Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • They Came to Baghdad

  • By: Agatha Christie
  • Narrated by: Emilia Fox
  • Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (210 ratings)

$0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
They Came to Baghdad cover art

They Came to Baghdad

By: Agatha Christie
Narrated by: Emilia Fox
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
activate_primeday_promo_in_buybox_DT

Listeners also enjoyed...

Final Destination: Disaster cover art
Meet the Tiger cover art
The Stratton Story cover art
Virgins cover art
Christy cover art
Lightning cover art
New Spring cover art
The Crown Tower (Dramatized Adaptation) cover art
The Witness cover art
The Crime at Black Dudley cover art
The Belting Inheritance cover art
Speaks the Nightbird cover art
A Man Lay Dead cover art
Pile of Bones cover art

Summary

A new audio edition of the Agatha Christie thriller.

Baghdad is the chosen location for a secret summit of superpowers, concerned but not convinced, about the development of an, as yet, unidentified and undescribed secret weapon.

Only one man has the proof that can confirm the nature of this fantastic secret weapon – a British agent named Carmichael. Unfortunately the criminal organisation responsible for the weapon’s development will stop at nothing to prevent him entering Baghdad and presenting his proof to the assembled delegates. Can Carmichael enter the city against such odds?

Into this explosive situations appears Victoria Jones, a girl with a yearning for adventure who gets more than she bargains for when a wounded Carmichael dies in her arms in her hotel room.

Now, if only she could make sense of his last words ‘…Lucifer…Basrah…Lefarge…’

©1951 Agatha Christie Mallowan (P)2004 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, London UK

Critic reviews

"A very human heroine, whose powers of invention, just like those of her creator, never fail her." (Times Literary Supplement)

What listeners say about They Came to Baghdad

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    154
  • 4 Stars
    44
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    138
  • 4 Stars
    31
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    125
  • 4 Stars
    43
  • 3 Stars
    9
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • CJ
  • 20-06-13

Excellent

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would definitely recommend this to a friend, one of the best Agatha Christies I have heard.

What was one of the most memorable moments of They Came to Baghdad?

I was engrossed from start to finish.

What about Emilia Fox’s performance did you like?

Excellently read, I was immersed in all the characters and the plot throughout.

Any additional comments?

Intrigue at it's old fashioned best.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Narrator of a Classic Story

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this. Great characterisations by Emilia Fox. An old story which I've always enjoyed reading, brought vividly to life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Fox Reads Christie

This isn't a typical Agatha Christie, being more of a thriller than a whodunit but it's not bad for all that.

Emilia Fox does an excellent job of narrating the story. I think this is one of the the best read of all the audio books - on a parr with Stephen Fry and David Suchet.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Possibly Her Best Work

When the narrator first started reading I found her lisp very off putting but after a short while it became unnoticeable.
I adore all of Miss Christie’s books but I think this is possibly the best for excitement and strategy.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Ripping yarn

Brilliant, Red add wonderfully written. Even if this Jan doesn’t bear too much PC scrutiny for.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Not an obvious Christie tale.

Love this slightly silly story, very 1950s paranoia/spy type narrative with a charming and humorous heroine in Victoria Jones. Unfortunately it is occasionally let down by some of Emilia Fox's accents and voices (something I've heard before in her other adaptations, (it is a shame the publishers couldn't overcome their gender expectations and just use Hugh Fraser for all of the Christie adaptations).

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The clever lying of Victoria Jones

I did love listening to this story, although there were just a couple of moments when I mentally switched off. Well read. Enjoyable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Escapist Retro Thriller, Emilia Fox perfect.

Christie casts her secret spell for this willing listener as so many others, Among the leading names female narrators, Emilia Fox is unsurpassed and is particularly good at reading Christie's books. Fox is efficient and without rushing or plodding recounts a character's back story with as much appeal as the more thrilling aspects of a chapter of high drama. Many readers adopt too much dramatic emphasis, Emilia Fox cleverly keeps up the pace, delivers the back story without theatrical shifts, and implies a request that the listener pay attention. I first read Agatha Christie as a young girl, they held me wrapt until I had finished each of her works, always amazed at the identity of the murderer responsible for the bloody crime or crimes . Fifty years later I am held just as tightly to the books and enjoy the audible quality and sense of fresh material being delivered, and manages this without any effort at all. Today I enjoy the stories as much as ever. My interests lie just as much in the historical detail as in the well crafted story. The whole book starting with the extraordinary talent of Mrs Christie for delivering yet another winner, and a large part of the great author's talent for telling a tale must go to Emilia Fox for her well judged delivery of Christie's works. Bravo. Excellent. Hugely recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

My new favourite Agatha Christie

A completely new story to me but I was hooked from the start. It was as fair paced thriller and I didn’t suspect the baddie till quite late on. Narrator did a good job with the character voices. Thoroughly recommend it and can’t understand why this has never been made into a film .

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wholly enjoyable!

I loved the lesser-known side of Agatha Christie as presented in this stand-alone novel - in it, she brings together a gripping plot and wonderful characters. We root for the goodies and loathe the baddies and the exotic backdrop of Iraq is fascinating and beautifully evoked. Emilia Fox is a superb narrator and inhabits her characters convincingly and entertainingly. I was honestly sorry when the book ended and still feel quite bereft!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful