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  • Strange Jest and Other Stories

  • By: Agatha Christie
  • Narrated by: Joan Hickson
  • Length: 4 hrs and 25 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (358 ratings)

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Strange Jest and Other Stories

By: Agatha Christie
Narrated by: Joan Hickson
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Summary

First, the mystery man in the church with a bullet-wound. Then, the riddle of a dead man's buried treasure...the curious conduct of a caretaker after a fatal riding accident...the corpse and a tape-measure...the girl framed for theft...and the suspect accused of stabbing his wife with a dagger.

Here are six gripping cases with one thing in common: the astonishing deductive powers of Miss Marple.

©1960, 1979 Agatha Christie Limited, a Chorion Company. All rights reserved (P)1993 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, London UK
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What listeners say about Strange Jest and Other Stories

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

sad to hear Joan go

later in the chapters Joan Hickson no longer reads and it was a rench , she must have died around then. isla Blair takes over and is fine but not quite the same.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant yet again!!!

I am coming to the end of reading miss marple sagas and I am sad because there are no more for me to read.
The last story in this book was creepy but what an ending!!!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent performance.

As always excellent narration from Joan Hickson,although she didn't read the last story. However this was a bit of a one off stand alone.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Condensed Christie

came up to expectations, pocket size Agatha Christie. Ideal if you are traveling, Good soundtrack

























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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Two Narrators

Last few stories were read by Isla Blair, rather than by Joan Hickson. Narrator's Performance Isla Blair 4 Joan Hickson 2/3

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

Agatha at her best.

Wonderful short stories from the Queen of Crime, Just wonderful., clever and very intertaining .

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

A Fantastic Mystery Collection!

This is a fantastic collection of Miss Marple tales! I loved them!

I downloaded this set of six Miss Marple stories in audiobook for my mom, so it would give her something to occupy her time while recuperating; she had been very ill in hospital at the time. I decided to listen to it myself once she had recovered, because I love Agatha Christie's mystery books too.

This audiobook was narrated by one of the best actresses (I feel) to have portrayed Miss Marple, Dame Joan Hickson. Her narration of six of the stories brought them to life for me. And, as she also acted in some of them on TV as serial episodes, I could picture them with ease.

The stories in this collection are:
The man found dying in the church sanctuary
The puzzle of Uncle Henry's hidden legacy
The baffling mystery of the stabbing of Mrs Rhodes
The question of the murderer with the tape-measure
The case of Miss Skinner's Maid
The curious conduct of the caretaker
There are also two bonus stories that were narrated very well by another lady, which were not Miss Marple mysteries. They were called 'The Dressmaker’s Doll’ and ‘In a Glass Darkly’.

Each one of these stories was very entertaining. I love reading mysteries, and Agatha Christie, in my opinion, wrote some of the best detective novels of her day. Her two most well known characters, Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, have entertained readers like me for many years. However, I don't think these were her best stories. Although Joan Hickson did a remarkable job in telling these tales, Agatha Christie seemed to have had rushed a couple of them; the plots were not as solid as her earlier pieces. I will say that The Dressmaker's Doll was extremely spooky, and more like a ghost story than a mystery. Nevertheless, it was a pleasure to listen to all of the stories in this collection. I will be revisiting them again, I am sure!

I highly recommend this book if you love classic mystery or thriller genres. - Lynn Worton

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Joan Hickson expertly reads Miss Marple

An excellent reading of Miss Marples last cases by Joan Hickson. very authenticly done by Agatha Christie's personal choice for Miss Marple, Joan Hickson is definitely the expert nuanced narrator of these short tales. The last tale however isn't a Miss Marple but a very good little chiller from Agatha Christie not my favourite horror story of hers, I think that would have to be The Seance, which isn't in this collection, but a darkly delightful tale for fans of the macabre.

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

Enjoyable

Interesting and engaging cases read by Joan Hickson. Enjoyed listening to the stories read by me over and over again.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable

As I am a big fan of Joan Hickson and was surprised to hear other narrators, but I enjoyed the stories except the last one about the doll.

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