. When the wealthy mistress of Styles Court is murdered, Poirot is on hand to wade through the confusing clues and long list of suspects! A classic whodunit.

 

 

 

 

 

51c7yF0kdyL._SX330_BO1,204,203,200_Lord Edgeware Dies. The Queen of Mystery has come to Harper Collins! Agatha Christie, the acknowledged mistress of suspense—creator of indomitable sleuth Miss Marple, meticulous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, and so many other unforgettable characters—brings her entire oeuvre of ingenious whodunits, locked room mysteries, and perplexing puzzles to Harper Paperbacks. When Lord Edgware Dies a most unnatural death, detective Poirot must solve a most confounding conundrum: if the obvious killer, the slain peer’s spiteful wife, didn’t do it, who did?

 

 

 

My Impressions:

Hercule Poirot makes his first appearance in The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Captain Hastings calls on WWII refuge Poirot to step in and solve this locked room murder mystery. In Lord Edgeware Dies, some years have passed by, but the duo of Poirot and Hastings are still solving mysteries. Both books are classic Christie with lots of suspects, daunting clues and Poirot and his little gray cells. I really like the relationship between Poirot and Hastings. There is genuine affection and friendship between the men, but Poirot always manages to get a little dig in about Hastings limited abilities. My husband and I had a fighting chance to figure out whodunit, and we were definitely on the right track. But the endings of both novels provided enough surprise for us to say “so that’s how it was done!”. Hugh Fraser is the narrator of both audiobooks and again does an excellent job.

Another successful trip made more enjoyable with the addition of Hercule Poirot! I recommend both books for mystery fans.

Recommended. 

Audience: adults. 

(I purchased both audiobooks from Audible. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

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Audiobook Review: Mrs. McGinty’s Dead

19 Jun

UnknownMrs. McGinty died from a brutal blow to the back of her head. Suspicion falls immediately on her shifty lodger, James Bentley, whose clothes reveal traces of the victim’s blood and hair. Yet something is amiss: Bentley just doesn’t seem like a murderer.

Could the answer lie in an article clipped from a newspaper two days before the death? With a desperate killer still free, Hercule Poirot will have to stay alive long enough to find out . . . .

 

 

 

mv5bmtu3otyzmzy4nv5bml5banbnxkftztcwmdixotiyoa-_v1_sy317_cr80214317_al_Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She died in 1976.

 

My Impressions:

Another car trip called for another Agatha Christie audiobook. This time Hercule Poirot has a lot of suspects for the murder of a charwoman. Mrs. McGinty’s Dead was the perfect book to make the miles fly by.

Mrs. McGinty’s Dead is classic Poirot. The fussy and fastidious little detective is endearing as he suffers in a small English village in the hopes of uncovering whodunit. My husband, son and I had a good time trying to figure out the villain, but in true Christie fashion, the actual solution was a bit obscured. We never would have figured it out on our own. And while I like to think that my powers of detection are sharp from the many hours of mystery reading, this particular mystery was just too hard.

The audio version was very entertaining. Hugh Fraser does a great job of bringing Christie’s characters to life. His timing is impeccable too — we enjoyed a a great many laughs with this novel.

If you are looking for an entertaining and challenging mystery, then consider Mrs. McGinty’s Dead.

Recommended.

Audience: late teens to adults.

To purchase this book, click HERE. 

(I purchased the audiobook from Audible. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

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Audiobook Review: The Murder at The Vicarage

14 Apr

16331The Murder at the Vicarage was Christie’s very first mystery to feature her most popular investigator—as a dead body in a clergyman’s study proves to Miss Marple that no place, holy or otherwise, is a sanctuary from homicide.

 

 

 

mv5bmtu3otyzmzy4nv5bml5banbnxkftztcwmdixotiyoa-_v1_sy317_cr80214317_al_Born on September 15, 1890, in Torquay, England, Agatha Christie published her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1920, and went on to become one of the most famous writers in history, with mysteries like Murder at the Vicarage, Partners in Crime and Sad Cypress. She sold billions of copies of her work, and was also a noted playwright and romance author. She died on January 12, 1976.

