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    Appointment With Death: B2+
    Appointment With Death: B2+
    Appointment With Death: B2+
    Audiobook3 hours

    Appointment With Death: B2+

    Written by Agatha Christie

    Narrated by Roger May

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Collins brings the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, to English language learners.

    Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time and in any language. Now Collins has adapted her famous detective novels for English language learners. These carefully abridged versions are shorter with the language targeted at learners of English.

    Mrs Boynton, a cruel and hated woman, is found dead in the ancient city of Petra. Was it just a weak heart and too much sun that killed her, or has one of Mrs Boynton’s many victims found revenge?

    By chance, the great detective Hercule Poirot has some useful information, but is it enough to find the killer? He has 24 hours to solve the case.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins Publishers
    Release dateOct 5, 2017
    ISBN9780008267407
    Appointment With Death: B2+
    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 Appointment With Death

    4/5

    44 ratings37 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I like Miss Marple more than Poirot, but the full cast audio recordings are quick and great regardless.
    • 4/5
      June, 2001Appointment with DeathAgatha ChristieAnother one from Grandpa’s paperback collection. Typical Christie fare. Poirot mystery. I usually prefer the “singles”, as I call them, rather than the Miss Marples or Poirots, but this was okay. Poirot is in Jerusalem, some tour thing, and some nasty old biddy gets murdered in her tent, or sitting outside of it, rather. Everybody had a reason to kill her, especially her grown children, who she kept under a firm grip financially and emotionally. Christie does excel at that kind of familial desperation - the need to kill to escape. I often wish they’d get away with it!
    • 1/5
      Appointment With Death (1937) (Poirot #19) by Agatha Christie. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it at all. From the start where Poirot just :happens” to accidentally overhear damning evidence to his treatment of the suspects, none of it fit well with me. In a Poirot novel I want the Belgian to be somehow included in the ways and means of the mystery, not brought in at a later time to act as judge of an entire family. And the way he treats everyone involved is pretty revolting.I expect to have more of Poirot throughout the novel, not have him relegated to the second have of the story. The first section is taken up by the victim and her family. She is Mrs. Boynton, a horrible sadist whose victims are the one group of people she should care the most about. Her family, her three step-children and her own daughter, are and have been subject to the most despicable mental torture for their entire lives, Shut away from the world with the old woman out in the country, they never managed to break away from her. For that I find little sympathy for the two boys and the two daughters. Somehow one son has managed to get married, only to have his wife sucked into the old spider’s web.For some reason, not adequately explained in the novel, the entire troupe find themselves away from home for the first time and in Jerusalem of all places. When a side trip to Petra proves fatal to the heart disease ridden old martinet, all the family and several others come under the suspicion of the local police chief. Fortunately for him Poirot just happens to be visiting and decides he will take on the case.But what he really does is continue on with the torture that was supposed to have died with the mother. Poirot seems overly egotistical in this venture, more so than what he appears to present in his other outings. He acts as a hammer with every person within sight substituting for nails. He is brutal to a family that HE KNOWS has been traumatized their entire existence. He touts JUSTICE and then attacks even the youngest member of the clan. I did not like Poirot in this story. I did not care for the backstory, but most disturbing of all is that I did not care for the family involved. What sort of man would not break away from the torture being meted out by the “cruel step-mother” or would get married only to bring his wife into the situation. The only explanation offered is that they have no money to start a different life with and so are dependent upon the mother.Yuck!At first I was sad when Poirot didn’t make a major appearance in this book, and then I found myself wishing he hadn’t been involved at all. It took a week to force myself through this awful story, a sure sign of just how bad it is.Reading this almost made me want to go out and start licking the hand rails that adorn the most used public spaces nearby, not a good thing to do during a Pandemic, but there you have it.
    • 5/5
      This is one of my favourite Christie novels. I love the idea of setting the murder at Petra of all places and the victim, Mrs Boynton is one of Christie's most psychologically interesting characters and one who very definitely deserves to die.
    • 4/5
      Appointment with Death hails from Christie's prime, i.e. the 1930s, and its exotic settings in the middle East are a big plus, too. Poirot is called to the scene -- Petra -- to investigate the suspicious death of a tyrannical matriarch, whose cowering stepchildren and natural daughter are all sympathetic but highly plausible suspects. Christie also brings in a couple of characters with medical/psychological background here, and they spend a great deal of the novel dissecting the likelihood that our suspects' deep-seated murderous urges simply grew too powerful to resist. This doesn't make for an action-packed story, but I never found it dull.Overall, then, this is a good standard Christie. It's not one of her very best, but it's still a delight to read.
