Love the narrative

Very good listening session. Highly recommended. From me 5 star all the way.
Let’s start another one. Hopefully narrated by Hugh Fraser.

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rather weak

not one of her best and I did get the "murderer". Narration was good too

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But people forget Hercule Poirot

Poirot is old and no longer as famous as he once was, much to his chagrin, but his little grey cells are still whirring. It's the 1970s and one of Christie's last books, so this is extremely poignant and moving in places, but there's a lot of comedy too. Forgetful, blustering crime-writer Ariadne Oliver is back to befuddle Poirot and give us an insight into Christie's real opinions of her relentlessly avid fans. I just wish I'd never seen the tv adaptation, as although it ended slightly differently, I knew too much! I can only imagine how good it would be to read this without a clue!

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An intriguing story

Very intriguing story to listen to. A brilliant reader who makes the characters real . Overall very good

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Great idea, not Christie’s best writing

This is essentially a harrowing and sinister story that could have been made more of. It doesn’t achieve the atmosphere that the story deserves.

Some of Christie’s worst dialogue, same things are repeated over and over, it really sounds at times as if she was trying to hit a word count.

But as always, Fraser’s beautiful performance rescues what can be rescued.

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1 person found this helpful

Excellent

I enjoyed this book far more than I expected- a great story with a here and then plot, narrated brilliantly by Hugh Frazer

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Elephant's can remember

At the age of 11 Ceila was sent to Switzerland, to go school, she's then told her parents have been found dead, a pistol between them, everyone believes that it's suicide pack, until she decides to get married, and her mother in law starts poking around but why????????

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2 people found this helpful

Sadly predictable, and another tiresome cold case

Having listened to the entire Poirot series of Christie books, I can't help but think that as she got older, her writing capabilities faltered a little. Why do I think this?:

1. The book is shorter than usual, almost like she ran out of steam.
2. She has a tendency to repeat herself with what the characters say within a single conversation.
3. The pace of the book is painfully slow.
4. Worst of all: I accurately guessed the correct solution about an hour and a half in, which is the cardinal sin for detective novels.

If it gets to the point where you are frustrated at the supposedly genius detective for being so stupid for not seeing the obvious solution, then something has gone wrong with the writing. In previous Christie books I am always pleasantly surprised and astounded at the cunning way she essentially double bluffs the reader by making a character seem like the murderer, but dropping hints about another person that the discerning reader picks up, only to find that even those hints are a red herring, but in this book it was all too obvious and therefore quite boring.

In addition to this I find her cold case stories such as this carry a certain lack of excitement.

Despite this, Hugh Fraser is of course magnificent, and in my opinion by far the best reader of these books.

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One where the ending is very obvious

Obvious ending but very well read as usual by Mr Fraser. Nice easy story to listen to that doesn't require much concentration.

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One of The Best

I am a Poirot fan, I watched the TV film of it, but this is so much more. I can't put in words how this made me feel, I done it in two days easily. The mystery was strong, the twists are great, but the heart in the book puts it over. I have to say also it was fantastically read, thanks to all involved! The ending is emotional even!

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