Karen

Audible intro and sign-off mispronounce pasties

Revisado: 08-13-22

But Amanda Ronconi pronounces the word pasties correctly.

(I don't know if Audible will re-record its brief introduction and sign-off after this review, but pasties -- as in Cornish pasties -- is pronounced 'past-eez' not 'paste-eez'.)

I am a fan of Molly Harper and of Amanda Ronconi's narrations of Harper's works.

I wish, however, that the story had been longer as the plot needed a little more development and a few less contrivances to reach its ending. I can see the possibility of this being the first in a new series.

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Amazing collection, but five stories are missing

Revisado: 05-23-22

Apart from some nitpicking below, this is a collection well worth the reader's time and money.

Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories is a compilation of five earlier audio collections -- 1) The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding and Other Stories , 2) The Labours of Hercules, 3) Murder in the Mews and Other Stories, 4) Poirot investigates, and 5) Poirot's Early Cases -- and "Yellow Iris".

These are NOT the "complete" short stories of Hercule Poirot. MISSING are:
1) "The Submarine Plans" -- originally published in 1923 and reworked in 1937 as "The Incredible Theft" (which is published in this collection) .
2) "The adventure of the Christmas Pudding" -- originally published in 1923. It was reworked in 1963 using the same title and that reworked short story is published in this collection under title: "The Theft of the Royal Ruby".
3) "The second gong" -- originally published in 1932 and reworked in 1937 under title: "Dead man's mirror" (which is published in this collection).
4) "Poirot and the Regatta Mystery" -- originally published in 1936 and reworked in 1939 (but WITHOUT Hercule Poirot) under title "The Regatta Mystery".
5) "The Mystery of the Spanish Chest" -- published in 1960 and was a reworking of "The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest" originally published in 1932 (which is published in this collection).

It is advertised as 'more than 50 stories'. That is misleading. There are fifty short stories and two forewords in this collection. I do not count the foreword to the whole collection and the foreword to The Labours of Hercules as short stories.

Lastly, I am unable to identify any short story in this collection as read by Isla Blair.

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esto le resultó útil a 63 personas

Dobson is the wrong narrator for this title

Revisado: 05-01-22

Wrong reader -- I didn't make it through the first story.

Before I began listening, I spent a great deal of time verifying the titles and author names.

I used the "Listen now" feature to analyze what stories were included in which tracks. Rather than wasting that information, I have included it below.

I downloaded the title in two files (11:02:02 and 9:19:23). Please note, the twenty-fifth story in the collection -- For the Blood is the Life, by F.M. Crawford* -- somehow ended up being split between the two downloads.

The following is a full list of TRACKS (as a one-file download), STORY ORDER, TITLES, and AUTHORS. I set up for three, aligned, easily-readable columns, but Audible formatting blocked that.

1 -- 1. If you see her face / B.M. Croker
2 -- 2. The ghost at the Blue Dragon / W.J. Winkle
3-4 -- 3. The shadows / H.S. Whitehead
5 -- 4. The grey cat / B. Pain
6 -- 5. The yellow globe / A.W. Drake
7 -- 6. The Devil of the marsh / H.B. Marriott-Watson
8 -- 7. The spectre spiders / W.J. Wintle
9-10 -- 8. The curious vehicle / A.W. Drake
11 -- 9. Number ninety / B.M. Coker
12 -- 10. The black cat / W.J. Wintle
13 -- 11. The permanent stiletto / W.C. Morrow
14-15 -- 12. Passing of a god / H.S. Whitehead
16 -- 13. The chamber of doom / W.J. Wintle
17-18 -- 14. The white cat / H. Walpole
19 -- 15. The loosened cord / A.W. Drake
20 -- 16. Mrs. Brassington-Claypott's children's party / F. Anstey
21-22 -- 17. The inmate of the dungeon / W.C. Morrow
23 -- 18. The red rosary / W.J. Wintle
24 -- 19. Caveat empto / F. Anstey
25 -- 20. The former passengers / B.M. Croker
26 -- 21. The striding place / G. Atherton
27-29 -- 22. The screaming skull / F.M. Crawford
30 -- 23. The story of the vanishing patient / E.W. Peattie
31 -- 24. The lizard / C.J. Cutcliffe Hyne
*32-33 -- 25. For the blood is the life / F.M. Crawford
34-35 -- 26. "To let" / B.M. Croker
36 -- 27. Narrative of a ghost with a hand / S. Le Fanu
37-38 -- 28. The dak bungalow at Dakor / B.M. Croker
39 -- 29. The greatest good of the greatest number / G. Atherton
40 -- 30. Quality / J. Galsworthy
41 -- 31. The khitmatga / B.M. Croker
42 -- 32. The bed by the window / E.F. Benson
43 -- 33. Over the border / M. Robertson
44-49 -- 34. The beast with five fingers / W.F. Harvey
51 -- 35. The beast in the cave / H.P. Lovecraft
52-55 -- 36. Imprisoned with the pharaohs / attributed to H. Houdini, but written by H.P. Lovecraft
56-58 -- 37. Old fags / S. Aumonier
59 -- 38. Submarine / S. Benson
60 -- 39. The 19 Club / A.J. Alan
61 -- 40. The siege of Berlin / A. Daudet
62 -- 41. The fire / C.J. Cutcliffe Hyne
63 -- 42. Unwinding / W.F. Harvey
64 -- 43. The death-mask / H.D. Everett

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I stopped listening by the end of chapter 5

Revisado: 07-28-18

I stopped listening to this audiobook at the end of Chapter 5.

At the end of that chapter, a panicked 14-year-old girl has become a sexual object to a group of adult males led by the 22-year-old male who is the "hero" of the book. 

Perhaps the author believes the hero's behavior should be excused, because he is out of control due to his father's disappearance and his sister's attempted suicide. That kind of justification doesn't work for me. It was too much a "R*y M****e" kind of moment. I found it distasteful. The fact that the book was copyrighted in 1995 is not a justification.

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It really is terrible.

Revisado: 03-09-12

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A complete rewrite of this title might have made this a 4- or 5-star experience.

Would you ever listen to anything by Janet Evanovich again?

No.

Would you be willing to try another one of C. J. Critt’s performances?

Yes.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

A waste of time.

Any additional comments?

Stephanie Plum is thirty years old, unemployed and still trying to prove to her parents that she is an independent woman who can take care of herself.

An abundance of poor impulse control best describes her -- not pluck. Despite adversities in her newly chosen career, it is her ability to rationalize one bad choice after another that keeps her pushing on. Stephanie Plum needs a caretaker.

After listening to this title, I have no interest in listening to or reading any of the other titles in the Stephanie Plum series. I have purchased approximately two hundred titles from Audible since I first joined. One for the Money is one of only four that I have deleted from my laptop file.

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