The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie Narrator: Emilia Fox
Series: Superintendent Battle #2
Published by Harper Audio on July 3, 2012 (first published 129)
Source: Library
Genres: Vintage Mystery
Length: 7 hrs 46 mins
Pages: 375
Format: Audiobook
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A practical joke goes chillingly, murderously wrong in Queen of Mystery Agatha Christie’s classic detective story, The Seven Dials Mystery.
Gerry Wade had proved himself to be a champion sleeper, so the other houseguests decided to play a practical joke on him. Eight alarm clocks were set to go off, one after the other, starting at 6:30 a.m. But when morning arrived, one clock was missing and the prank then backfired, with tragic consequences.
For Jimmy Thesiger in particular, the words "Seven Dials" were to take on a new and chilling significance...
I’ve read most if not all of Christie’s book before, but The Seven Dials Mystery is not one I remember well. Maybe Battle just doesn’t grab my attention like the rest of Christie’s detectives.
It starts out promising. We’ve got a weekend house party at Chimneys. One of the young men, Gerry Wade, always sleeps late and the others decide to play a prank on him, setting eight alarm clocks in his room to ring one after another. But then he still doesn’t wake up – turns out he died overnight. Of course, since this is a Christie, we know it wasn’t just coincidence. Then another man is killed and Lady Eileen ‘Bundle’ Brent decides they need to investigate.
Maybe I wasn’t paying enough attention to the audio or maybe all the young people just blended into each other, but I got a little confused. And then it veers off into international intrigue, and it turns out I just wanted a traditional country home mystery. But that’s my fault, not the book’s. And i did appreciate how it all wrapped up.
About Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English crime novelist, short story writer and playwright. She is best known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around her fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world’s longest-running play, a murder mystery, The Mousetrap, and six romances under the name Mary Westmacott. In 1971 she was elevated to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her contribution to literature.
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