Postern of Fate

A Tommy and Tuppence Mystery

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Tommy and Tuppence Beresford have just become the proud owners of an old house in an English village. Along with the property, they have inherited some worthless bric-a-brac, including a collection of antique books. While rustling through a copy of The Black Arrow, Tuppence comes upon a series of apparently random underlinings.

However, when she writes down the letters, they spell out a very disturbing message: "Mary Jordan did not die naturally." And 60 years after their first murder, Mary Jordan's enemies are still ready to kill....

©1973 Agatha Christie Limited (P)1973 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Possibly my favorite of this series.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

After reading reviews, I almost missed out on this wonderful book. My favorite part of the whole series is Tommy and Tuppence's interactions with each other, and this book made me laugh a lot (though not as much as "Partners in Crime").
I'm really sad that there aren't more books in the Tommy and Tuppence series, they became instant favorites. I will probably re-listen to these last two the most, because I love the matured relationship of these characters and old Albert.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Tuppence. Her spunk, wit, and tenacity -among other things. :)

What does Hugh Fraser bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I LOVE Hugh Frazer's performances. I would almost buy a book just to keep listening to him.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed a lot, especially at Tuppence's experiences with True Love and Matilda's surgery.

A bit of a slow start but hang in there! It gets good!

Hugh Fraser is wonderful, as always! (I could- and do!-listen to him for hours on end!) This story starts a bit slowly but keep listening! It’s not as immediately gripping as the other Tommy and Tuppence books but it gets there-just keep listening (for the first hour or so) and then it picks up and becomes quite engaging! I deducted a star for the story because of the slow start but it’s really quite a charming book-just like all of the others! It’s not as fast-paced as the other T&T books BUT it is, nevertheless, a VERY good spy/mystery story with our favorite dynamic duo AND the bravest dog in England! I highly recommend that you give this book a chance!!

Better than I thought.

Charming, rambling, slow. A nice farewell to Tommy and Tuppence. Interesting fact--Mr. Robinson appears in this and a Poirot and a Miss Marple, connecting the Christie universe.

Enjoyable ❤️

Enjoyable, thoroughly, at the beginning!
...And then after some time of confusion and annoyance, enjoyable again--once you start to realize Agatha Christie is probably playing a joke on you-- wanting people to allow her to retire...
--and yet closing up shop with the help of two of her most favorite characters that we all love. I am glad we got one more
Tommy and Tuppence!

Also it is good reference list of so many old time things you might have found spoken of in The Good Old Days magazines...
Things mostly long forgotten --except for those classic children's books, of which I and mine have read some, and hope to read more!

Really good and underappreciated

This was Agatha Christie’s last book, published when she was 82.

It has weaknesses, including a lot of repetition. It also has a tremendous amount of charm, and Christie very successfully portrays deep and genuine affection between the two people who have been married for about 50 years.

The plot — a reconstruction of a crime that occurred 50 years before — is great. Even if it could have been better, it is still very intriguing. I wonder if all this book’s critics could have done even 1% as well. And since everyone knows that Agatha Christie had memory problems at the end of her life, I don’t think it’s too gracious to make fun of her, considering all the pleasure she has given her readers.

Finally, as always, Hugh Fraser is absolutely great. If he were only reciting the alphabet, he would be great. But since she had a food work to work with, I can only heartily recommend this. Just be patient.

Boring

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I enjoy listening to Hugh Fraser but I didn't care for the story itself

What could Agatha Christie have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

not to my taste...that's not to say other Christie fans shouldn't give it a try

Dull reading.

Would you try another book from Agatha Christie and/or Hugh Fraser?

Christie can be simplistic, but the reading on this made it soporific. Much preferred Nadia May's reading of The Secret Adversary.

Christie at her worst

Hugh Fraser did a stellar job of reading the most disappointing Christie novel I've encountered. I've enjoyed most of her books, so I was quite surprised. This should have been a short story but was padded out to novel length by annoying and irrelevant chit chat between Tommy and Tuppence. Even that sounds as if it could possibly be charming, but it is not, it is maddening. They find a clue and, instead of examining it, start a discussion on dinner or whether they had washed up yet...I wanted to pull my hair out. Small, insignificant details are discussed repeatedly.