APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH

When a thoroughly unpleasant American woman dies during a trip to the Holy Land, no one mourns her. Yet she may well have been murdered by one of her subservient family members, so Hercule Poirot is called in to resolve the case. Hugh Fraser does a serviceable job with this early and rather stilted Christie offering. The many characters are identifiable and, for the most part, believable. This includes a wide range of Brits, Americans, and Jordanians. Fraser’s pacing is somewhat sleepy, though, and several of the characters sound wooden. It’s not clear whether this is due to the stiff writing or the narration. All in all, an entertaining listen for die-hard Christie-lovers. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 06]