The Essential Agatha Christie Stories: Agatha Christie's Best Sleuths Crack Twenty Famous Cases.

by Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and a host of other sleuths crack cases of all stripes in this exciting collection of Agatha Christie short-story mysteries.

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

1 pages, Audio CD

First published September 8, 2009

About the author

Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.

This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.

Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)

Reviews

[Mermaid Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook and wished often for less annoying narrators. A few were good, but more were pretty awful, especially the actress who voiced Miss Marple. She has speech impediment which should have impeded her from voicing my favorite old lady. I generally really like Agatha Christie mysteries, but here I've learned I prefer the longer format as opposed to these shorts. This collection has rather too much Hercule Poirot and not enough Miss Marple for my taste.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love mysteries.

[Jennifer Spriggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really appreciate her story telling ability. Without all the filth of some writers.

[Shandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful for being trapped in winter weather.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of stories narrated by a great and varied cast. Something to come back to again and again.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

What's in the fine print of the title is these are the best of short stories, not all of her stories.



Four and Twenty Blackbirds, Hercule Poirot, narrated by Hugh Fraser
Poirot's curiosity is raised when an elderly man's eating habits change before he is found dead.

I enjoyed the story. Its structure works for it to be a short story. Plus, Hugh Fraser is my favorite Poirot narrator.


Unfortunately I returned it before getting all the title and readers written down. Overall I liked them. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the ones that didn't involve her key series characters.

The one involving the veteran who begins to think he's hearing things was particularly heart-breaking to me. I can't quiet pin why, but I do think it is tied to me as a reader hoping and trusting with him.

Hugh Fraser is definitely my fav Poirot narrator, the other fellow who is often the narrator is decent, the one for the last Poirot story on the disk is absolutely wretched. His accent for Poirot is painfully bad.

I know some others complained of Miss Marple's narrator having a lisp. I guess I didn't hear it as a lisp or as distracting. But then, I've not watched any BBC versions of her stories.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Agatha Christie....and she has such a plethora of stories! My fav narrators were Hugh Fraser and David Suchet. Jane in Search of a Job was my choice for best story......

[Jaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a collection of what the editor believed were Agatha Christie's best stories. For the most part, I agreed. The stories were chosen based on interesting characters and/or plot twists. As with any anthology some stories were better than others. Thanks to these stories I was finally introduced to Mr. Harley Quin. Not all of the mysteries involved crime or murder so that made it fun as well. I liked the variety of stories that the editor chose. The best part of the audiobook were the narrators: David Suchet, Hugh Fraser, Joan Hickson, and Christopher Lee.

[George Scully · Rating 5 out of 5]

I checked "read" but it really was "listened to".

I loved it.

I could have done with less Ms. Marple and with MORE Hercule Poirot but, all in all, I highly recommend you find this and give it a listen. The collection gives you a real flavor for Agatha Christie, her times, and her command of the written word.

Give it a listen.

[Aprile · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this as an audiobook and I loved David Suchet and Hugh Frasiers readings of the stories, I did not enjoy Joan Hickson's readings very much. Though she is a great actress, her reading was very monotone and I found myself tuning out of the stories.

[Marlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stories! A couple weren't quite as engaging as others, but most were great. A couple of the readers could have been better as well. Most of the stories were so good that once one got into it, it didn't matter who the reader was.

[Cat. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, some of these were really really dated, and some of the people reading them were abominable (Miss Marple lisps?? I don't think so).

On the other hand, it was low-impact listening for the car.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to most of it. The one reader for the Miss Marple stories is awful--her lisp is very distracting.