My Impressions:

The Murder at The Vicarage was the first book Agatha Christie wrote featuring small village sleuth Miss Marple. As such she has a somewhat minor, yet critical presence in the novel. The book is written in the first person point of view of the vicar, Len Clement. He is inexorably drawn into the murder because the victim was found slumped over on the vicar’s desk. The victim, Colonel Protherow was almost universally despised resulting in a large pool of suspects. My husband and I listened to the audiobook on a road trip and were kept entertained puzzling out the mystery. I did not suspect the actual villain — I would have been much happier if another had done it! The narrator did a great job creating the voices of the characters and setting the scene. All in all, The Murder at The Vicarage was an enjoyable way to spend some long hours in the car.

Recommended.

Audience: adults.

(I purchased the audiobook from Audible. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

To purchase a copy of this book, click HERE. 

 

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Audiobook: Hercule Poirot’s Christmas

14 Jan

51zNl8kJsrLIn Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, the holidays are anything but merry when a family reunion is marred by murder—and the notoriously fastidious investigator is quickly on the case.

 

 

mv5bmtu3otyzmzy4nv5bml5banbnxkftztcwmdixotiyoa-_v1_sy317_cr80214317_al_Born on September 15, 1890, in Torquay, England, Agatha Christie published her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1920, and went on to become one of the most famous writers in history, with mysteries like Murder at the Vicarage, Partners in Crime and Sad Cypress. She sold billions of copies of her work, and was also a noted playwright and romance author. She died on January 12, 1976.

My Impressions:

For my husband and me, a long car trip means an audiobook mystery by Agatha Christie. My husband has become a big fan of her novels, especially those featuring Hercule Poirot. So on our Christmas trip to grandma’s, we plugged in Hercule Poirot’s Christmas for the whole family to enjoy. This book, previously published as Murder for Christmas and A Holiday for Murder, is a locked door mystery set on Christmas Eve at a family manor. Not all is as it seems and the many characters are hiding big secrets. As always the narration by Hugh Fraser is excellent, but the uncovering of the murderer was a bit far-fetched. My youngest son said that no one could have guessed just whodunit, and that was not a compliment to the author. So our whole family says to give a pass to this book. But, don’t let that discourage you from others by the Queen of Mystery. We are in the process of listening to another of her novels and are enjoying it immensely.

(I purchased the audiobook from Audible. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

 

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Audiobook Review: Hallowe’en Party

13 Nov

UnknownAt a Hallowe’en party, Joyce—a hostile thirteen-year-old—boasts that she once witnessed a murder. When no one believes her, she storms off home. But within hours her body is found, still in the house, drowned in an apple-bobbing tub.

That night, Hercule Poirot is called in to find the “evil presence.” But first he must establish whether he is looking for a murderer or a double murderer.…

 

 

 

MV5BMTU3OTYzMzY4NV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMDIxOTIyOA@@._V1_SY317_CR8,0,214,317_AL_Born on September 15, 1890, in Torquay, England, Agatha Christie published her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1920, and went on to become one of the most famous writers in history, with mysteries like Murder at the Vicarage, Partners in Crime and Sad Cypress. She sold billions of copies of her work, and was also a noted playwright and romance author. She died on January 12, 1976. Read more HERE.

 

My Impressions:

A few weeks ago my husband and I took a weekend road trip. Over the course of 4 days we traveled a total of 14 hours. I thought a good way to make the time go faster was to listen to an audiobook. Like a lot of things in our life together, our book likes are not always the same. But we both like a good mystery, so I chose Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie. In this novel, Hercule Poirot, now retired, is the sleuth.

The story opens in a small English village. A group of ladies, teenagers and children are gathered to decorate for a Halloween party to be held the next night. During the course of the activity, a young girl boasts that she has witnessed a murder. A famous mystery novelist is present, and Joyce is eager to impress her. But although Joyce is known to be a liar, often making up stories to make herself seem more important, a killer takes her assertion to heart. After a real murder occurs, Hercule Poirot is called in to get to the bottom of the case.

My husband and I had fun gathering clues right along with Poirot. We figured out just whodunit early on in the narration, but that didn’t spoil our enjoyment of the book. Motives were hard to decipher, so we needed Poirot’s help as well. The reader for this book did an outstanding job bringing all the characters to life. He did great voices for both the men and the women.

Perfect for our car trip, Hallowe’en Party is a good choice for those who like mysteries and need a little escape into the English countryside as well as the workings of the mind of Hercule Poirot.

Recommended.

Audience: teens to adults.

(I purchased the audiobook version from Audible. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

To purchase this book, click on the image below.

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