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  • Appointment with Death

  • By: Agatha Christie
  • Narrated by: Hugh Fraser
  • Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (426 ratings)
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Appointment with Death

By: Agatha Christie
Narrated by: Hugh Fraser
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Summary

A repugnant Amercian widow is killed during a trip to Petra…

Among the towering red cliffs of Petra, like some monstrous swollen Buddha, sat the corpse of Mrs Boynton. A tiny puncture mark on her wrist was the only sign of the fatal injection that had killed her.

With only 24 hours available to solve the mystery, Hercule Poirot recalled a chance remark he’d overheard back in Jerusalem: ‘You see, don’t you, that she’s got to be killed?’ Mrs Boynton was, indeed, the most detestable woman he’d ever met…

©1938 Agatha Christie Mallowan (P)2001 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, London UK

Critic reviews

"Twice as brilliant as Death on the Nile, which was entirely brilliant." (Observer)

What listeners say about Appointment with Death

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great book, great narration...

Poirot is on a little holiday in Egypt, and his poor unsuspecting fellow travellers have no idea that this means one of them, at least, will surely be murdered before the trip is over. As he closes his hotel window one evening, he overhears two unidentified characters talking in another room. “You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?” Poirot smilingly dismisses it – they're probably discussing a play, he thinks, or a mystery novel.

After this great start, Poirot recedes into the background for a bit, while the reader is introduced to all the other characters. The main group is the Boynton family, a strange and nervy bunch ruled over by their manipulative and sadistic matriarch, Mrs Boynton – one of Christie's greatest creations, in my opinion. Her step-children are all grown up in the physical sense, but have never managed to cut loose from her control. Lennox, the eldest, is married to Nadine, the least affected by Mrs Boynton since she wasn't brainwashed in childhood as the others were. Then there are the two younger step-children, Carol and Raymond, who are desperate for freedom but caught like moths in a flame, unable to work out how to escape. But the most troubled member of the family is the youngest, Ginevra, Mrs Boynton's own child, now on the brink of womanhood and driven to the edge of madness by her mother's evil games.

There are others on the trip too, who will all find themselves involved with the Boyntons in one way or another. Sarah King provides the main perspective, though in the third person. Newly qualified as a doctor, she is concerned about what she sees happening to the younger Boyntons. There's also a French psychologist on the trip, Dr Gerrard, and it's through the conversations of the two doctors that Christie lays out the psychology of Mrs Boynton for the readers. Add in an elderly spinster who's abroad for the first time, an American who's in love with Nadine, a British lady politician who does a good line in bullying on her own account, and the Arab servants, and there's a plentiful supply of suspects and witnesses for Poirot to interview when the inevitable happens...

A bit like with Dickens, my favourite Christie tends to be the one I've just read, and this is no exception. For the Egyptian setting, which Christie paints in shades of exotic menace; for the great plot, one of her best; for the psychologically diverse and well drawn group of characters; and most of all for the brooding, malignant presence of Mrs Boynton, a bloated, poisonous spider at the centre of her web, this is a top-rank novel from the pen of the High Queen of Crime.

Much of the first half of the novel is taken up with Christie allowing each character their turn in the spotlight, and the opportunity to say or do something that will look deeply suspicious later on. I've read it so often that, of course, I spot all the clues now as they happen but, for me, this contains the best delivered crucial clue in all the detective fiction I've read. It's hidden in plain sight – it's right there, and yet I defy you to see it. And if that's not enough, just before the denouement Poirot lays out every clue in a list for the local British dignitary, Colonel Carbury. Fair play taken to its extreme, and yet the case is still utterly baffling until Poirot brilliantly solves it, at which point it's completely satisfying.

I listened to Hugh Fraser's narration, which is excellent as always. He doesn't “act” the characters, except for Poirot, so no falsely high voices for the women and so on, but he subtly differentiates between them so it's always clear who's speaking, and he gives them American or English accents as appropriate. For his version of Poirot, Fraser reproduces a very close approximation to David Suchet's Poirot accent, giving the narration a wonderful familiarity for fans of the TV adaptations.

Fabulous stuff – I'm having so much fun listening to the audiobooks of all these favourite Christies. It's a great way to make even the ones I know inside out feel fresh again. And for new readers, what a treat! Highly recommended.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A gripping tale of 'mother love'!

I found this totally unputdownable!!! It is one the best audio books that I have ever listened to and has already become one of my most played. It is performed with insight, skill and an obvious love for Christies written word. Download it and be prepared to shiver!!

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Hugh Fraser is a brilliant narrator.

Hugh Fraser, Captain Hastings to David Suchet’s TV Poirot, is funnily enough a perfect Poirot himself. He is one of the best narrators I’ve heard. You forget he is a man when he does the female voices, and he does all the Agatha Christie stock characters exactly as they should be.

This Christie is a lot better than most I’ve listened to and read — I was still trying to guess who had done it until Poirot revealed all. Kenneth Branagh should have made this one into a film rather than go for Death on the Nile, as Appointment With Death is not so well known. (Exactly why there was very little point in him re-doing Murder on the Orient Express.)

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Hugh Fraser brilliant as always!

A great story that leaves you guessing. Hugh Fraser's narration is perfect as always and he does a great Poirot.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Hugh Fraser is a fantastic story teller.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Agatha's story's are as good as everyone says they are and this one, in my opinion, is one of the best. Hugh Fraser makes the whole book come alive, amazing talent.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great mystery

I love Agatha Christie and Hugh Fraser is an appropriate and familiar narrator. Speed, intonation and accents are all reasonable and this is a good undemanding listen.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliantly read classic Christie

Excellent narration by Hugh Fraser. A classic Poirot story, set in Romantic faraway places. Most enjoyable and will certainly merit another listen.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Appointment with Death

Poor Poirot, he's famous now everyone wants to know about his merthods.
He goes to visit a friend you guessed it he was thrown into another mystery

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • Mo
  • 04-01-15

A good listen

A really good listen. Thoroughly worth listening to. I really got into the story and was engaged by it. I would recommend it.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

very entertaining

Would you listen to Appointment with Death again? Why?

You can never go far wrong with Agatha Christie and this is one of her best. As always Hugh Frasier is a brilliant narrator.

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