Miss Marple's Final Cases: Three new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramas

BBC Radio 4 Marple

by Joy Wilkinson (Adapter), June Whitfield (Narrator), Agatha Christie

June Whitfield returns as the deceptively mild spinster sleuth in three full-cast BBC Radio 4 dramatisations.

Specially broadcast to mark the 125th anniversary of Agatha Christie's birth, these brand new dramas are based on three of her best short stories.

Tape-Measure Murder: When Mrs Spenlow is murdered in St Mary Mead, the village gossips all agree that her husband must have killed her – until Miss Marple is called as an alibi....

The Case of the Perfect Maid: Miss Marple investigates the problem of a lady's maid who has been mysteriously sacked – while also helping her crime writer nephew Raymond West to cure his writer's block.

Sanctuary: Miss Marple and her god-daughter Bunch are horrified when they discover a dying man in the local church. Can Miss Marple deduce his identity – and his killer – from his last words?

First published in the collection Miss Marple's Final Cases, these three delightfully clever tales will keep you guessing till the end. Starring June Whitfield – reprising her role as Miss Marple for the first time since 2001 – they are dramatised for BBC Radio 4 by Joy Wilkinson.

Listening length: 1 hour, 22 minutes

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook, Agatha Christie, Short Stories, Crime, Classics

2 pages, Audible Audio

Published November 5, 2015

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy listen with 3 short cases, each about 30 minutes long. The sound effects of this BBC radio dramatization do help set the scene and depict the characters.

These short stories offer good practice for beginning armchair detectives to discern the clues, although there isn't enough information provided up front to solve the case. The conclusion of each has Miss Marple pulling the bits and pieces together to solve the mystery and providing a quick overview of the past events that led up to the crime. Still, these are satisfying mysteries for fans of the golden age of detective fiction.

[Josue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never managed to conquer audiobooks but this was fun. I think that they're short stories helped, 3o minute increments seems to be what I can stand before my mind is completely afoot. It helps that Tape Measure and Perfect Maid are two of my favorite Marples. June Whitfield is a very good Miss Marple as well. Nice to place to dip your toe if audiobooks are a challenge.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like listening to these BBC full cast dramas. They are a lot of fun. These ones were a bit short and quick but still fun to listen to. There were 3 different stories and they were very fast paced

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sparkly, these three dramatisations are elevated by the perky June Whitfield as Miss Marple. The entire cast sound like they're having a bloody good time!

[Elliemae · Rating 5 out of 5]

My audio version was narrated by Joan Hickson and she was marvelous!! I so admire Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and enjoyed these short stories.

[Tasneem · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Miss Marple. She is so lovely, and her sharp take on life is fantastic. I want to be her when I grow up.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Duration: 01:23:56

[Kim Novak (The Reading Rx) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miss Marple is brought to audio life by this phenomenal BBC performance.

[Pat Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

BBC Audio book: well done audio of a classics. Short, sweet

[Kajoli Tankha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I slightly don't like the adaptations as much as the originals but was going through a bit of a slump after JK Rowling latest masterpiece, so this was a good read.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent set of short stories with Miss Marple. I love how one of the stories alludes to one of my favorite Christie books, Endless Night.

[Eleanore June · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miss Marple is my favorite Christie sleuth.

[Kathy Lawless · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was so fun to listen to these short stories with full-cast dramatizations. If you enjoy Miss Marple mysteries, this is a great way to get into the stories!

[Naomi's Novels · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐

After "discovering" these BBC dramatizations, I've fallen in love.

[FaithfulReviewer (Jacqueline) · Rating 5 out of 5]

June Whitfield is a delight as Miss Marple!

[Henri3tt3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nach "Sleeping Murder - Miss Marple's Last Case" kommt nun also "Miss Marple's Final Cases"? Ganz schön verwirrend! Es handelt sich hier um drei Kurzgeschichten, die schon in den 40er und 50er Jahren in verschiedenen Zeitungen veröffentlicht worden waren. In der Printausgabe sind es sogar acht Fälle, die aber teilweise ohne Miss Marple sind.
Es handelt sich hier nicht um ein Hörbuch, sondern um Hörspiele, die von der BBC aufwendig inszeniert wurden. Das ist einerseits sehr lebendig, andererseits muss man konzentriert zuhören, wem da welche Stimme gehört, weil ja die Nebensätze à la "sagte der Pfarrer" wegfallen. Deshalb habe ich nicht alles verstanden. Aber es hat mich ja nichts gekostet, weil ich dieses Hörspiel bei der Onleihe ausgeliehen habe.
Es gibt auch noch eine Hörbuchausgabe, die alle sechs Miss-Marple-Fälle der Printausgabe enthält. Leider gibt es die (noch) nicht in der Onleihe. Aber ich habe sie bei Medimops gebraucht gefunden und bestellt, sodass ich sie bald hören kann.

[JZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alas and alack, I feel cheated now, having visited the paper version reviews that tell of more stories, and even a cd that is 4 pages rather than the 2 I have here.

Well, isn't that just too bad?

I got the best of it. The three best stories, acted out by the newest British Miss Marple, apparently, since I no longer watch television, and have cut my cable and high-speed internet access, and just read and listen to audiobooks now, I'm not au courant.

June Whitfield is delightful as Miss Marple. Honestly, she did so well, I couldn't swear that there were or weren't other voice actors. It was an engaging listen.

Christie shows why she kept them coming back for more. At the closing of the story, her addition of Miss Marple's asking her niece, "Is there anything for dinner, Bunch? I think I could manage a little something" is a sly little indication of how solving a murder gave her her appetite back after malingering after an illness. Twinkle.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

audio bk

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to in audio format.

This book was comprised of three short stories, Sanctuary, The tape measure murder and The Perfect Maid.

I enjoy Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot and enjoyed the stories. However these stories were only adapted into 30 minute episodes. I think it would of been better if each episode has been a little longer.

[Caro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good book. I liked all the stories and enjoyed listening to them. These are a theatrical version and were interesting with plenty of turns. Good ole Miss Marple. Great for reading anywhere, anywhen, for any reason or season. Enjoy!

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are three stories, which are read by British Actress, June Whitfield, she is terrific. So if you like Miss Marple you will love this! Really enjoyable and well done

[Petra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Miss Marple's stories dramatized by BBC Radio 4!

[Lil · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars! Loved Sanctuary and Tape-Measure Murder!
The Case of the Perfect Maid was predictable.

[Linda Mugiri · Rating 5 out of 5]

lovely audio book, very nicely done adaptation

most entertaining

[AFMasten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely done dramatizations.