    • 4/5
      I thought it might have been Nadine who was the murderer, she had the motive and the knowledge. Then the Dr.Gerald was a close second with what I thought maybe faking a disease of malaria. But Hercule Poirot delivered the verdict with Lady Westhlome and afterward it made much sense. It was a good quick read. Like it.
    • 4/5
      You could look at Appointment with Death as either an appropriate read, or a totally wrong read for Mother’s Day as it deals with a monstrous mother whose chief joy in life is tormenting her children. In this offering by Agatha Christie we deal with the death of Mrs. Boynton, who along with her family is vacationing in the Middle East. Coincidentally, Hercule Poirot is also on vacation and is conveniently on hand to investigate firstly whether a murder did occur, and if so, who is the murderer.In typical Christie fashion, there’s plenty of suspects, the five remaining Boyntons, all interesting characters on their own, as well as other travellers in the party. A few red herrings help to keep you guessing, but overall, I wasn’t too surprised at the outcome. Perhaps not my favorite Agatha Christie mystery, but certainly an enjoyable read that gives us a fun look at upper class travellers in the 1930’s.
    • 4/5
      Once again murder disrupts Hercule Poirot's vacation. This time, he's in the Middle East. He first encounters the victim and several suspects in their Jerusalem hotel. Mrs. Boynton is more than just the stereotypical obnoxious American tourist. She's a tyrant who takes pleasure in manipulating the lives of her daughter and step-children. In some ways, it's not a surprise when Mrs. Boynton is murdered during an excursion to Petra. Did she push her children too far? Or could someone else in the party have had a motive for murdering the woman?While some of the plot elements are similar to her other books, Christie adds some different twists. Even though I had read the book before, I had forgotten the culprit's identity, and Christie fooled me this time. The book is full of suspects and red herrings, yet the significant clues were delivered in a way that didn't raise my suspicion. This is a characteristic I take for granted in Christie's mysteries, but it's something a lot of other mystery writers don't manage to do.
    • 3/5
      Another reliable author for a bit of Christmas reading. The interesting thing about this one, is how different it is to the TV adaptation.
    • 4/5
      One of her best. Don't judge it by the TV version which bears almost no relation to the original and contains a great deal of silliness that would've made Agatha very angry indeed. The book has a great deal to say about the nature of evil, and the need for courage in the face of it. Some great little riffs that could be called post modern too - reference to DL Sayers "Unnatural death" (1927) (p141 "...I read in a book - an English Detective story...") and Colonel Carbury's request that Poirot make a timetable and a list ("I suppose you couldn't do the things the detective does in books?" p116). Great fun. Just leave out white slaving nuns and the head of John the Baptist - AC was much cleverer than that!
    • 5/5
      Mrs Boynton's American family are in thrall to her. She dominates their lives like a giant spider and saps their individual wills to rebel. Only one of her family are actually her own child. Three of the remaining are her step children and one of the women is married to her eldest step-son. They are all totally dependent on her for financial support, although they will all inherit a massive fortune equally at her death. " What a horror of a woman!" Old, swollen, bloated, sitting there immoveable in the midsts of them - a distorted old Buddha - a gross spider in the centre of a web!Onlookers can see the toll that attendance on their mother is taking on the younger members of the Boynton family. They are nervy, drained, and apparently exhausted. What should have been a holiday in Jerusalem and Petra is a constant battle of wills with their mother who controls where they go, what they see, and who they talk to.By the end of Part I, nearly half way through the novel, Mrs Boynton keeps her appointment with death while visiting Petra. Hercule Poirot had already observed the family in Jerusalem. Just now he is visiting Colonel Carbury in Amman with a letter of introduction from Colonel Race. Mrs Boynton's body is brought to Amman and Carbury invites Poirot to assist him in the investigation. Hercule Poirot ... the egg-shaped head, the gigantic moustaches, the dandyfied appearance and the suspicious blackness of his hair.Poirot is fresh from his success in DEATH ON THE NILE. Where Colonel Race was his confidante in that case, Colonel Carbury takes on that role in APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH. Poirot is pretty confident though thta he will be able to solve the puzzle fairly quickly. Carbury says that he is only able to detain the family members and fellow travellers for 24 hours, so Poirot has a limit to the time available to him.Poirot says he will succeed through ... methodical sifting of the evidence, by a process of reasoning.... And by a study of psychological possibilities.Carbury is very sceptical of Poirot's ability, but of course, in the end Poirot proves what he said at the beginning. I am gifted.... I know my own ability.This is once again an enjoyable read. What strikes you with these novels is that they are relatively short by today's standards. Christie seems to have the ability to put a small world under the microscope, and yet at the same time can supply us with a considerable amount of detail, enough to float a red herring or two.
    • 5/5
      Now I've read both the play and the novel.
    • 3/5
      This was not the best book by Agatha. By all means. First of all, Poirot only appears in half the book (100 of 210 pages) and the last 20 pages is the setting as Poirot tells them all how smart he is and how he cracked the murder.

