Short Stories audiobooks

The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

Length: 36 minutes

Abridged: No

A classic Agatha Christie short story from the collection The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories.Mystery writer Anthony Eastwood is lured to the crime scene of a faked murder, where two individuals masquerading as police officers arrest him and charge him for murder. As the phony police officers escort Mr. Eastwood home, the true goal... Read more

The Second Gong

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

Length: 51 minutes

Abridged: No

Lytcham Close, one of the oldest stately homes in England, is owned by the last remaining heir and ruled by his intolerable whims. Old Hubert demands complete silence when he plays music and times dinner exactly by a resounding gong. Rushing down at the sound of the second—or is it the first?—gong, Joan Ashby is about to find out that not only... Read more

The Red Signal

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Christopher Lee

Length: 49 minutes

Abridged: No

At a séance, Sir Alington, a venerable expert of the mental condition, is pestered by Mrs. Eversleigh about the importance of the sixth sense. Soon, a young man named Dermot is drawn in and tells them both about the sixth sense he experiences, a red signal that spells danger. He is about to tell them of the last time he saw the red signal when... Read more

The Witness for the Prosecution

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Christopher Lee

Length: 52 minutes

Abridged: No

When wealthy spinster Emily French is found murdered, suspicion falls on Leonard Vole, the man to whom she hastily bequeathed her riches before she died. Leonard assures the investigators that his wife, Romaine Heilger, can provide them with an alibi. However, when questioned, Romaine informs the police that Vole returned home late that night... Read more

Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

Length: 31 minutes

Abridged: No

Hercule Poirot is about to tuck into a very traditional English supper with his old friend Bonnington when a lone diner sparks his interest. Like clockwork, the man has eaten at the restaurant on Thursdays and Tuesdays for the last ten years, but no one on the staff knows his name. When “Old Father Time,” as they have fondly nicknamed him,... Read more

The Love Detectives

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

Length: 44 minutes

Abridged: No

Mr. Satterthwaite and Colonel Melrose are comfortably ensconced in the Colonel’s study when the phone suddenly rings. Someone has been murdered, and, as the county chief constable, the Colonel lets Satterthwaite accompany him to the scene of the crime. The two of them have opposing opinions on why Sir James Dwighton has been bashed over the head... Read more

The Under Dog

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

Length: 2 hours 4 minutes

Abridged: No

Pretty Lily Margrave is not convinced that Hercule Poirot is needed in the matter of Sir Atwell’s murder. At the request of her employer, Lady Atwell, she has already recounted what happened ten days ago in the Tower Room, and the victim’s nephew has been charged with the murder. Nevertheless, Lady Atwell brings Poirot up to the great house, Mon... Read more

The Big It

By: A. B. Guthrie, Jr.

Narrated by: Adam Verner

Length: 4 hours 31 minutes

Abridged: No

In The Big It Guthrie presents thirteen imaginative and at times hilarious short stories about life on the frontier. Resilient and memorable, Guthrie's characters bring to life the pioneer spirit and the untamed west. Perhaps best known for his remarkable and award winning novels, The Way West and The Big Sky, Guthrie is equally adept at the... Read more

The Manhood of Edward Robinson

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

Length: 33 minutes

Abridged: No

A classic Agatha Christie short story from the collection The Golden Ball and Other Stories.Sane and sensible Edward Robinson secretly dreams of fast cars, adventurous women, and danger, but his fiancée, Maud, keeps him grounded in reality. When Edward wins money in a newspaper competition, he immediately buys the sleek red car of his dreams –... Read more

The Rajah’s Emerald

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

Length: 39 minutes

Abridged: No

James has found himself at the fashionable resort Kimpton-on-Sea, all due to the persuasion of his girlfriend Grace, who during the last few months of their courtship has become more difficult to deal with. Among the upper echelons of society, including the Rajah of Maraputna, James feels disgruntled and out of place. Eager to both irritate and... Read more

The Harlequin Tea Set

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

Length: 1 hour 10 minutes

Abridged: No

Waiting for his car to be fixed, Mr. Satterthwaite sits in a tea shop called the Harlequin café, thinking of his friend Harley Quin, whom he hasn’t seen in many years. Then, in a burst of sunshine, the very same Mr. Quin walks through the door, along with his diligent dog, Hermes. Satterthwaite is telling him the very long history of the family... Read more

The Dead Harlequin

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

Length: 52 minutes

Abridged: No

When Mr. Satterthwaite visits a new exhibit at the Harchester Galleries, there is one painting that bears an unusual likeness to a mysterious acquaintance of his, Mr. Quin. In one bold move he purchases the canvas on the spot, and in another invites the artist of “The Dead Harlequin” to dine with him that night, with an empty place at the table... Read more

