4:50 FROM PADDINGTON

One of Agatha Christie’s better-known novels is subjected to the full BBC treatment, resulting in the usual excellence. The voices of the cast are carefully chosen, particularly that of June Whitfield, who plays Miss Jane Marple, soft-spoken sleuth-extraordinaire. Background sounds are skillfully interwoven with the dialogue. The plot is that two trains pull up next to one another for a few moments, and Miss McGillicuddy, a friend of Miss Marple who is on one train, sees an unknown man in the process of strangling a woman on the other train. At first, no one can find the body--until Miss Marple takes an indirect hand. No one fools Miss Marple for long. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/ MAY 06]