4.50 from Paddington (Agatha Christie)

4.50 from Paddington begins with Elspeth McGillicuddy witnessing what appears to be a murder through the window of a passing train, a woman strangled by a man in the adjacent carriage, before the trains separate and the evidence vanishes. No body, no witnesses who believe her. Miss Marple, convinced of her friend's reliability, sets out to find a corpse in one of the great English country houses near where the trains ran parallel.

Emilia Fox gives Miss Marple a quiet precision that suits Christie's most observant character. Her portrayal avoids the fluttery caricature that weaker productions fall into, presenting instead a woman whose placid manner conceals a forensic intelligence. The domestic English setting, a country house brimming with family tension and old secrets, comes alive in audio, where the atmosphere can unspool at its own pace.