Yellow Iris

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

Length: 33 minutes

Abridged: No

An alarming telephone call, in which the phrases “it’s life and death” and “the table with the yellow irises” are whispered, causes Hercule Poirot to rush to the luxuriant restaurant Jardin des Cygnes, desperate to stop an impending murder and find the person behind the voice on the phone. After bumping into an old acquaintance, he is invited to... Read more

The Dream

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

Length: 49 minutes

Abridged: No

Hercule Poirot is reluctant to answer a letter demanding his services by the reclusive and eccentric millionaire Benedict Farley. Farley wants him to diagnose his recurring dream of death, in which he shoots himself at precisely 3:28 p.m. Then, a week after dismissing Poirot, the dream becomes real. Each member of the Farley household that... Read more

Jane in Search of a Job

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

Length: 45 minutes

Abridged: No

A classic Agatha Christie short story from the collection The Golden Ball and Other StoriesJane Cleveland is in desperate need of a job, and when she sees an ad for a woman of her description needed to impersonate a grand duchess, she cannot believe her luck. The royal retainers tell Jane that the job will be dangerous because attempts have been... Read more

Triangle at Rhodes

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Nigel Hawthorne

Length: 50 minutes

Abridged: No

October on the island of Rhodes is a veritable paradise of privacy, beauty, and calm—or so Hercule Poirot has imagined. The reality is quite different, as the arrival of famed Chanel beauty Valentine Chantry causes a ripple of malice to be felt across the island. She captivates at least one married man with her wiles and good looks, as her... Read more

A Possible Life

By: Sebastian Faulks

Narrated by: Sian Thomas

Length: 10 hours 7 minutes

Abridged: No

In Second World War Poland, a prisoner closes his eyes and pictures a sunlit cricket ground. Across the yard of a Victorian poorhouse, a man is too ashamed to acknowledge the son he gave away. In a 19th-century French village, an old servant understands the meaning of the Bible story her master is reading. In the Catskills, 1971, a girl steps... Read more

The House of Lurking Death

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

Length: 34 minutes

Abridged: No

Throwing on an almost convincing French accent, Tommy is determined to act the Great Detective Hanaud to his and Tuppence’s latest, lovely client. Miss Hargreaves has recently received a box of chocolates from nobody knows who, and, due to her dislike of chocolates, was the only one to not fall afoul of the arsenic-spiked treats. But, Miss... Read more

The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

Length: 32 minutes

Abridged: No

Mr. Davenheim, a wealthy financier, leaves his home to mail a letter, then fails to return. The story fills the newspapers and intrigues Hercule Poirot, who challenges Inspector Japp with the claim that he can solve the case before the police, and without leaving his flat. Read more

The Complete Stories

By: Evelyn Waugh

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Length: 17 hours 18 minutes

Abridged: No

A "lavishly entertaining" (Publishers Weekly) distillation of Waugh's genius--abundant evidence that one of the twentieth century's most admired and enjoyed English novelists was also a master of the short form.
Evelyn Waugh's short fiction reveals in miniaturized perfection the elements that made him the greatest satirist of the twentieth... Read more

Aborigines

By: Anton Chekhov

Narrated by: Dave Courvoisier

Length: 17 minutes

Abridged: No

Ivan Lyashkevsky, a Polish lieutenant who suffered a head injury, spends a large amount of time grumbling about the native people of the town he's living in. He thinks them to be lazy and useless and is quick to express his views. On this particular day, he is visiting with his friend Franz Finks and studying his native landlord out the window.... Read more

The House at Shiraz

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

Length: 28 minutes

Abridged: No

Mr. Parker Pyne is having trouble trying to get to Beirut, what with his rusty linguistic skills and the less-than-comfortable travelling arrangements. But, with the help of a German pilot, Herr Schlagel, he is soon able to get his bearings. Herr Schlagel confesses that his thoughts are dominated by the mysterious and sudden death of one of his... Read more

Lies And Lillies

By: Bram Stoker

Narrated by: Karen White

Length: 14 minutes

Abridged: No

Young Claribel was a girl taught goodness by her parents and lived a happy life, especially when she went to school. Claribel loved her teacher, a kindly woman who taught her students the importance of honesty above all else. Her teacher taught them of the Beautiful City where the Good and Honest children would go one day, and Claribel wanted... Read more

The Rose Prince

By: Bram Stoker

Narrated by: James Langton

Length: 42 minutes

Abridged: No

Young Prince Zaphir, son of King Mago, was a kind young man much beloved by his people and all the animals around the kingdom. He is also quite taken with a young princess, the Princess Bluebell, who feels the same way for him. When a giant descends on the land and the army and other brave men who volunteer to fight him are defeated, Zaphir... Read more