Taken at the Flood

A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Hugh Fraser

In Agatha Christie’s classic puzzler Taken at the Flood, the indefatigable Hercule Poiroit investigates the troubling case of a twice-widowed woman.

A few weeks after marrying an attractive widow, Gordon Cloade is tragically killed by a bomb blast in the London blitz. Overnight, the former Mrs. Underhay finds herself in sole possession of the Cloade family fortune.

Shortly afterward, Hercule Poirot receives a visit from the dead man’s sister-in-law who claims she has been warned by “spirits” that Mrs. Underhay’s first husband is still alive. Poirot has his suspicions when he is asked to find a missing person guided only by the spirit world. Yet what mystifies Poirot most is the woman’s true motive for approaching him.…

Wonderfully read by Hugh Frasier.

Loved the story; hated the character of David. I could literally see Hercules Poirot as I listened.

Not a Good Message to Be Delivering

What made the experience of listening to Taken at the Flood the most enjoyable?

Hugh Fraser is an amazing narrator and actor. He brings you into the story and keeps you there.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I REALLY did not like the message that the end of the story gave. I love Agatha Christie and in particular Hercule Poirot Mysteries. But in my opinion, her ending in this particular novel was a major societal faux pas. While it might have been accepted in days long past, it certainly isn't now.

Which character – as performed by Hugh Fraser – was your favorite?

Hercule Poirot

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listened to this book over a period of days.

That Ending

I don’t know if it’s just me, but Christie has a tendency to write some pretty toxic relationships, at least by today’s standards. Both Taken At the Flood and Evil Under the Sun have left me with a bad taste in my mouth in regards to her treatment of female characters. Nothing really to do with the plot itself, just something a bit upsetting. That said, I managed to solve a portion of the mystery and I had some inkling as to the others, but I didn’t pursue my line of thing kong far enough to really let things fall into place. A bit unfortunate. The mystery itself wasn’t terribly interesting. As I continue reading the Poirot novels, I’ve grown to miss Christie’s early works. It’s been a while since I’ve read the locked-room or country home murders and I’ve grown to miss them.

Wow. No true spoilers anywhere... that ending is problematic*at best*.

And while I dearly wish I could say my comment involves something unrealistic, it is far too realistic. If you have any issues dealing with domestic violence, I beg you to stop the book once Poirot reveals the whole puzzle. DO NOT CONTINUE TO the final ending resolution, and then this book is one of Christie's best ever. With the ending few minutes this book deeply disappoints and lowers my respect for Christie significantly. That is how absolutely abhorrent those few minutes are, to ruin not just an otherwise fabulous book, but to also drop my respect for the author many steps. SOMEONE should have ripped those last couple pages out and lost their content. That Mrs. Christie did not herself is a gut punch.

Very twisty mystery

Very interesting story where you care about the people and cannot identify the murderer. The twist at the end is quite satisfying.