THE BIG FOUR

Hugh Fraser, best known as Captain Hastings on the “Mystery” dramatizations of the Poirot novels, here does double duty as Hastings and the little Belgian sleuth as they track down a quartet of ruthless criminals scheming for world domination, which includes death for Poirot. Even though Fraser is accustomed to playing Hastings, there’s not a drop of Hastings in his Poirot, nor in his masterful portrayals of Japp, Poirot’s Scotland Yard sidekick, or the hilarious but tragic Cockney heroine, Flossie. While this is over-the-top Christie, with its talk of the A-bomb and lasers (incredible since the book was copyrighted in 1927), Fraser brings to it logic and credibility. M.T.B. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE/JULY 05]