Books as good as TV

Evil Under the Sun

by Agatha Christie

Over the years, PBS has brought to us so many classics and one of those is the Masterpiece Mystery series. And that is how I met Agatha Christie and her detectives. Though Miss Marple has a certain charm about her, I simply love Hercule Poirot. Well, the television Poirot that is. You see, until now, I have never read any of Christie's books. So in choosing the books for this class there could never be any doubt that a Hercule Poirot mystery would be one. The question to be answered is whether I would be any better at solving the crime. I certainly couldn't do any worse. You see, out of all the mysteries I have watched on Masterpiece Mystery, I haven't solved any. Not a one!

Evil Under the Sun opens at the Jolly Roger Hotel on Smuggler's Island in Leathercombe Bay. We find Poirot, in his white duck suit and Panama hat, resting on the beach in search of a well-deserved rest. But his reputation, naturally, draws others around like flowers draw bees. And then the body of a young and very beautiful actress Arlena Stuart Marshall is found - strangled. Was it her husband who knew she loved the attention of other men? Or was it the infatuated Patrick Redfern who spent more time with Arlena than his own wife? Arlena's stepdaughter wishes to be rid of her as well, but then we can't forget about Rosamund Darnley. She's been in love with Arlena's husband most of her life. But then was it the spurned wife of Redfern? They all have alibis. So who could have possibly murdered this woman?

Don't look at me 'cause I'm not telling. The one thing I will tell you is that I could see David Suchet as Hercule. For me, he is the quintessential Hercule Poirot. Yes, I enjoyed the story. For what it's worth, Agatha Christie's work contains all the characteristics of mysteries.
Solving Arlena's murder drives the plot and I was only one step behind Poirot as he was sifting through the clues. Part of a series? Oh, yes. Including this book there are 37 Poirot mysteries. Because all of the supporting characters have reasons for wanting Arlena gone, the reader doesn't overlook any of them. This murder isn't really dark and I wouldn't call it lighthearted. It fell somewhere in between. The setting is England this time around and Poirot adds a touch a flair coming from Belgium. Her books take place all over the world. Don't tell anyone, but I had a hard time putting down the book because I wanted to know who done it.

Well, just so you know, my record of solving mysteries is still the same. Even with the clues right in front of me, I still missed them! I made assumptions instead of evaluating the details and couldn't see the forest for the trees.
Oh, well. I guess I will just have to leave the solving to Poirot.

Read-Alikes (from Readalike.org): Dorothy L. Sayers (Lord Peter Whimsey series); John Dickson Carr (Gideon Fell), Josephine Tey (The Man in the Queue), Margaret Allingham's Albert Champion series, Michael Pearce's Mamur Zapt series, Jeanne M. Dams' Dorothy Martin series, M. C. Beaton (Agatha Raison and the Quiche of Death), Carolyn G. Hart (Dead Man's Isle) although set in the United States, Kate Kingsbury's Death is in the Air, and Styx and Stones by Carola Dunn.