      So it seems, not all people had some motifs to kill the Matriach of a American family and the killer isn't who we are led to believe.

      My main problem is that Agatha Christie was getting more and more discontent with Poirot and this book shows it. I understand. This lady as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are two examples that created some powerful characters that are more known than them. Everyone knows who is Sherlock Holmes but I bet that some people don't know who wrote the stories. The same happens with Poirot and Agatha Christie. I understand that this must me a pression to the writer... I really hope the last 10 books of Poirot are better than the last couple ones I read.

      This book also had some interesting notions how Christie view the americans, jews or the beduins.

      The story itself was quite good. A matriach keeps under her leash four (step)sons/daughters and they all want to leave her. Poirot hears in the beginning of the story two persons saying that "She must die, you understand?" and from that moment on we learn more of the family and several people they met as they travel to israel and arabian penisula. Is quite interesting, don't get me wrong. A psychodrama.

      Not the best to start reading Poirot.
    • 4/5
      I read this after watching the BBC production with the same title. It was interesting to see how it had been adapted. This is classic A.C. with a great sense of atmosphere as well, as it is set near the ancient city of Petra and then partly in Jerusalem.
    • 3/5
      In which a tyrannical stepmother dies in Petra.

      Dame Agatha’s love for the Middle East makes "Appointment with Death" come alive. As with "Murder in Mesopotamia", Christie’s portrait of a tour through Jerusalem and Jordan, full of bitter characters and eager explorers, makes for a lively read. The sadistic Mrs. Boynton hovers over the proceedings from beginning to end, energising the psychological study of all the book’s characters. There’s a stylistic letdown, in that the denouement feels like a clever author revealing how each piece was pushed around, rather than a natural discussion arising from the story. (I know this seems like arguing that just one episode of "Two and a Half Men" is inane, lazy comedy, but many of the better Poirot denouements – "Murder on the Orient Express", for instance – at least simmer with tension and surprise. This one feels boastful.) But it doesn’t hamper the novel, nor do the relatively contrived circumstances surrounding the murder.

