Which Pocket Full of Rye recording should you buy?
The novel is sold under this title beside a BBC radio play a fifth of the length and Collins retellings for English learners, one of which says so in neither its title nor its web address — only a bare "B2+" under the title.
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Agatha Christie · 4 Audible UK recordings compared
Short answer
Richard E. Grant for the novel — an unusual and very good piece of Christie casting. The 3-hour Jane Collingwood listing is a Collins graded reader, not a shorter version of the book, and so is Gabrielle Glaister's at 3 hours 4.
The recordings, compared
| Narrator | Length | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richard E. Grant Our pick | 6 hrs 50 mins | Complete novel | The complete novel. |
| Jane Collingwood | 3 hrs 22 mins | Collins graded reader (B2+) | NOT the novel. The listing name, the web address and the product page heading are all just A Pocket Full of Rye, and the only thing beneath the title is "B2+" — a level code with nothing to say what it means. (Corrected twice: this file used to claim the heading appends the level, and then that nothing in the listing gives one.) The description says it in words: "Collins brings the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, to English language learners." |
| Gabrielle Glaister | 3 hrs 4 mins | Collins graded reader (B2) | NOT the novel: a second Collins graded reader of it, at a different level from the Jane Collingwood listing above. The listing title and page heading are just A Pocket Full of Rye, with "B2" on the line beneath; the web address names the level and the Collins ELT Readers series, and the description says it is for English language learners. |
| June Whitfield and a full cast | 1 hr 28 mins | Full-cast dramatisation | BBC radio. |
The recording we recommend is also on Audiobooks.com — the same Richard E. Grant reading, listed at 6 hrs 50 mins when we checked on 11 September 2026. Their one-credit plan is listed at £7.99 a month before applicable taxes, and its credits expire after three months — the two models compared. We earn a commission on that link.