Description
Two things bind this sampler of thrillers: the diminutive Poirot's deductive brilliance and his partner Hastings's obtuseness. The eleven cases here involve film stars, valuable jewels, and abductions as Poirot stylishly uncovers the truth. This is a thrilling short story collection by the master of mystery and the most popular author of all time.
Reviews
Agatha Christie remains "The Queen of Crime"
The stories are imaginative, complex, can be solved. David Suchet does an excellent reading, not easy with the various characters he portrays. Although based on the TV series, (also very highly recomended), you may have missed some of the clues, so listen hard. There are several collections in this series all excellent, BUT .....
However Christie fans should also select "International" on Amazon's opening screen, then go to "United Kingdom", then select "Books" and "Books on CD", then select "BBC Radio Collection". This gives you about 270 titles, of these about 30 are Full Cast productions of Agatha Christies plays and are superb. Some of the titles are, "Peril at end House", "Death on theNile", etc. Most are also available on cassette also, this results in about 1200 choices.
Poirot Investigates: As Read by Poirot Himself
This adaptation of the classic short story collection starring the famous Belgian detective is a wonderful find.
David Suchet (television's Poirot) performs with adept precision in reading the exploits of Agatha Christie's hero whose little gray cells are stretched to the limit at times.
The only minor criticism we can make is that, as there is only one performer and despite Mr. Suchet's impressive talents, it is difficult at times to distinguish one character from another when their dialogue is being read even if you are paying close attention. If Hugh Fraser (the actor who plays Hastings) had participated as a co-reader, since most of the stories were written from his character's point-of-view, we think it would have been a major asset and made this CD a full five-star production.
For its price, it is a solid buy.
Spend Some Time with a Favorite
All the characters that delight on television are recreated in these unabridged audiobooks. Suchet's reading is a treat and he handles Colonel Hastings and Inspector Japp's voices very well. Your mind accompanies the reading with scenes from the television shows.
One drawback is his voice grates when handling the female lines. I wished for a female to chime in, but the flow of the story carried me past those bits so it did not detract that much.
Pop these into your CD player to listen and you will find yourself catching some details that you may have overlooked in the dramatizations on TV.
Books
