Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Duchess of Death cover art

Duchess of Death

By: Richard Hack
Narrated by: Nicolas Coster
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Her Brilliant Career cover art
Charles Addams cover art
The Sun and Her Stars cover art
The Kindness of Strangers cover art
Hide-and-Seek with Angels cover art
One Hundred Summers cover art
Lives of the Wives cover art
Capote cover art
Odd Boy Out cover art
Fortune's Many Houses cover art
Confessions cover art
The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym cover art
The Year of the End cover art
Cecil Beaton cover art
The Sphinx cover art
Elizabeth Jane Howard cover art

Summary

She is the most popular novelist in history. Yet the drama and torment of Agatha Christie's private life remains a mystery even to her most ardent fans. She made no secret of her disdain for the press and for those who wished to intrude on her private life. 

In this immensely listenable and intimate biography, best-selling author Richard Hack reveals the romance, scandal, and betrayal that drove one of the 20th century's most celebrated literary figures.

©2009 Richard Hack (P)2009 Phoenix Books

What listeners say about Duchess of Death

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 2.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

The narration is unbearable

I am a generous reviewer, mainly I think because I choose carefully and seldom end up disappointed. So, 4 stars, often 5, is not unusual from me. I got this one very wrong however.

I was aware of the 'mystery' caused by AC staging her own disappearance, and her at times torrid personal life, and I thought it would be very interesting to get a bit of background. Wrong. It's just dull.

The main problem is the narration. If I was just reading it, I might struggle on, though the writing isn't doing much for me, either. But the narrator is just bizarre and even if it was a well written, gripping book, I would be unable to listen to him.

I abandoned the book when I could no longer bear the thought of him attempting another, entirely random, regional British accent. It's painful. He can just about do 'posh' men and to a lesser extent, middle class women. That's it. The police officers and assorted 'locals' who have been presented so far (3 hours in) have a range of voices and accents that don't exist in real life. One voice can meander from Geordie to Brummie in a single sentence. And these are the home county locals!

He has odd pronunciation too - Torquay (I think) is pronounced Two-Key. Maybe it's not meant to be Torquay...

I read the reviews so I knew the delivery might be 'odd', and I see that some listeners got used to it; that has happened to be before, but this time, I can't see me staying the course.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful