A Murder is Announced
by
Agatha Christie

Read by

Rosemary Leach

Chivers Audio Books, 1988, 8 hours 36 minutes

8 cassettes, ISBN: 1-57270-258-3

Genre: Detective/Mystery

Reviewed: 8/11/2002

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Excerpt

"Get some candles," said Ms. Blacklock, "in the kitchen cupboard.

"Patrick, you know where the fuse box is?"

"The passage behind the scullery? Right, I'll see what I can do."

Ms. Blacklock had moved forward into the light thrown from the dining room. And Dora Bunner gave sobbing gasp. 

Mitzi let out another full-bloodied scream. "The blood...the blood!" she gasped. "You are shot. Ms. Blacklock, you bleed to death!"

"Don't be so stupid," snapped Ms. Blacklock. "I'm hardly hurt at all. It just grazed my ear."

"But Aunt Lettie," said Julia. "The blood!"

And indeed, Ms. Blacklock's white blouse and pearls, and her hand, were a horrifyingly gory sight.

Review

An invitation appeared in the local paper stating that "A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, October 29th, at Little Paddocks, at 6:30 p.m." As the women in town read the notice, an excitement began to grow about the murder game that would take place that evening. Everyone expected a fun time as the lights would blink out, a shot would be heard, and thud would sound out, and the lights would come back on revealing a victim on the floor. Little did they know that this would truly happen, except it wasn't a game.

Thank goodness Jane Marple happened to be in town when the murder occurred. Using her sleuthing skills, she started to unravel the hidden truth behind the murders at Little Paddocks. But will she have a chance to figure out who the murderer is before they come after her?

Cast of Characters: Jane Marple, Detective Inspector Craddock. Also: Old Ashe, Charlotte and Letitia Blacklock, Dora Bunner, Johnny Butt, Sir Henry Clithering, Colonel Archie and Laura Easterbrook, Sergeant Fletcher, The Goedlers: Belle, Randall and Sonia, Reverend Julian and Diana "Bunch" Harmon, Myrna Harris, Phillipa Haymes, Miss Hinchcliffe, Jim Huggins, Mitzi, Amy Murgatroyd, Mr. Rowlandson, Chief George Rydesdall, Rudi Scherz, Patrick Simmons, Emma Stamfordis, Mrs. Swettenham, Edmund Swettenham, Tiglath-Pileser.

This is an audio version of the book A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie. The story is read by actress Rosemary Leach. This audio book is in cassette format, consisting of 8 cassettes and plays for 8 hours and 36 minutes. This is an complete and unabridged version of the novel.

Review

I am a big fan of Agatha Christie. Her ability to write a story with a plethora of suspicious character is unparalleled. The reader, or listener, never really knows who the murderer is and constantly shifts their idea of who the guilty party is from one person to another. For this reason, I truly love Agatha Christie's writing style.

Rosemary Leach does a splendid job of reading the story with expression, giving each character a different voice and quite a bit of emotion. The story moves along quickly and and the listener is never quite sure as to who did the awful deed, but is entranced into finding out who did it. On a long drive, like the one I just took, I found myself totally engrossed in this telling of A Murder is Announced and was quite pleased with the entire experience.

I highly recommend this reading of A Murder is Announced, read by Rosemary Leach and penned by Agatha Christie.