Evil under the sun (original: 1941; edição: 2014)

Read many years ago, and now listened to as a radio play. A murder takes place in a Devon holiday resort. Hercule to the rescue. After reading so many Christie’s the clues become apparent, but still didn’t help me as usual solve the enjoyable conundrum. ( )

A standard Agatha Christie mystery, with plot twists, lying witnesses, and, of course, a dead body. As in most of the Hercule Poirot mysteries, the author leaves out crucial information, so you cannot solve the mystery yourself before the reveal. The information you need is hinted at, but never brought out until he explains his solution. Overall, a quick read, light, enjoyable. ( )

Yet again, Agatha Christie manages to fool me, but Hercule Poirot was not fooled! Excellent story with great characters. ( )

Name:Evil Under The Sun
Author: Agatha Christie
Genre: Murder, Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Crime
Age: 12

Summary:
The story is set at the Jolly Roger, a posh vacation resort in the Leathercombe Bay for the rich and famous, where a murder takes place. A young and beautiful bride, Arlena Stuart was found brutally strangled to death.

Arlena Stuart, a gorgeous young woman who was considered as the "personification the evil" by the guests. Who is the murderer and what is the reason behind this murder? Was it love, hatred, vengeance or a deeper mystery behind this?

Our favourite Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot is the only one who can solve this macabre mystery and reveal the secrets the shroud each of the guests at the resort.

A fast-paced thrilling novel which will consume your mind. ( )

In which a seaside holiday goes horribly wrong…

"Evil Under the Sun" is a somewhat inconsequential little Christie, written on the heels of her most prolific decade as a novelist. The crime is ingeniously plotted, although the mystery itself is bog-standard, with a host of intertwined resort guests and a seemingly impossible murder. The characters are interesting, if not compelling, but the joy is in seeing Poirot’s reasoning, for this is one of those books where his little grey cells are put to such good use.

"Evil" is no classic, but it’s a solid example of what made Christie Christie, and it’s not really a surprise that this was chosen to follow "Death on the Nile" in the Peter Ustinov series of films.

Three-and-a-half stars.

Poirot ranking: 20th out of 38. ( )