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    Mrs. McGinty's Dead: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition
    Mrs. McGinty's Dead: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition
    Mrs. McGinty's Dead: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition
    Audiobook6 hours

    Mrs. McGinty's Dead: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition

    Written by Agatha Christie

    Narrated by Hugh Fraser

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    In Mrs. McGinty’s Dead, one of Agatha Christie’s most ingenious mysteries, the intrepid Hercule Poirot must look into the case of a brutally murdered landlady.

    Mrs. McGinty died from a brutal blow to the back of her head. Suspicion falls immediately on her shifty lodger, James Bentley, whose clothes reveal traces of the victim’s blood and hair. Yet something is amiss: Bentley just doesn’t seem like a murderer.

    Could the answer lie in an article clipped from a newspaper two days before the death? With a desperate killer still free, Hercule Poirot will have to stay alive long enough to find out. . . .

     

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJul 3, 2012
    ISBN9780062230041
    Author

    Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in over 70 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 20 plays, and six novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott.

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    Reviews for Mrs. McGinty's Dead

    4.5/5

    213 ratings28 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Another car trip called for another Agatha Christie audiobook. This time Hercule Poirot has a lot of suspects for the murder of a charwoman. Mrs. McGinty’s Dead was the perfect book to make the miles fly by.Mrs. McGinty’s Dead is classic Poirot. The fussy and fastidious little detective is endearing as he suffers in a small English village in the hopes of uncovering whodunit. My husband, son and I had a good time trying to figure out the villain, but in true Christie fashion, the actual solution was a bit obscured. We never would have figured it out on our own. And while I like to think that my powers of detection are sharp from the many hours of mystery reading, this particular mystery was just too hard.The audio version was very entertaining. Hugh Fraser does a great job of bringing Christie’s characters to life. His timing is impeccable too — we enjoyed a a great many laughs with this novel.If you are looking for an entertaining and challenging mystery, then consider Mrs. McGinty’s Dead.Recommended.Audience: late teens to adults.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This is the first Poirot book I have read, although it is the twenty-eighth of the series (out of thirty-nine). I have always been a fan of the TV series, so when Christmas came around my parents naturally bought me two of the books. This one has Poirot going to see his friend Superintendent Spence, who has just had a man convicted for murder based on his evidence, and he will be hanged. However, he feels unhappy with the verdict, because although all the evidence points directly to him, he doesn’t feel he is the right ‘type’ to kill, so asks Poirot to take a look at the case and see if he can either find the real culprit or put his mind at ease.It’s a lot shorter than I was expecting, but it was definitely a good read. The twists in the story kept me interested the whole way through; it was a pleasure to read and hard to put down. And Poirot himself is absolutely charming, I found him very likeable. All the characters were very believable. It also has some great humorous comments (not laugh out loud funny, but enough to make me chuckle or smile to myself) so it’s not all doom and gloom. Definitely enjoyable, but more of a light, short read (in my opinion).The only downside I had about this book was that I didn’t know men could be called ‘Evelyn’ and women ‘Craig’ – both seem pretty gender-specific names to me. Maybe I’m just being petty but it did bother me a bit (though it may be just a matter of time-difference, since Poirot is obviously not set in the modern day).

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      The super threads were pleasing to read keep my attention.
    • 5/5
      I prefer the Poirot’s narrated by Hugh Fraser. Such a superb experience. (Ironic considering I don’t like Hastings!)

      Anyway this is such fun. The plot is immediately in motion, with Superintendent Spense bringing the matter to Poirot’s attention. He has a hunch that James Bentley didn’t kill his landlady Mrs. McGinty, despite the evidence saying he is guilty.

