MumOfThree

Short Stories Last Longer

Reviewed: 13-08-2020

I love the short story collections, they always last longer because I can listen to one or two a day, whereas the last Poirot novel I listened to I finished in one day!! Strangely, David Suchet's narration is not as good as others, maybe because he doesn't have to do the whole package (actions, voice, mannerisms) he goes a bit overboard on the accent and it can sound comical instead of his excellent work on tv. In my mind Hugh Fraser is definitely the best. Still a very satisfying collection, but if you have Murder In Paradise a lot of the same stories are in both collections.

Disappointed

Reviewed: 13-08-2020

Most of these stories are also on "Poirot Investigates", so if you have that, don't waste your money on this one. Or vice versa. David Suchet's narration is, funnily enough, not as good as some of the others.

2 people found this helpful

Another classic - just wish they were longer...

Reviewed: 23-07-2020

I love Hugh Fraser's Mrs Oliver voice - it just makes me smile!! His Poirot is spot on too.

Wonderful, classic Poirot, but needs re-editing!!

Reviewed: 22-07-2020

These stories are all classics, and Hugh Fraser's performance was perfect as always, but the editing was seriously bad - there wasn't even a breath between stories, the last words of one story rolled into the first words of the next as though that were one sentence!! Very annoying, especially when you want to just listen to one story at a time...

Title makes it sound better than it is...

Reviewed: 25-05-2020

The original 'Real Crime' podcast was fascinating and I wish they had done more episodes, another season or two at least. This series is simply boring, and from what I've been able to get through, just a soap box for bleeding hearts and psychologists who want to make a name for themselves... I forced myself to listen to three episodes, thinking it would get better, but I won't be wasting my time with any more.

1 person found this helpful

Classic excellent Christie.

Reviewed: 24-04-2020

David Suchet *is* Hercule Poirot. There's nothing more to say about that, of course. And the story is excellent, a classic Christie mystery which left me guessing till the last minute - I usually have at least some of it figured out half way through, but not this one. On the other hand, two stars for Production - the editing was pretty bad - with gaps where there shouldn't be one and no gaps where there definitely should!! But if you can get past that, this is definitely worth getting

1 person found this helpful

A bit short-changed, but classic Christie...

Reviewed: 28-03-2020

Hugh Fraser is, as always, excellent! This one is a bit tricky, with a few different accents, but he nails it! The story is classic Christie with it's twists and red herrings, although it starts a bit slow, stick with it. I was very disappointed to discover that the other last chapter of this audio book is a preview of another book, not the last chapter of this one, making the running time twenty-five minute shorter than advertised - something to note if you timed it to have enough left to fit perfectly with a thirty minute drive only to have it finish five minutes in!! I felt rather ripped off, but it was the only negative.

Christie was never this boring.

Reviewed: 26-02-2020

Nope, sorry, this just wasn't right. From the very first chapter all about him worshiping coffee (where's the teasan?) to the long and convoluted (even for Poirot!) conclusion, it just didn't feel right at all. The last three (at least) hours were spent on the conclusion and I'm still not sure exactly who dunnit or how, I'm just glad it's over! Way to much talking and too many changing ideas, and not much of it was clever. Such a shame. I did like the new policeman companion, but he was treated so badly by Poirot, it was very frustrating. Julian Rhind-Tutt was excellent especially with all the massive speeches he had to do in a French accent! All his narration was spot on and I will definitely give other books he's done a try. But sadly, I can't say the same for any more books in this series - time to refresh my brain with The Mysterious Affair at Styles...

Interesting enough, but the title is misleading...

Reviewed: 28-01-2020

This guy is crazy brave!! Listen to episode 3 and you'll see why... However, I don't really understand what this title is referring to - a couple of murder cases with dubious witchcraft connections and a religious experience does not really conjure ideas of "the occult". In fact I think he only uses that word twice in the entire five episodes and both are in his summing up at the end... I was looking forward to the usual John Safran antics and sparks, but they were sadly lacking. Although I do love the way he criticises Richard Dawkins, I guess that is living pretty dangerously...

This performance is perfect.

Reviewed: 22-01-2020

I really don't know why they bothered to redo this with Stephen Fry, this performance is perfect. Listening to this I can see in my mind Watson, Holmes and everyone they encounter, (whenever I listen to Fry all I can see is Fry). This is definitely the far better version, once you've heard it, this will be Watson's and Holmes' voices in your mind forever more....

1 person found this helpful