Hickory Dickory Dock

A Hercule Poirot Mystery

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's Summary

An outbreak of kleptomania at a student hostel is not normally the sort of crime that arouses Hercule Poirot's interest. However, the warden of the hostel is his secretary, Miss Lemon's sister, and efficient Miss Lemon is less than efficient when worried. To set her mind at ease, and decrease the number of mistakes in her typing, he agrees to meet with Mrs. Hubbard.

When he sees the bizarre list of stolen and vandalized items - including a stethoscope, a box of chocolates, a slashed rucksack, and a diamond ring (which was stolen, then discovered in a bowl of soup) - he congratulates Mrs. Hubbard on a "unique and beautiful problem". But Poirot soon has more than a possible petty thief on his hands when murder enters the picture.

©1983 John Michael Mallowan; 1983 Peter Andrew Mallowan; 1955 Max Edgar Lucien Mallowan; 1955 William Edmund Cork (P)2005 HarperCollins Publishers, London

Critic Reviews

"The infallibly original Agatha Christie has come up with a new and highly ingenious puzzle-construction." (The New York Times)

Great cast of characters

As usual, Christie delivers a great cast of characters, many with motives for the deaths that litter the story. In a youth hostel with socially and ethnically diverse boarders run by Miss Lemon's sister, a series of petty crimes lead to more than one murder. Hugh Fraser is an excellent narrator. His voices are distinct and often amusing. Poirot is not a major character in the story but appears when he is needed.

Fun and Easy Listen

This is my first Agatha Christie and I enjoyed it. I liked the fact that I could be distracted for a moment and not be terribly derailed from the development of the plot. There was one minor problem: the narrator seemed to do well with British accents, but the foreign accents all sounded like Transylvania, no matter the nationality of the character. It wasn't horrible; just slightly distracting.

Another great Poirot novel

Lovely listen and well read by Hugh Fraser, as always. This time, Poor MIss Lemon's sister is in need of help and Poirot is off to the rescue.

Miss Lemon's Sister?

This was a classic Christie, interesting but not overly complex plot (easy to follow when multi-tasking), good intrigue between the characters, and most interesting of all, to discover that the efficient-beyond-reproach Miss Lemon has a sister. Hugh Fraser, as always, does an excellent job with the narration.

Entertaining mystery

I enjoyed the story very much. There was some difficulty identifying characters and the audio crackles occasionally. It would be helpful to add female orators. The cost of this audio was overpriced.