Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie Narrator: Stephanie Cole
Series: Miss Marple #12
Published by Harper Collins on July 3, 2012 (first published October 1, 1976)
Source: Library
Genres: Vintage Mystery
Length: 6 hrs 17 mins
Pages: 224
Format: Audiobook
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In Agatha Christie’s classic, Sleeping Murder, the indomitable Miss Marple turns ghost hunter and uncovers shocking evidence of a perfect crime.
Soon after Gwenda moved into her new home, odd things started to happen. Despite her best efforts to modernize the house, she only succeeded in dredging up its past. Worse, she felt an irrational sense of terror every time she climbed the stairs.
In fear, Gwenda turned to Miss Marple to exorcise her ghosts. Between them, they were to solve a “perfect” crime committed many years before.
New Zealander Gwenda Reed, who thinks she has never been to England, buys an old house on the south coast with her husband, Giles. But when she moves in, she gets this strange feeling that she’s been there before. She remembers things she shouldn’t and then has a terrible vision/memory while attending a play. She thinks she’s going mad, and Miss Marple steps in to help.
Gwenda and Giles are a lovely couple. They decide they need to investigate what happened in the house all those years ago, even though Miss Marple warns them that they may not like the consequences. The story moves along at a steady pace and the plot is rather clever. Miss Marple stays a bit in the background, but you can see her guidance throughout. She’s as shrewd and intelligent as always. The whodunnit made sense, but the whole thing was a little sad.
When I first started reading Christie’s books (40 years ago?!), Poirot was my favorite, but I’ve come to enjoy the Marple mysteries more and more. I listened to the audio version of this and thought the narrator did a great job with the voices and pace.
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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