List $18.95

Written by Agatha Christie - Audio book performed by Hugh Fraser - Unabridged Fiction - 2 CASSETTES - 2 hours, 57 minutes

Publisher, Audio Partners (October 2001)

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"The empress of the crime novel." --Sunday Express

"[Agatha Christie was] a towering figure in the history of crime literature." --H.R.F. Keating in his article for the Dictionary of Literary Biography

This audiobook includes two complete Poirot mysteries.

The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding - Hercule Poirot has been asked to retrieve the spectacular ruby ring that the foolish young man stupidly allowed his beautiful playmate to wear during dinner. She left for the restroom and never returned. The powerful family wants the ring back! And only Poirot is capable of retrieving it. The family sends him to a Christmas gathering where they're sure the young woman will be. Many mysteries revolve around this ruby: how did it get into the pudding at Christmas dinner? Why was Poirot warned against eating the dessert? And when he finds a body in the snow the next morning, has Poirot's reputation as a detective caused someone - perhaps that boyfriend, or his sister - to make a fatal mistake?

The Belgian detective, suave and confident as always, keeps his ears and eyes open, asks the right questions, and comes up with some surprising answers.

The Mystery of the Spanish Chest - The morning after a fancy dinner party, a body is found stabbed to death in a Spanish chest. The victim was the husband of one of the women who attended the party. All - the newspapers, the police, those who attended the party - assume that the host, a single man, murdered him. Yet Poirot wonders why the host, knowing that his butler would find the body the next morning, would leave the body in the chest all night. Could it be that the host is not the murderer? But if not the host, then who? Using his famous "little grey cells," the fastidious Belgian solves the murder.

About the Author: Agatha Christie (1890-1976) became the "Queen of the Golden Age" of British fiction. In all, she wrote 95 novels, 21 plays, numerous short stories and screenplays, poetry, and a series of novels using the pen name Mary Westmacott. The Mystery Writers of America named her Grand Master in 1955, based on the high quality of the body of her work and her contributions to the genre. She was the first writer ever to be so designated. She was named Best Mystery Writer of the 20th Century at Bouchercon, the world's largest mystery convention.

About the Performer: Hugh Fraser's numerous film and TV credits include playing "Wellington" in the Sharpe's Company series and he has often performed as "Captain Hastings," assisting Poirot in the Agatha Christie PBS-TV Mystery! series. That series is currently broadcast regularly on A&E. He lives in England.