The essential Agatha Christie stories twenty unabridged mysteries
(Audiobook)

Compact disc.

Unabridged.

Narrators: Hugh Fraser, Joan Hickson, Nigel Hawthorne, David Suchet, Christopher Lee, and Jonathan Cecil.

Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple and a host of other detectives crack cases of all stripes in this collection of twenty of Agatha Christie's famous short mysteries.

Four and twenty blackbirds: Hercule Poirot is about to tuck into a very traditional English supper with his old friend Bonnington when a lone diner sparks his interest. Like clockwork, the man has eaten at the restaurant on Thursdays and Tuesdays for the last ten years, but no one on the staff knows his name. When “Old Father Time,” as they have fondly nicknamed him, suddenly stops coming, Poirot believes that he might have picked up the one essential clue that could shed light on this mysterious man. Could what Old Father Time ordered as his final meal provide the key?

Death by drowning: A young girl finds out she’s pregnant and throws herself off a bridge, but Miss Marple is not so sure it was suicide.

Jane in search of a job: Jane Cleveland is in desperate need of a job, and when she sees an ad for a woman of her description needed to impersonate a grand duchess, she cannot believe her luck. The royal retainers tell Jane that the job will be dangerous because attempts have been made on the Grand Duchess Pauline's life, but this only serves to make the job more appealing. Jane's disguise initially goes according to plan, but when she is kidnapped and drugged, it appears that her new employers are not all that they seem…

Motive vs. opportunity: At a meeting of the Tuesday Night Club, attorney Mr. Petherick relates an incident involving the late Simon Clode, a wealthy client. Obsessed by his granddaughter's death, Clode turned to spiritualist Eurydice Spragg to contact her in the afterlife, and then decided to write a new will leaving Eurydice as the benefactor and excluding his family. To everyone's surprise, when the envelope containing the will is opened, the paper is blank. The Tuesday Night Club goes on the case…

Murder in the mews: A young woman commits suicide while her roommate is away for the weekend. However, the lead inspector is sufficiently doubtful about the cause of death to call for the help of Hercule Poirot.

A fruitful Sunday: Edward Palgrove has saved up to buy a small car, which he and his fiancée, Dorothy Pratt, are both proud of. But neither one is prepared for the journey it will take them on.

Sing a song of sixpence: Retired Scotland Yard detective Sir Edward Palliser is called upon by Magdalen Vaughan to help solve the murder of her wealthy, eccentric aunt, Miss Lily Crabtree. The authorities believe only members of the household could have committed the crime, and this suspicion is tearing the family apart. Who really killed Lily's aunt?

The girl in the train: George Rowland, a bored playboy, disowned for the seventh time by his wealthy uncle, is on the train to London. When a beautiful girl bursts into his compartment, frantically begging to be hidden, his life changes dramatically.

The adventure of "The Western Star": Movie star Mary Marvell consults with Hercule Poirot after receiving threatening letters that warn her to return her diamond, the famous "Western Star," to its rightful owner. But who does own the diamond, and is it even the genuine article?

The adventure of the Clapham cook: A chef and a bank employee go missing on the same day, leading Hercule Poirot to believe a sinister plot is cooking.

The adventure of the cheap flat: When a redheaded stranger gossips to party guests that she has rented an amazing apartment at a bargain rate, Poirot smells a rat.

The adventure of the Egyptian tomb: A series of deaths around a pharaoh’s tomb is blamed on an ancient curse, but Poirot knows better.

The chocolate box: Poirot investigates a murder in which the only clue is a box of chocolates.

The mystery of the blue jar: Every morning at the same hour on the golf course, Jack Hartington hears mysterious cries for help coming from a cottage. He speaks to the resident and learns that she has unsettling dreams of a woman with a blue Chinese vase. Believing that the cries for help are from the late Mrs. Turner, the former resident of the cottage, Jack hires a psychic investigator to spend a night in the house, a night which proves to have startling results…

The Listerdale mystery: After Mr. St. Vincent's death, his family is plunged into poverty. Living in reduced circumstances, they are surprised to find an elegant townhouse — with staff — for a suspiciously cheap rent. Why would Lord Listerdale lend them his home for such a low price, and why are the servants so accommodating?

The sign in the sky: Mr. Satterthwaite attends the trial of young Martin Wylde, accused of murder. Shortly after the guilty verdict is returned, Satterthwaite runs into his mysterious friend Harley Quin. Can they prove Wylde’s innocence, or did he really kill the beautiful Vivien Barnaby?

The red signal: At a séance, Sir Alington, a venerable expert of the mental condition, is pestered by Mrs. Eversleigh about the importance of the sixth sense. Soon, a young man named Dermot is drawn in and tells them both about the sixth sense he experiences, a red signal that spells danger. He is about to tell them of the last time he saw the red signal when he stops himself. The last time he had the signal was earlier that very evening. But how could there be danger at a simple gathering of old friends? Will the evening bring forth whatever impending danger that Dermot senses?

The thumb mark of St. Peter: Fifteen years ago, Miss Marple's niece, Mabel Denman, was accused of murdering her abusive and violent husband. Can Miss Marple clear her niece's name and reveal the true perpetrator?

The under dog: Pretty Lily Margrave is not convinced that Hercule Poirot is needed in the matter of Sir Atwell’s murder. At the request of her employer, Lady Atwell, she has already recounted what happened ten days ago in the Tower Room, and the victim’s nephew has been charged with the murder. Nevertheless, Lady Atwell brings Poirot up to the great house, Mon Repos, to see if he can find out anything. While at first the family is struck by Poirot’s ardent endeavor to uncover what befell Sir Atwell, his insistence on looking into every nook and cranny becomes too much for some to bear. A scrap of material, the contents of a tiny box, and his singular ingenuity lead the detective to uncover who is behind this violent act.

Yellow iris: An alarming telephone call, in which the phrases “it’s life and death” and “the table with the yellow irises” are whispered, causes Hercule Poirot to rush to the luxuriant restaurant Jardin des Cygnes, desperate to stop an impending murder and find the person behind the voice on the phone. After bumping into an old acquaintance, he is invited to join a dinner party in full swing. But, just as the dancing and champagne are overflowing, a morbid announcement is made and the lights go out. By the time the lights come back on, everything has changed….