I fell in love with her when I was 22 or 23 years old. I just needed to hear something in the background and was hooked 10 minutes in. I truly enjoyed (still enjoy) listening to the stories of Hercule Poirot.  It’s an audio puzzle and it can be put together for you by the lovely narrator. If I remember right, I listened to the audio files from morning to evening, switching between her and another author/genre to shake things up.  I have mostly listened/read  Hercule Poirot stories, And Then There Were None, The Murder at the Vicarage, Cards on the Table, Death comes as the end, The Mysterious Mr. Quin, Three Blind Mice, and a few more.

What hooked me was the writing style, the vocabulary, and how you can imagine everything as the narrator says. The people who narrate the books are well-chosen. They bring the right tone, gravity, and life to the stories. I prefer Robin Bailey, John Moffat, and David Suchet for voicing the lovey Hercule Poirot, and other stories.

Part of why I fell into the hole was my curiosity for the way Hercule solves crimes with his “little grey cells“, his dramatic flair and being quite proper in the way he talks and acts. He’s described as being an odd sort of man, very observant, uses psychology and mind games in a way to find the criminals with that dramatic flair I so enjoy. The way he reveals the truths to those around him, and how he engages people to get what he needs, whether it be a minor/major detail is highly entertaining. 

I greatly enjoyed “And Then There Were None”. It made me want to know the backstories to all the characters who we find out, are all guilty of something heinous. Being invited to a mysterious location by an equally mysterious person, chaos ensues and that is as far as I’m willing to share. What made them want to do what they did? How could they rationalize their behavior? It intrigues me when they try to figure out what is going on and who is trying to get them to admit to the truth. It plays to the dramatic and old lady soul that resides in me. 

I’m incredibly grateful for Agatha Cristie and her “little gray cells”, bringing to life all these great mysteries, giving you a completely different way of escaping reality. When listening to her stories, the narrators make me feel like I’m using the time turner from Harry Potter, being able to watch everything happen from the sidelines, seeing the clothing from way back then, the frustrated looks on the detectives’ faces, it just makes it all a great experience. As you can tell, I’ve clearly enjoyed her works and I hope you’ll be able to go on a similar or far greater journey than I have while listening/reading her stories!