Evil Under the Sun

Evil Under the Sun is set in the Jolly Roger Hotel, Smugglers Island, Leathercombe Bay on the south west coast of England. Hercule Poirot is holidaying there, along with a collection of fairly stock characters. The ex-army bore, the mannish middle-aged spinster and the just-very-slightly-bonkers vicar, to name but a few.

The weather is perfect, the sea calm and the hotel residents are relaxing and getting to know each other.

This is hardly the scenario you would expect for a cold blooded and audacious murder. Until, that is, you throw into the mix a famous femme fatale, her discontented husband, the young man who is smitten with her and this young man’s jealous wife.

Then it is easy to see why Hercule Poirot warns a fellow guest: ‘It is peaceful. The sun shines. The sea is blue. But you forget, Miss Brewster, there is evil everywhere under the sun.’

This is one of Agatha Christie’s most diabolically clever murder mystery plots and I take my hat off to anyone who manages to work it all out. This particular Agatha Christie novel is a wonderful illustration of the way in which she contrives to pull all the threads together at the end – to gather up the different pieces of the jigsaw and fit them neatly together to make a perfectly finished picture.

Hercule Poirot is superb in this story, perspicacious and tenacious in pursuit of a ruthless killer but still sensitive to the interests of the innocent people involved.

Evil Under the Sun is vintage Agatha Christie written when she was at the height of her powers and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

You can get hold of this Agatha Christie classic via the following links.

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