Alison Larkin Presents: The Secret Adversary, Murder on the Links, and The Mysterious Affair at Styles

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Alison Larkin, James Warwick

Length: 24 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Three critically acclaimed recordings are joined together in this dazzling Agatha Christie Triple Bill, read by award-winning narrators Alison Larkin and James Warwick, star of the Partners in Crime TV series on Masterpiece Theater.

The Secret Adversary
Just after WW1, Tommy and Tuppence set up “Young Adventurers Ltd.” and are soon caught up in a devilish plot to destroy the British establishment.

"Larkin is an excellent choice to narrate this delightful classic...her reading is champagne bubbly and engaging throughout...a jaunty, jolly good listen." (Publisher’s Weekly)

Murder on the Links
Hercule Poirot travels to France in response to a cry for help, only to find his client stabbed to death on a golf course. Then another murder follows....

”Warwick’s characterization of Poirot is spot-on.”(AudioFile magazine)

The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Poirot is recruited by Captain Hastings to find out if the death of Emily Inglethorpe’s much younger husband was an accident - or murder.

“This classic whodunnit is brought to life with style by narrator James Warwick....” (AudioFile magazine)

Public Domain (P)2019 Alison Larkin Presents

Critic reviews

“This classic whodunnit is brought to life with style by narrator James Warwick...” (AudioFile Magazine)

”Warwick’s characterization of Poirot is spot-on.”(AudioFile Magazine)

excellent everything, but complicated story

love the entire book, but the mysterious Affair at Styles was tough to follow, just not use to listening to such a complicated story

The Secret Adversary is good, but not the Poirot

Alison Larkin does a great job narrating The Secret Adversary. The narration of the Poirot stories just can't compare with the great versions narrated by Hugh Fraser and David Suchet.

The T&T story was beautifully done...

Loved Alison Larkins narration as well as the Tommy and Tuppence story but James Warwicks narration left something to be desired. When getting a voice actor for a Poirot book youd think the first thing they'd check is if they could do a good Poirot voice but Warwicks has a Scottish tinge to it and imho its not a very pleasing impersonation of how Poirot should sound. Besides that the storys were rather average as far as a Christie mystery goes but captain Hastings is so annoying and full of himself with absolutely no reason to be. He's a dull headed idiot and always acts like Poirot is losing it qhen Hastings himself has never even had it in the first place and it gets tiresome how he always acts in such a way and always gets proven wrong time and again. All in all, worth the listen but not her best.

An amazing bundle!

The Secret Adversary -
This was by far my favorite of the three stories. I just think the cast of characters was so much fun! I'm only going to give a full review of book 1 since it was my favorite.

Tommy and Tuppence are tired of living with barely enough to get by. They want to enjoy the easy way of life that only lots of money can provide. So they set out to be the hands and feet of anyone willing to pay them. Boy oh boy, their adventure begins before they even know it!

This is the second Agatha Christie story I’ve listened to by Alison Larkin Presents and it will not be the last! Ms. Larkin is a superb storyteller.

In this story, my favorite character was Tuppence. She has so much energy and is very colorful. I love strong heroines and Tuppence doesn’t disappoint. This mystery kept me guessing until the very very very end!


Murder on the Links -

I found the transition between the first book and this one to be a little jarring. The narration of book 1 sounded wonderfully bright. The recording in book 2 sounded 'boxy'. But, if you take this title all by itself, then you probably won't hear the difference.

Murder on the Links / The Mysterious Affair at Styles
(general comment) I had a little trouble with the Hercule Peirot stories. They just seemed to drag on, which for me, lead to a little ear fatigue. James Warwick created a very quirky Hercule, which I enjoyed and Hastings just made me roll my eyes. He most certainly loves the ladies and gives his heart away a little too easily. LOL

I did enjoy the second Hercule story, The Mysterious Affair at Styles a little better than the first, so the order was nice (to end with the stronger story). IMHO. The transition from the second story to the final story was fine. Audibly, they sounded like similar.

Murder on the Links - (general comment) I wish the names of the main detective Geirot was a little more different sounding than Peirot. I kept getting the characters mixed up in scenes, which caused a little confusion in my head.

Overall, James Warwick was pleasant to listen to. I think I'd like to listen to him narrate another audiobook that wasn't Peirot or with a Belgian/French accent though.

All three mysteries kept me guessing until the very end. I do prefer the non-Hercule stories though.

I was given a free copy of this audiobook. My honest review is freely offered.

Mature content: none

5 stars for Alison Larkin

Like most who purchase an Agatha Christie audible, I purchased it for the listen, not because the story was new to me. That being said, Alison Larkin is a wonderful narrator and brought Tommy and Tuppence to life in Secret Adversary. However, James Warwick was horrific! He seemed to feel that shouting Poirot's dialogue made up for his inability to do a Belgian (or even French) accent.

It is unfortunate that two-thirds of the collection are read by Mr. Warwick. I was greatly disappointed after such a promising start. If I could have rated the two performances separately, Ms. Larkin would have received 5 stars across the board. Mr. Warwick would have received none. I will avoid further books read by him. If you want to listen to Agatha, I recommend any but this one.

Is it me? Or is it Memorex?

I’ve been an Agatha Christie fan since I saw one of her books lying on an ottoman in my best friend’s den. Her mother was reading it and had left it to be readily picked up later. I was intrigued. Over the years I’ve collected her books and now I’m enjoying them again through recordings. What I did not enjoy about this selection of three was the narrator’s interpretation of Poirot’s Belgian accent. It was labored, slow, heavy, and difficult to understand. I very nearly shouted, “Hallelujah!”, when at last all three books came to an end. I don’t want to pick on John Warwick, but it is what it is. I thought he did a good job on Arthur Hastings.

Pitch perfect narration of Agatha Christie!

Whoever came up with the idea of joining these three recordings together was nothing short of brilliant. I have listened to them all individually and was thrilled to see them in one package - and at a fantastic price too! One of the best deals on Audible! I have to say Alison Larkin is one of my all time favorite narrators - I absolutely adore her narration of Jane Austen 's novels and actually love everything she does. I watched James Warwick in the t.v. series Partners in Crime with Francesca Annis when he was a young man - which only goes to show how old I am - and I was just delighted to hear him read Poirot with such authenticity! This is wonderful from start to finish. Well done!

Alison Larkin Presents: The Secret Adversary, Murd

I was not too excited by the stories but the narration was ok.I do not think I'm a fan of the classics.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

Wonderful Collection of Agatha Christie

This is a great group of three Agatha Christie books. It's fun going back in time with these classic mysteries. The narration was great, the only complaint I had was the voice for detective Poirot which at times sounded a bit like a French pirate... outside of that I really enjoyed the books. If you like classic mysteries or are a fan of Agatha Christie then you'll love this set of three books, and for one credit you can't beat it!

—I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Not a fan

I suspected I might not care when it was given me. I'm glad I didn't actually pay for this. If I'd screened a sample, I would have passed on it without a second thought. Any time a reader places their name before the title, I'm already skeptical and somewhat nettled. Frankly, this emerged as a particularly weak production. I have a large collection of Christie on audio. but this one didn't last through an entire playing.

I definitely will not be revisiting it in future, and will avoid anything else bearing the names involved in this project.