Hickory Dickory Dock

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

A classic Poirot mystery read by Hugh Fraser.

An outbreak of kleptomania at a student hostel was not normally the sort of crime that aroused Hercule Poirot’s interest. But when he saw the list of stolen and vandalized items – including a stethoscope, some old flannel trousers, a box of chocolates, a slashed rucksack and a diamond ring found in a bowl of soup – he congratulated the warden, Mrs Hubbard, on a ‘unique and beautiful problem’.

The list made absolutely no sense at all. But, reasoned Poirot, if this was merely a petty thief at work, why was everyone at the hostel so frightened?

©1955 Agatha Christie Limited, a Chorion Company. All rights reserved; (P)2004 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, London, UK

Critic reviews

‘Poirot’s return to the happy hunting grounds of detective fiction is something of an event… The thumbnail sketches of the characters are as good as ever and in spite of the over-elaborate nature of the puzzle there is plenty of entertainment.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘The Christie fan of longest standing, who thinks he knows every one of her tricks, will still be surprised by some of the twists here.’ New York Times

one of her more modern tales

the international cast was a surprise and not badly done for it's time. one of the more unusual endings I feel

Enter Miss Lemon!

What did you like best about this story?

I love that the indefectible Miss Lemon (Poirot's secretary) not only gets a backstory but finally makes a mistake. Of all the minor characters Agatha Christie weaves into her narratives (she's in most Poirot novels) Miss Lemon and her filing system has always appealed to me as the perfect match for Poirot's meticulous nature. Agatha Christie clearly had a ball destroying Poirot's calm and he sets out to solve a clever case of theft just to get his well-ordered domain back. But before long there's murder thrown into the mix...

What does Hugh Fraser bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Many Poirot fans will recognise Hugh Fraser's voice from some of the TV adaptations as Captain Hastings.

Another excellent Poirot

I once again thoroughly enjoyed listening to a Poirot mystery, excellently narrated by Hugh Fraser. The only thing I disliked was that the chapters in the Audible file did not match up with the book chapters. This made it more difficult to find my place again.