Three Blind Mice and Other Stories

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Joan Hickson, Hugh Fraser, David Suchet, Simon Vance

Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's Summary

A blinding snowstorm - and a homicidal maniac - traps a small party of friends in an isolated estate. Out of this deceptively simple setup, Agatha Christie fashioned one of her most ingenious puzzlers, which in turn would provide the basis for The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in history.

From this classic title novella to the deliciously clever gems on its tail (solved to perfection by Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple), this rare collection of murder most foul showcases Christie at her inventive best, proving her reputation as "the champion deceiver of our time" (New York Times).

©1950 Agatha Christie Limited (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

Joan Hickson IS Miss Marple!

All of the stories are wonderful. Even after I know the ending, I can read, listen and watch anything by Agatha Christie over and over again!

Joan Hickson is the definitive Miss Marple and always a treasure!

All together now!

This compilation brought together some of my favourite Agatha Christie stories and narrators. The title track was both scary and mysterious, and the setting of a snowbound house with a group of strangers was remarkably well done.

I thoroughly enjoyed the range of narrators, Joan Hickson and David Suchet never fail to please, and Hugh Fraser brought a different sound to Poirot but not an unpleasant one.

All in all, a thoroughly satisfying listen!

The Seeds of Greatness

Many of Agantha Christie's novels are timeless for me. Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot are my favorites. I'm not sure when this collection of short stories were written. I suspect they were written before the novels. I did not find these short stories as satisfying as the novels I have read. Part of the reason is the narration.

I loved Joan Hickson as Miss Marple in the TV dramas produced by the BBC. I own DVD's of all the Joan Hickson "Miss Marple" programs and have watched them multiple times. However I did not like Ms. Hickson's narrations in this collection. Her voice was excellent in the TV dramas, but is sibilant and hard to listen to in this collection.

The best of the narrators was Hugh Fraser. He gets the voice of Hercule Poirot just right for an audio book. I believe I might have enjoyed this collection more if Hugh Fraser had read all the stories.

I bought this collection as an Audible "Daily Special" - it was a good value at the reduced price. I will seek out other Agatha Christie titles narrated by Hugh Fraser.

Lovely but no chapter headings

Any additional comments?

Delightful but, as with my other Christie collection, the chapter listing only shows a numeral. Ms Christie gave her chapters lovely titles so it would be nice to have these listed in the directory to ease navigation.

Liked Three Blind Mice; no so much the others

I purchased mostly for the Three Blind Mice story, which I enjoyed. I'm not a fan of Joan Hickson's narration (she seems to have a bit of a lisp!), but Hugh Fraser is very good. The other short stories were fine, but only fine. I stick to Agatha Christie's novels in the future and avoid some of these very short stories.

three blind mice.

I have read her books ever since high school. I will always love her work .

Absolutely Fabulous!!

This was such a delightful little collection of Agatha Christie stories to listen to and each of the narrator's voices fit the characters perfectly. Once I started listening I could not stop, and I finished it in one setting!!!

Excellent narration

Other than the Quinn/Swatterswait short story, I am so familiar with these stories I am buying audible versions for the performances rather than the content. This Audible book is excellently produced and the actors “are” the characters. Simon Vance gives his usual perfect performance.

Annoying narration and not the best stories

I was surprised I didn’t like this better. I purchased it after thoroughly enjoying Murder on the Orient Express, the Kenneth Branagh version. I didn’t realize how short Three Blind Mice was, and it felt very disjointed and random. There was none of the lush, descriptive writing I got used to in MOTOE. The characters annoyed me; everyone seemed somewhat neurotic. The narrator was just okay, but made the most annoying characters, like Christopher Wren, sound even worse.

Then, it moved on to some Miss Marple stories. I agree with other reviewers, the narration was horrible! I couldn’t understand what she was saying, and decided not to waste my time anymore, because those stories were even more boring and slow paced. There are also no chapter headings, so you have no idea what story you’re about to listen to next! This was the first Audible purchase I’ve ever returned in over two years of using the service. I’ll read/listen to Agatha Christie again, but it won’t be another set of short stories. And I’ll definitely stick with the Poirot series.

Agatha Christie is a Constant Read for Me!

The stories in this book are riveting and full of twists, turns, and unsuspected finishes. I recommend reading them Menagerie quiet evenings at home and not in a fast-paced kind of way. You'll only get to the juicey bits if you're able to pay full attention. I go back to these stories over and over, especially: "Three Blind Mice." I really see why the playhouse version has run ever since being put to stage. It's captivatingly awesome! What a great author, playwright, and story-teller. Hats off to Dame Agatha Christie!

Shame about one of the narrators

I would have given this 5 stars for narration if it was not for Joan Hickson's reading, I am afraid I will have to agree with one of the other listeners who said she was quite unintelligible...…... Simon Vance, on the other hand, is wonderful, as always, I just love the way he reads A Dance to the Music of Times, he is my absolute favourite narrator!

Hickson can be a bit difficult to understand

I love the Poirot and Miss Marple books and TV series, I have watched almost all the episodes over the last two years since I discovered them on ITV. I am not a native English speaker, but I consider myself to be quite proficient and I have been able to listen to other audiobooks without any issues. However, I find Joan Hickson a bit difficult to understand at times; I love her as an actress, so it pains me to have to say it, but I stopped listening half way through the recording as I was getting frustrated. The stories where Suchet and Fraser narrate are an absolute delight, and I can almost "see" them actually performing like on TV.