      It also has Mrs Oliver a character that is very amusing.
    • 4/5
      Very good and all tied up nicely. Ariadne makes a wonderful appearance here and Christie's humour really comes through. Lots of characters to keep up with but I did like the references to old murder cases since it's also happening today (Anne Perry being a prime example of someone who changed lives after being convincted for murder).
    • 2/5
      This was not my favorite Agatha Christie book. It didn’t keep my attention and I usually enjoy complex plots, but this one was unnecessarily convoluted and anticlimactic.
    • 4/5
      A clever mystery all over a name. Poirot is old but just as sharp. Somewhat humorous book.
    • 5/5
      Really great book. I would definitely highly recommend it to everyone
    • 4/5
      Very confusing. When poirot reads the newspaper article, listen very carefully a number of times. He will not repeat and the rest of the story makes no sense without a full recall of the four women.
    • 4/5
      The narration and story were both wonderful, kept me guessing till the end!
    • 4/5
      Such a pleasure! Recently I reread a Christie novel, not realizing it was a reread, and it was dreadful. I thought this one was a reread, but actually I turned out not to have read it before, and it’s an excellent Poirot outing — not top 5 Poirot, maybe, but good — plus appearances by the delightful Ariadne Oliver.
    • 3/5
      In which the seemingly random death of an old woman may hide a darker motive…

      "Mrs. McGinty’s Dead" hangs on the cusp of an era, really: the end of the Poirot-who-just-wishes-to-retire age (most notably featured in "The Labours of Hercules"), and the beginning of the rueful-retired-Poirot period. Sensibly, then, it also features the crime novelist Ariadne Oliver, the perfect complement to Poirot’s fastidiousness, as well as Superintendent Spence, who debuted in "Taken at the Flood". (Rather neatly, he is played by Richard Hope in both of the Suchet adaptations.)

      I’m not sure I’d regard this as a classic – the mystery relies a little too much on coincidence and chance – but the suspects and murders are solidly set-up, Mrs. Oliver has one of her strongest outings, and Poirot himself gets to be the victim of an insufferable guest house, which makes for much merriment. The TV movie was particularly enjoyable, with Zoë Wanamaker – delightful as always – giving her all as Mrs. Oliver.

      Three-and-a-half stars.

      Poirot ranking: 22nd out of 38.
    • 5/5
      Great story and narration. Always a favorite book the enjoy.
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite Christie stories. I loved the trick of the newpaper photos. The only downcheck was the weak motive, which seemed to bother Christie a little as well...
    • 3/5
      A standard murder mystery. Hercule Poirot is asked to investigate the death of a charwoman some months previously. He gets to know the residents of the village, and - of course - figures out 'whodunit'.

      Agatha Christie's skill is in her plotting, and the laying of false clues to lull the reader into a false sense of confidence about the perpetrator of her crimes. However, her characters tend to be two-dimensional and hard to distinguish.

      Lack of characterisation doesn't matter in a plot-based book where there are only a few people. But in this one, there are more individuals than I could remember... and I did figure out who was the guilty party about half-way through the book. I haven't read a Christie for quite some time, so was surprised to get it right.

