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Title details for A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie - Available

A Pocket Full of Rye

#6 in series

by Agatha Christie
Full Cast
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
Wealthy businessman Rex Fortescue is found dead with rye grain in his pocket. His death is followed in quick succession by a woman dying while eating bread and honey, and a maid in her garden. Inspector Neele, in charge of investigating the spate of murders, consults with Miss Marple, who has an interesting and surprising theory to offer. She senses the murderer is dispatching his victims on the basis of the children's nursery rhyme 'Sing a Song of Sixpence'. The similarities are numerous - not least the fact that Rex means 'king', and as a financier, he could be said to have been in his counting house when he died. Soon the blackbirds of the rhyme put in an appearance, not to mention a whole shoal of red herrings. What secrets are lurking at the heart of the Fortescue family? Miss Marple finds herself enmeshed in one of the strangest cases of her life... An intriguing mystery from the Queen of Crime, dramatised with a full cast including Nicky Henson and Derek Waring.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Miss Marple

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 10, 2010

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781408484838
      • File size: 42665 KB
      • Duration: 01:28:53

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Lexile® Measure: 690
    • Text Difficulty: 3

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 30, 2007
      It hardly seems possible for anyone to best Hugh Fraser’s savvy audio performance of Christie’s Hickory Dickory Dock, but Rosalind Ayres produces an amazing range of voices and accents to create her own one-woman full-cast audio book. After the death by poisoning of wealthy Rex Fortescue, others in the household are murdered in ways that mimic a Mother Goose rhyme. Ayres’s Miss Marple is well-mannered, polite and even diffident. Ayres seems to be mocking stereotypes of British accents. Percival, the elder son, is stuffy and nasally clogged. Lancelot, the younger son, is ironic and cavalier. Ayres can slip effortlessly from one accent to another, as when the lofty voice of Rex’s secretary collapses into the low-class accent of an East Ender after she discovers her boss’s body. The greatest mystery in this 1953 novel is why any mid-century father would name his children Lancelot and Percival. Though the story lacks action and enough Jane Marple for Ayres to develop, her performance is a delightful romp for any Christie fan.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The BBC generally excels at transforming Agatha Christie's full-length mystery books into short audio productions. This one is no exception; it is beautifully acted, well-produced, and a short one-and-a-half hours. It begins with an elderly businessman found dead in his office with grains of rye in his pocket. Soon, his very young widow dies while eating bread and honey. Thankfully, Miss Marple arrives to help the police identify a killer with a fondness for nursery rhymes, and all, so to speak, is well. The production consists of conversation with bridging sections in Miss Marple's voice. It will please everyone, including those of us who prefer Christie's actual writing. A.C.S. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      A Miss Marple mystery brings out the best in Rosalind Ayres. She can be male or female to such a degree that one forgets who's narrating. Yewtree Lodge is full of unsavory types, any one of whom could have murdered business tycoon Rex Fortescue. When two more guests are murdered, Miss Marple gets involved because one of the victims, Gladys Martin, was once her maid. Ayres is wonderful with all her voices--from Miss Ramsbottom, the elderly aunt upstairs, to Mary Dove, the overly composed housekeeper. Her best impersonation is Gladys, adenoidal and pathetic, the memorable voice of the innocent led astray by evil. B.H.B. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:690
  • Text Difficulty:3

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