THE ESSENTIAL AGATHA CHRISTIE STORIES Agatha Christie's Best Sleuths Crack Twenty Famous Cases

Mostly written in the mid-1920s and 1930s and recorded over the last 20 years, these 20 Christie stories are a wonderful selection of single-voice performances by seven narrators. These stories are less well known than many of the novels that feature Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot and may almost seem new to listeners. David Suchet is a subtle, carefully crafted Poirot. He never overplays a line, and after so many years in the BBC-TV role of Poirot, he knows every quirk and detail of the detective. Nigel Hawthorne gives bolder, more expressive portraits of the little Belgian detective and Scotland Yard's Inspector Japp. His secondary characters are good fun. Joan Hickson's Miss Marple is more "read" than performed and is a bit high-pitched, but she's certainly comfortable with the role. Whichever narrator you may enjoy most, there's satisfying depth and breadth, and Christie stories are perfect for audio listening. R.F.W. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2009]