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.

Great Writing, Horrible Narration in some stories.

The stories were good, and obviously well written. But the narration of the Miss Marple short stories was very off-putting. It consisted of a large portion of the book that I essentially ended up skipping through. Luckily the longer stories and title Three Blind Mice don’t use that narrator, but be warned.

Poirot is a master - Fraser & Suchet are excellent

Would you consider the audio edition of Three Blind Mice and Other Stories to be better than the print version?

Definitely depends on your preferences and location.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Poirot always keeps me entertained.

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

Hercule Poirot

If you could rename Three Blind Mice and Other Stories, what would you call it?

Three Blind Mice is clearly the star, so I think it's appropriately entitled.

Any additional comments?

Not a fan of Joan Hickson's narration -- hard to follow.

Trying Agatha Christie

I am not a fan of short stories, but I do love a good mystery. However, to enjoy a fiction I must believe in the characters; they must have depth, dimension and be three dimensional with both strengths and weaknesses.

These stories did not hold my interest. They are mysteries which are presented with a problem at the beginning. Christie then masterfully unravels the mystery step by step in a very rational way. I find Sherlock Holmes short stories far more compelling.

These stories seemed more shallow than deep, and even though I just now finished the collection I cannot recall any of the stories. They have faded from my memory already!

Three blind mice then be ready to skip few chapters

I had to skip 3 chapters because of the female narrator other than that interesting short stories

Fun

Great with the exception of one of the readers with an accent so thick as to make it difficult to understand

This one was OK, I might try the print version

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

no

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed the Hercule Poirot stories but I had a hard time listening to (and hearing) the stories narrated by Joan Hickson. She sounded like she was spitting into the microphone with every word.

Agatha Christie stories are excellent

I like that the readers have all acted as different characters such as David Suchet was Hercule Poirot and Hugh Fraser was Hasting and Joan Hickson was Miss Marple

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.

Different Narrators, Different Experiences

Enjoyed all the stories - Three Blind Mice was several "chapters" in the audio book, while the rest of the stories were each a chapter. Male narrators were all good, while unfortunately the Miss Marple narrator (Joan Hickson) was extremely difficult to understand. She has a lisp and her speech is intermittently mumbling and garbled. There were full sentences we could not interpret. We had to struggle through all the Miss Marple chapters. Reading those would have been better.

Uneven

It's really difficult to understand the female narrator. She seems to have a lisp and listening to her entailed making an effort.