Fresh off my double victories over Agatha (see: Five Little Pigs and Peril at End House), I dove into Evil Under the Sun with considerably more confidence than usual. After all, I’ve bested the Queen of Crime twice; surely, my little grey cells are more than up for this classic Poirot case?

Alas, I was barely halfway through the book when I realized how misplaced my confidence — okay, cockiness — was. There’s so much going on in this novel, and so many suspects (and I’m sure, red herrings) to consider, and I have no clue what the answer will turn out to be! In a further blow to my ego, Poirot lists all the clues he’s mulling over. He also literally points out to us readers what details are significant, and he asks highly specific questions that clearly draw our attention to important elements. And I still have no idea who on earth could have killed Arlena Stuart Marshall!

The set-up is classic Christie: Poirot is on holiday at a sunny beachside resort. He meets a cast of colourful characters, many of whom are entangled in each other’s lives in one way or another. At the centre of the main plot is Arlena Stuart, a beautiful woman who draws men to her with barely any effort. Her husband, Captain Kenneth Marshall, and teenage stepdaughter Linda are on holiday with her. Another guest at the resort, the super handsome Patrick Redfern, seems infatuated with her, to the dismay of his wife, the pale and plain Christine Redfern. Entangled with them all is Miss Rosamund Darnley, a smart boss lady type who runs the local boutique, was childhood friends with Captain Marshall, and seems to still hold a torch for him.

One beautiful morning, Arlena’s body is discovered on Pixy Cove, killed by strangulation. She was discovered by Patrick and another guest, Miss Emily Brewster, who is described as tough and athletic. Other characters include an American couple, Mr and Mrs Gardener; Major Barry, who is a bachelor and gambler; Rev. Stephen Lane, who is obsessed with “scarlet women”; and Horace Blatt, who seems desperate to be liked. There are also a couple of subplots that involve some of the characters, and may or may not be linked to Arlena’s death.

I have my ideas about how all the puzzle pieces fit together, and I’m very much not confident I’ve figured it out. But then again, the last time I felt this uncertain (At Bertram’s Hotel) , I ended up figuring out about 75% of the mystery, so maybe I’ll have similar (or better!) success this time around!

Did I Solve the Case? (No Spoilers)

No, no I did not. Not even close. Sigh… I had two very strong gut feel suspects, and both of them turned out to be innocent. Not only did I not guess the murderer’s identity, I also did not guess their motive or method.

Okay, Dame Agatha, you win this round. And very well-played too, I must admit. That was a mind-blowing reveal.

Onward and upward, little grey cells! We’ll solve the next one!

***SPOILERS BELOW***

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Putting my little grey cells to work, fuelled by tea and chocolates!

Fresh and confident (read: cocky) from my recent victory over the Queen of Crime, I decided I was in the mood to tackle yet another Agatha Christie mystery. This time, I went for the Hercule Poirot classic Five Little Pigs. I remember having read this years ago, and absolutely loving it, but fortunately, it’s been so long since I last read it (this copy was purchased in 2007, and my Goodreads rating is dated 2012) that I no longer remembered whodunnit.

Five Little Pigs is a Rashomon-style mystery. A young woman, Carla, asks Poirot for help: 16 years ago, her father, artist Amyas Crale, was killed by poison, and her mother Caroline was convicted for the crime. Caroline was the one who served Amyas the beer that killed him; traces of coniine were found in his glass, and a bottle of coniine was later found in Caroline’s drawer.

Caroline’s defence was that Amyas must have taken the coniine himself, but everyone who knew Amyas felt he was too in love with life to die by suicide. Worse, despite her lawyer’s best efforts, Caroline herself barely put up a fight in the courtroom, and she was quickly found guity. She died in prison a year later, leaving behind a note to her daughter that she’s innocent. Now engaged to be married, Carla wants Poirot to find out what really happened, so she can go to the next stage of her life with a clear mind.

This is such a perfect case for the Belgian detective! Unlike similar detective superstar Sherlock Holmes, Poirot doesn’t rely so much on forensics or physical clues, but rather on the psychology of the people involved. And for a crime that occurred 16 years ago, all physical evidence is gone, and there is only the psychology to rely on. (Side note: I realized I bought my copy of this book in 2007, which is coincidentally also 16 years ago, so I felt a nice little frisson of rightness in my quest to solve this alongside Poirot.)

The clues lie with five people on the estate the day Amyas was killed:

• Philip Blake – Amyas’ long-time friend, now a successful stockbroker
• Meredith Blake – Philip’s older brother, a country squire and a chemist who held a torch for Caroline. The coniine that killed Amyas came from his laboratory.
• Elsa Greer – a beautiful 20-year-old woman whose portrait Amyas was painting. It’s widely known that she’s having an affair with Amyas, and that Amyas planned to leave Caroline for her. Caroline was overheard telling Amyas she’d rather kill him than let him marry Elsa.
• Angela Warren – Caroline’s 15-year-old half-sister. She has a scar on her face from a childhood accident caused by Caroline, and has been spoiled by her older sister since. She and Amyas fought over Amyas’ plan to send her to boarding school.
• Cecilia Williams – Angela’s governess, a serious middle-aged woman with strong feminist beliefs and a deep disdain for Amyas’ relationship with Elsa.

Poirot goes to each of the five in turn, and gets five slightly differing accounts of what happened on the day Amyas died. Who’s telling the truth? Who’s lying? And who gave Amyas the poison that killed him? I have my theory, and we’ll see how I do!

Did I Solve the Case? (No Spoilers)

Boo-freaking-YES!!! I guessed it! AND I picked up on a couple of key clues that pointed to the answer. And so, this makes 2 wins, and (ahem) I forget how many losses… 🙂

***SPOILERS BELOW***

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