The ABC Murders (c) 1936 (read by Hugh Fraser)
Side Read: The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler (c) 1949 (read by Scott Brick)
By: Agatha Christie
Narrated by: Hugh Fraser
Series: Hercule Poirot, Book 13
Length: 6 hrs
Publisher's Summary
There's a serial killer on the loose, working his way through the alphabet and the whole country is in a state of panic.
A is for Mrs. Ascher in Andover, B is for Betty Barnard in Bexhill, C is for Sir Carmichael Clarke in Churston. With each murder, the killer is getting more confident - but leaving a trail of deliberate clues to taunt the proud Hercule Poirot might just prove to be the first, and fatal, mistake.
©1936 Agatha Christie Limited (P)2003 HarperCollins Publishers
Yes, Hastings is back but fortunately the too-good-to-be true boyfriend/murderer is not. Well, you can't have everything. At least Hastings was not the dolt that we have seen in previous stories. I really did enjoy this one. It was delightfully twisted.
A Philip Marlowe Novel, Book 5
By: Raymond Chandler
Narrated by: Scott Brick
Series: Philip Marlowe, Book 5
Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
Publisher's Summary
In noir master Raymond Chandler's The Little Sister, a movie starlet with a gangster boyfriend and a pair of siblings with a shared secret lure private eye Philip Marlowe into the less than glamorous and more than a little dangerous world of Hollywood fame. Chandler's first foray into the industry that dominates the company town that is Los Angeles.
©1949 Raymond Chandler (P)2021 Random House Audio
I enjoyed this one, as well. I'm a fan of Chandler; a little bit noir every now and then spices things up. Maybe it's because I think of it as the masculine version of a Harlequin romance, where the he-man wannabe gets to indulge all of his fantasies of being the macho man that I can chuckle may way through these stories. I'd never want to meet a man like that in real life, what a turn off, but I can deal with him on the page.
And, I'm enjoying this year's exploration of American murder mystery authors.
The March, 2022 Sideread Poll results:
I must admit that I was happy that The Little Sister was the March choice. Audible has a bunch of Margaret Millars but not the one nominated, while the library said, "Margaret who?" Sometimes I can read Rex Stout and other times I find the MC to be very annoying (see! I can't every remember his name). Audible has Perry Mason galore but I don't want to spend a credit getting it and the library had no Perry on audio. As for Baynard Kendrick, unknown to both Audible and my library.