      OK for a light read if you're a fan of this genre, but I wouldn't particularly recommend it.
    • 3/5
      Refreshingly lacking any reference to the little grey cells, this is an entertaining Poirot with an unexpected, but not a trick, ending. A clever murderer kills an elderly char woman, not for her savings, but because she has seen something that she should not have and may use the knowledge to ruin the killer's life. This CD version is read by the acotr who played Hastings in the BBC series, and who does the various voices very well.
    • 3/5
      Mrs. McGinty er blevet slået ihjel. Hendes logerende James Bentley er blevet dømt for mordet, men politiinspektør Spence synes alligevel ikke at det er sandsynligt at Bentley kunne slå den gamle dame ihjel og henvender sig til Hercule Poirot. Poirot har egentlig trukket sig tilbage, men han keder sig og har stor respekt for Spence, så han tager sagen. I starten famler han rundt uden at finde andet end små bitte antydninger af at det måske ikke var Bentley. Fx blev McGinty's penge fundet, men ikke mordvåbenet og det kunne skyldes at pengene kunne pege på Bentley, mens mordvåbenet - noget i stil med en kødøkse - måske ville pege på en helt anden. Han tager til landsbyen Broadhinny, hvor McGinty gjorde rent for flere af familierne og han falder over en avis, hvor hun har klippet et billede ud. Et billede, hvor man ser fotos af fire kvinder som har været involveret i mordsager og teksten "hvor er de nu?".MaGinty har set et af de fire ansigter og nu er hun død.Poirot finder ud af at hun har købt en flaske blæk kort inden og finder ud af at hun har skrevet brev til avisen. Han begynder nu højlydt og med uventet hjælp fra Ariadne Oliver at fortælle om at han er tæt på den rigtige morder og at Bradley er uskyldig. Han finder også en sukkerhammer, som han er overbevist om er mordvåbenet. Og nogen forsøger at slå ham ihjel, hvilket gør ham glad fordi det viser at han er på rette spor. Der er en herlig forvirring af spor, fordi Poirot ikke ved hvilket af de fire fotos, der har givet anledning til mordet. Mrs Upward lugter lunten, men bliver kvalt inden hun får givet mistanken luft. Poirot tænker til gengæld over at en række falske spor alle peger på kvinder som den skyldige og ergo er det en mand, der er skurken. Robin Upward afsløres med stort drama af Poirot som Evelyn Hope, Eva Kanes søn og motivet til begge drab var at sikre sig Mrs Upwards penge.Efter afsløringen fortæller Poirot til Spence at han vil lege giftekniv mellem Deirdre Henderson og James Bentley.I fællesskab opdager de to også at det var Dr. Rendell der prøvede at skubbe Poirot ud foran et tog og at Rendell formentlig har et fortid som aldrig-dømt hustrumorder.Glimrende krimi
    • 4/5
      When an elderly and poor cleaning lady is murdered her lodger is tried and sentenced to death quickly. But something just doesn't seem right to Superintendent Spence, so he asks for M. Poirot's help. Poirot sees no reason to question the guilty verdict at first-until his interest is piqued by a bottle of ink.This is a good one. I managed to figure out the murderer but got the motives wrong. Great characters.
    • 4/5
      This is an enticing mystery that keeps you guessing all the way through the many red herrings and plot twists you encounter. I always enjoy Christie's ability to string me along.
    • 5/5
      An elderly woman is found murdered in her home. Her lodger, an unpleasant young man, if convicted of the crime, but the police officer in charge of the investigation believes he is innocent and recruits Ercule Poirot to investigate. Agatha Christie always surprises me when it comes to the identity of the criminal and this time is no exception, which is why I come back to her works again and again. I suspected everyone but the real villain and while many of the characters I pegged as untrustworthy were in fact hiding something (some even concealing secrets related to the case) none of them turned out to be guilty. I particularly enjoyed the characters in this story - the apple-eating authoress, the disheveled hostess, the clingy mother who isn't as weak as she'd like everyone to believe, a publicity-conscious politician, an impoverished nobleman turned farmer, a wealthy heiress who acts like she's the maid... Even if you can't be bothered to keep all the names straight you will know exactly who's who. One of the themes of this novel is revealed in the alternative title - Blood Will Tell. The notion that character traits are hereditary comes up in conversation and the murder, when discovered, exclaims "I can't help it! It's in my blood!". While there is a reason the saying "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" exists I don't subscribe to the idea that one's predecessors' flaws as well as their strengths are irrevocably a part of one's character and feel that Christie didn't either.
    • 4/5
      Mrs McGinty's Dead. How did she die? Struck over the head by her lodger,. Or maybe not. Mrs McGinty's murder has been solved, but the policeman in charge of the case is not satisfied and calls in Poirot to investigate to make sure that he's caught the right man. Poirot, of course, discovers the truth. An interesting read and I always enjoy it when Poirot investigates a murder in retrospect.
    • 4/5
