A Caribbean Mystery

In this Christie mystery, sleuth and heroine Miss Marple finds herself vacationing at a tropical resort full of intriguing characters. She is suddenly plunged into a mystery that rapidly escalates into a double murder. This multi-voiced production, complete with musical transitions and background sound effects, uses different readers for each part (20 in all), and all are equally successful renditions. June Whitfield, playing Miss Marple, sounds very much the elderly spinster, while George A. Cooper does a marvelous interpretation of the irascible old millionaire, Mr Rafiel. More than just an abridgment, this audio dramatization is creative and entertaining. J.J.F. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine

Joan Hickson personifies Miss Marple (for those too young to remember Margaret Rutherford). Selected by Dame Christie to play the octogenarian detective on stage, she was close to ninety when she made this tape. Even so, like Marple, she doesn't miss a beat in guiding us through this classic whodunit set in a tropical resort. An old soldier is murdered after he glimpses a suspected wife-killer. Clues and suspects abound. Hickson lets you know just by inflection when Marple doesn't believe what's being said. Of course, she sorts everything out in the end, and the logical workings of her mind are perfectly matched by Hickson's crisp delivery. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine

When a guest at the small resort at which she is staying dies of an apparent heart attack, Miss Marple is concerned -- he didn't have heart trouble, and the day before he died, he'd thought he recognized a murderer. If only Miss Marple could figure out who that person is. Rosalind Ayres is an able accomplice in this late but satisfying Christie whodunit. Her crisp phrasing helps moves the plot along nicely. And her verbal portraits are telling, from the classic hale-fellow-well-met tones of the British major and the boisterous Americans to the melodic rhythms of the local staff. The listener is transported to Miss Marple's murderous Caribbean vacation; what a fine place to be. A.C.S. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine