The ABC Murders
by Sarah Phelps; dir. Alex Gabassi (BBC, 2018)
A decidedly uncosy three-part miniseries that re-characterises Poirot from sprightly, upbeat master of all situations to inscrutable, world-weary has-been. John Malkovich is very good in the role but Agatha Christie purists may not appreciate the tonal shift (let alone the altered backstory).
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
by Agatha Christie (William Collins, 1926); audiobook read by Hugh Fraser (Lamplight, 2014)
A much-lauded work that, nearly a century after first publication, remains deserving of its reputation. Poirot nudges the reader at every crucial point but never gives the game away. Christie sticks the landing (and really does make the most of Hastings’ departure)!
The Moving Finger
by Agatha Christie (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1942)
audiobook read by Joan Hickson (Lamplight, 2015)
Joan Hickson (TV’s Miss Marple) would seem the perfect audiobook narrator… except that Miss Marple is absent for the first three-quarters and barely present for the remainder, the viewpoint character being a young man. Instead we’re given banal set-up plus egregious instalove.
The Body in the Library
by Agatha Christie (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1942)
audiobook read by Stephanie Cole (Lamplight, 2015)
Significantly more engaging than the first Miss Marple novel (albeit still padded out and weighed down by tedious faux-comedic depictions of minor characters). Though Miss Marple herself proves a force to be reckoned with, Christie’s artful misdirection comes very close to cheating.
Witness for the Prosecution
dir. Billy Wilder (1957)
Film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s play. The ending still works but Wilder fritters away much of the buildup by stitching in a comedy subplot involving Sir Wilfrid and his private nurse (notwithstanding that Elsa Lanchester won a Golden Globe for this performance).
Agatha Christie: First Lady of Crime
ed. H.R.F. Keating (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1977)
A collection of essays written shortly after Christie’s death, investigating aspects of her life and works and postulating reasons for her success. The authors are admiring but not uncritical, and in many cases were practitioners within the genre. Chummy scholarship, gently enlightening.
The Murder on the Links
by Agatha Christie (The Bodley Head, 1923)
audiobook read by Hugh Fraser (Lamplight, 2014)
Setting aside Hastings and his galling outbreak of instalove, this is a thoroughly enjoyable piece of detective fiction—lucidly told and ingenious, affording an excellent vehicle for Hercule Poirot. There are coincidences, of course, but of the less egregious kind. Misleading title.
The Thirteen Problems
by Agatha Christie (Collins Crime Club, 1932)
audiobook read by Juliet Stevenson (HarperCollins, 2022)
This first collection of mysteries shows Miss Marple well-suited to the short form. Some of the stories are better than others, some crimes more ingenious, but Christie usually plants enough clues to have the reader exclaim, “Oh, of course!” at the end.
The Murder at the Vicarage
by Agatha Christie
(Collins Crime Club, 1930); audiobook read by Joan Hickson (Lamplight Audiobooks, 2015)
The first Miss Marple novel is inventive enough, though for much of the book Marple herself is sidelined and the detection takes place via committee. Joan Hickson is a curious choice of audiobook narrator, given that Reverend Clement is the viewpoint character.
Poirot Investigates
by Agatha Christie (The Bodley Head, 1924); audiobook read by David Suchet (HarperAudio, 2012)
Poirot is well suited to the short story form—a less faceted character than Holmes but more endearing and also more inclined to solve cases from the evidence at hand. Hastings, however, narrates like Bertie Wooster and makes a poor Watson substitute.