OCTOBER 2013 - AudioFile
This classic suspense is made grander still by Dan Stevens’s ability to inhabit each character’s full range of emotions. An unsuspecting group of 10 strangers is invited to a remote island. Each has a cleverly disguised secret, or so he or she thinks. One by one, the members are murdered in ways that match a gruesome nursery rhyme. Stevens’s masterful performance is particularly notable in the guttural, authoritative tone he gives Judge Wargrave as he immediately takes charge. The quivering, fearful Mrs. Rogers, the prim and sanctimonious Emily Brent, the gloomy General, and the defensive Dr. Armstrong are all equally wonderful. As the guests’ numbers dwindle, Stevens ratchets up the mutual suspicion and ensuing panic beautifully. This is the perfect companion for a dark and stormy night. M.F.T. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine
From the Publisher
The whole thing is utterly impossible and utterly fascinating. It is the most baffling mystery Agatha Christie has ever written.” — New York Times
“One of the most ingenious thrillers in many a day.” — Time magazine
“One of the very best, most genuinely bewildering Christies.” — The Observer (UK)
“There is no cheating; the reader is just bamboozled in a straightforward way from first to last….The most colossal achievement of a colossal career. The book must rank with Mrs. Christie’s previous best—on the top notch of detection.” — New Statesman (UK)
“The most astonishingly impudent, ingenious and altogether successful mystery story since The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.” — Daily Herald (UK)
“What Agatha Christie taught me was all about the delicate placement of the red herring. She was the ultimate genius behind ‘by indirections shall we find directions out.’ ” — Elizabeth George, New York Times bestselling author of the Inspector Lynley novels
Time magazine
One of the most ingenious thrillers in many a day.
New York Times
The whole thing is utterly impossible and utterly fascinating. It is the most baffling mystery Agatha Christie has ever written.
New Statesman (UK)
There is no cheating; the reader is just bamboozled in a straightforward way from first to last….The most colossal achievement of a colossal career. The book must rank with Mrs. Christie’s previous best—on the top notch of detection.
The Observer (UK)
One of the very best, most genuinely bewildering Christies.
Daily Herald (UK)
The most astonishingly impudent, ingenious and altogether successful mystery story since The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
Elizabeth George
What Agatha Christie taught me was all about the delicate placement of the red herring. She was the ultimate genius behind ‘by indirections shall we find directions out.’
Time Magazine
"One of the most ingenious thrillers in many a day."
APR/MAY 02 - AudioFile
This spiffy little story was first penned in 1923 and published as TEN LITTLE INDIANS. It is not surprising that it has been adapted to film three times, and you'll recognize right away how many times others have purloined it. Ten people are trapped on a private island, and one by one they begin to die. Who's the culprit? Hugh Fraser will be known to aficionados of PBS's "Mystery" as Poirot's sidekick, Captain Hastings. A talented narrator with a cultured, smooth voice, Fraser here employs a whispery, atmospheric delivery. This coloring gives a feeling of tightening nerves and tremulous anxiety. Just when you think you've spotted the bounder responsible, he up and drops dead, and you're left scratching your head. A choice morsel for some dark and stormy night. D.G. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine
APR/MAY 02 - AudioFile
This spiffy little story was first penned in 1923 and published as TEN LITTLE INDIANS. It is not surprising that it has been adapted to film three times, and you'll recognize right away how many times others have purloined it. Ten people are trapped on a private island, and one by one they begin to die. Who's the culprit? Hugh Fraser will be known to aficionados of PBS's "Mystery" as Poirot's sidekick, Captain Hastings. A talented narrator with a cultured, smooth voice, Fraser here employs a whispery, atmospheric delivery. This coloring gives a feeling of tightening nerves and tremulous anxiety. Just when you think you've spotted the bounder responsible, he up and drops dead, and you're left scratching your head. A choice morsel for some dark and stormy night. D.G. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine