THE MOVING FINGER

A superb Miss Marple on stage and television (she was Agatha Christie's own choice to play the famous octogenarian detective), Joan Hickson is somewhat disappointing as the narrator of this crackling good yarn about small-town venality and murder. Her presentation too often lacks the necessary pauses to effect transitions, the distinctions among characters, the drama, the puzzlement a mystery reader must employ in order to be first-rate. At times, she slurs words and phrases badly. Still, Christie fans who stay the course will accept these slips as a small price to pay for what is, as usual with Christie and Miss Marple, a masterpiece of misdirection and skilled detection. T.H. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 00]