      Mrs. McGinty’s dead. How did she die?Down on one knee, just like I.Mrs. McGinty’s dead. How did she die?Holding her hand out, just like I.Mrs. McGinty is indeed dead, her killer has been convicted, and he is scheduled to die. But is he really guilty of the murder, or did someone else kill Mrs. McGinty? All the evidence pointed to James Bentley as the killer, yet Superintendent Spence isn’t satisfied. He calls on his old acquaintance, Hercule Poirot, and asks if Poirot might look into the case to see if he can spot anything the police missed. Poirot takes a room in a lodging house in the village and begins asking questions. The Superintendent’s suspicion will prove right when another murder occurs. This time there is no question that James Bentley could have done it, because he is in custody awaiting his execution.Detective novelist Ariadne Oliver is reunited with Poirot in this book. Her comments on her detective and the writing process provide comic relief. It’s not hard to see her comments as Christie’s own feelings about her own fictional detective, Hercule Poirot. Mrs. Oliver is in the village to collaborate with a young playwright who is adapting one of her novels for the stage. Some aspects of the plot, setting, and characters remind me of the plot, setting, and characters of The Mousetrap, which debuted in the same year that this book was published.
    • 1/5
      A man is about ti be hanged for the murder of his landlady, Mrs McGinty... however, Superintendent Spence (who built the case & got the man convicted) has major doubts and calls M. Poirot in to re-investigate the case.The supposed motive of the murder seemed to be robbery, but the money was found dumped near the house.As it turns out, M. Poirot finds that Mrs McGinty had been reading the Sunday paper and there had been an article about 4 women who were murderesses and she had recognized one of the photos in one of the houses she cleaned.....Almost everyone in the village had something to hide, almost all were guilty of something.... Most of the women were domineering hypochondriacs (as was the mother of the alleged murderer).... or they were weak & much harassedNot one of them was likable..... I finished the book just to find out "who done it"......
    • 3/5
      Prompted once again by a TV dramatisation I sought out the source material and found it another delightful read.
    • 5/5
      Now retired, Hercule Poirot does not have enough to keep him busy. The only important events in his life are his three meals a day, and so when Superintendent Bert Spence, who he met on an earlier case, comes to see him about the McGinty case he welcomes some activity. James Bentley has just been found guilty of Mrs McGinty's murder but has not yet been sentenced. Superintendent Spence is not happy that Bentley is really guilty and asks Poirot to retrace the investigation.The problem with Bentley is that he is such a hangdog that he looks guilty and Poirot thinks that he can't blame the jury for their verdict, but he doubts that Bentley could kill anyone. Poirot goes to stay in the village of Broadhinny and puts it about that there is new evidence come to light that Bentley may not have committed murder after all. As Poirot questions those Superintendent Spence has already questioned, new evidence does indeed come to light. Someone tries to push Poirot under a train so he knows he is on the right track, but he is not quick enough to prevent another murder. Ariadne Oliver is chagrined to learn it has taken place under her very nose.This is a carefully woven plot with Poirot trying to track down the identity of four women whose photos appeared in the local paper. There are several likely people and we see an idea surfacing that was used in an earlier novel, that so many people lost their identity papers during air raids and dislocation during the Second World War, that you can never be sure that people are who they say they are. Poirot again gets a young woman to assist him in his investigation, and in the final pages we glimpse him indulging in some matchmaking.A good read, but I really can't go along with Miss Marple replacing Hercule Poirot (see Synopsis).
    • 5/5
      Surprising ending in this playwright story of murder, superbly read by Hugh Fraser!
    • 4/5
      Superintendent Spence is retiring, and he is justly proud of his record. He has never hung an innocent man - until now. Although the evidence seems solid enough and there are no other suspects, Spence just can't convince himself that meek James Bentley murdered his landlady. But he is called off on another case, so he turns to an old friend - Hercule Poirot.Poirot is more than willing to look into the murder. He is not finding retirement as congenial as he thought he would and he is convinced by the case Spence makes. But time is against him and he must rush to get to the bottom of this murder.Fortunately, Ariadne Oliver is also on the scene, and she unearths several helpful clues for Poirot. The case is soon wrapped up in the fate of four women, each involved in a murder committed many years ago. Mrs. McGinty knew something about one of those cases. But which one?I enjoyed this story. Mrs. Oliver is always a fun character. But it's Poirot I want to read about, and this book was a solid example of the great detective at work.
    • 4/5
      An elderly lady is murdered in her home, and her lodger, a hopelessly unappealing lump of a man, is convicted of the crime. Hercule Poirot is recruited to explore the possibility that someone else committed the murder. The mystery is fairly straightforward; the story pokes much fun at Poirot's ego, even as he ingenuously closes on the truth.