The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

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An Overview

The ABC Murders tells the story of master detective Hercule Poirot’s efforts to stop a killer who taunts him by accurately predicting the time and place of a series of murders.

The Main Body

Written in 1936, this mystery by Agatha Christie may well be one of the first in the genre to deal with a serial killer. While Poirot will be familiar to many fans of Christie, the plot device will seem brand new as the dapper Belgian sleuth tries to understand the mind of a homicidal maniac.

Captain Hastings, Poirot’s sidekick, who does his best to keep up with the quick thinking detective, narrates the story. The book opens with Poirot receiving an anonymous letter warning him that something ominous will happen in Andover on a particular day in June. It is signed only, “ABC.”

When Alice Ascher is beaten and killed in her shop in that city on the predicted day, Poirot and Hastings know that they are dealing with a criminal mind of the highest order. The only clue they can find at the scene of the crime is a railway guide, also known as an ABC. The story continues as the two friends interview suspects and puzzle over the murder of Betty Bernard in Bexhill and Colonel Clarke in Churston.

The same unknown letter writer predicts the killings, and a copy of the ABC railway guide is found at each crime scene. Tensions mount as Poirot tries to get inside the mind of this killer and find a way to stop him before the end of the alphabet is reached. Some listeners may complain that the action of the book slows down considerably between each of the murders, but there are enough twists and turns in the plot to keep most mystery fans thoroughly engaged.

Hastings and Poirot make an endearing team as they work together and tease each other about their personal foibles. The ending of the story comes as a real surprise, and shows how Agatha Christie was well ahead of her time in her understanding of the areas of criminal profiling and the psychology of serial murderers.

The Narration

Hugh Fraser is the narrator of the book. Fans of the BBC television series featuring Hercule Poirot will recognize Fraser as the actor who plays Captain Hastings. His voice is easy to listen to, and he is skillful in his ability to speak in accents that are proper for both the upper and lower class characters that populate the story.

He is also very good at reading Poirot’s parts with a French inflection that brings the pompous little detective to mind.

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