      "Appointment with Death" was the last of the Peter Ustinov adaptations (although, I confess, I didn’t know he’d filmed it until today!) coming just a year before David Suchet took over the role. Suchet himself recently starred in a lavish adaptation of this, which was far from perfect, but featured beautiful design and some wonderful performances.

      Three-and-a-half stars.

      Poirot ranking: 19th out of 38.
    • 5/5
      Poirot is on holiday in Jerusalem, but soon finds his services are called for. A possible omen is a conversation he overhears his first night.During a tour of the Holy Land, a woman is found dead, sitting in her chair overlooking the camp. She is head of a family that she keeps under her choke-hold of control. She may be the mother, but she is more like a cruel warden than a woman who actually cares about her children. Her death is more like a release than a tragedy.Poirot cannot guarantee he can find the murder and the proof needed to bring them to trial for prosecution, but he is positive he can find the truth of the crime. All parties involved had motives but who really was “the one?”It’s been a while since I’ve read Christie and I’ve read almost all of her mysteries. As usual, Poirot asked his questions of each person and listened to what they said and what they didn’t say. From this he made his deductions and presented them in the traditional gathering of suspects.If you enjoy Christie you will enjoy this. I did.
    • 5/5
      A tormented family goes on holiday to the Middle East...... Monster Dearest was previously a Prison Wardess and now has her family (children/step-children) as her prisoners.....

      An English (Psych) female doctor & a well known French psychotherapist come across the family and attempt to intervene....... add to the mix a good friend of the family, a well known member of Parliament (who is anti-oppression), and a mousey spinister....

      M. Poirot is in town and is asked to find the "truth", even though there will not be enough hard proof to bring a murderer to trial.

      I really liked this book. I liked most of the characters and the psych. study. Almost everyone had opportunity as well as a motive and the family & both doctors all thought to protect each other....

      Very interseting
    • 5/5
      4.5*

      "You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?"

      Mrs. Boynton is despised by everyone who meets her. Even her family. All of her children live under her thumb and it is easy to see how her manipulative tyranny make Mrs. Boynton one of the most despicable characters and one of the most deserving victims in any Christie novel.

      Poirot, having once overheard a conversation between two of the Boyton children, is resolved to investigate when a death occurs on a trip to Petra.

      I really enjoyed this mystery. Christie focuses once again on the relationships between the characters and uses psychology to map out what makes those relationship keep intact. There is something compelling about the vile Mrs Boynton as none of the people around her find the strength to tear away from her even though this would ultimately be for their own good. At the same time, Mrs Boyton's sadistic behaviour provides a number of lies and deceptions that make it fun to follow Poirot's investigations and keep guessing the resolution to this mystery.
    • 4/5
      A psychological thriller as much as a mystery. The deeply controlling Mrs Boynton is one of the most unpleasant and chilling characters I can remember. Set amongst a group of holiday-makers travelling in the Middle East, this has an interesting mixture of people, and some clever plotting.Hercule Poirot asks questions after the crime is committed, about half-way through the book, and ties together his evidence in a way that I don't think I would ever have guessed. I had, of course, spotted several instances in the trail of false clues, and also some of the lies told in the evidence. Recommended if you like this genre of mid-20th century light crime fiction.
    • 5/5
      One of my favorite Christies. An absolutely obnoxious victim, an old spider of a woman; an oddball family group to pull suspects from; the red city of Petra as a setting--who could ask for anything more in a relaxing mystery?
    • 2/5
      Too simplistic in scene setting. Totally unpredictable. Not one of her best.
    • 4/5
      Really 3.5 stars. I had trouble getting into the book at first because I found the character of Mrs. Boynton do creepy and unpleasant, but quite enjoyed it after that. Good ending.
    • 3/5
      Number 19 in the Hercule Poirot series and first published in 1938. The tyrannical Mrs Boynton has a great hold over her family which many witness during a holiday to The Holy Land. When the sadistic woman and former prison warden is seemingly murdered, Belgian detective Poirot interrupts his vacation to take on the case. The book examines the psychology of the warped Boynton family. Her other characters include Lady Westholme (imperious MP), Dr.Gerard (French doctor), Miss Pierce (scatterbrained goose), Miss Sarah King (newly qualified doctor). A good read with a twist at the end.
    • 3/5
      Synopsis: 'Holidaying in Jerusalem, Poirot overhears Raymond Boynton telling his sister, "You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?" Their stepmother, Mrs Boynton, is a sadistic tyrant who dominates her family. When she is found dead on a trip to Petra, Poirot proposes to solve the case in twenty-four hours, even though he has no way of knowing whether it was murder.Mrs. Boynton is sadistic and domineering, behaviours which she may have carried over from her original profession of prison warden. Sarah is attracted to Raymond Boynton, while Jefferson Cope admits to wanting to take Nadine Boynton away from her husband, Lennox Boynton, and the influence of her mother-in-law. Having been thwarted in her desire to free the young Boyntons, Sarah confronts Mrs. Boynton whose apparent reply is a strange threat: "I’ve never forgotten anything – not an action, not a name, not a face." When the party reaches Petra, Mrs. Boynton uncharacteristically sends her family away from her for a period. Later, she is found dead with a needle puncture in her wrist.'Review: This story was a bit odd; there were several things that didn't hang together.
    • 4/5
      One of her best, I find, mostly due to how rich the characterization is and how good of a villain Mrs Boynton is. I also really enjoyed the epilogue and I think if any book deserved an epilogue so the reader knows the characters end up okay, it was this. The only thing that bothers me is that Poirot dismisses the idea of letting the culprit get away with it even though he did it in Orient Express and in my opinion they're both as evil. Orient Express is my favourite Christie so far and it's also due to the fact that the murder questions Poirot's values so much - he had no good reason to pursue the investigation here seeing as Mrs Boynton is an absolute sadist and I for one would have liked more consistency on his part. Regardless, it's a really good mystery.
    • 3/5
      One of the more predictable of the Poirot cases. I had figured out the solution by the halfway point so the second half of the book was a little tedious to read.
    • 4/5
      Poirot overhears a line of conversation out of his hotel windown in Jerusulam: "You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?". He doesn't know who is speaking, or who they are with, but he has a feeling that he will recognise the voice if he hears it again.The story centres around an American family, the Boyntons, who are holidaying in the Near East. Also in the same hotel in Jerusalem is the inquisitive British medical student Miss King, and the renowned psychologist Dr Gerrard. These two become acquainted over their interest in discussing the psychological abnormalities of the Boynton family. Head of the family is the wickedly memorable Mrs Boynton whose sadistic control of her family gives no small motive in their wanting her dead. We are left in suspense as to if they will manage to kill her, when it will happen, where, and who will steel themselves to do it. Each member of the family is different psychologically speaking, with a couple of them being of particular interest. It is not at all obvious even to the dénouement who does the crime, which keeps up a decent level of suspense throughout. The psychological themes are integral to the plot and suspense, and very well done. Overall this is a very readable novel with some keen observations of human behaviour and a good rendering of the local atmosphere.
    • 4/5
      This is one of several of Christie's mysteries that show some of the influence of her archeologist husband.
    • 5/5
      Shocking ending! Reminiscent of Murder on the Orient Express, but of course enough differences to keep you interested!
    • 5/5
      Another of Christie's adventures that keeps you guessing until the very end. A subtle clue is there that makes you think...it could be this one...but, it's so much more obviously THIS one. And, then, of course, it's the one who flitted right through your brain with no more than a second's thought. I love that she constantly delights me no matter how jaded I think I am to murder mysteries and no matter that I read these as a teen. Thirty years later they are just as engrossing, just as intriguing---if not more so---and just as satisfying.