Customer Reviews

Evil Under the Sun: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot Mysteries)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
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The notorious Arlena Stuart Marshall is found strangled on an empty beach, and Hercule Poirot sets about identifying the killer. It is not an easy task; there is no shortage of suspects, beginning with the dead woman's cuckolded husband and the young wife of Arlena's latest conquest. As the investigation continues, more questions arise. Was Arlena being blackmailed? Was she involved with drug smuggling? And is there a mad clergyman roaming the countryside intent on bringing scarlet women to divine justice?

This is classic Agatha Christie. Reading it reminds you why she is the master of mystery genre.

Evil Under the Sun takes place at a secluded seaside resort in England. Arlena Stuart Marshall, is young and beautiful and one of those Agatha Christie characters who seems to inspire all she meets to wish her dead. So it is small surprise when she is killed and none other than Hercule Poirot is called upon to solve the case using little more than his famous little grey cells.

This is a very typical Christie novel in many ways. It happens in a "bottle" environment where no one else comes and goes, it has an eclectic cast of characters almost all of whom seem to have a motive, and the crime seems impossible to solve. It is, however, different from many of Dame Agatha's works in the sense that it is executed so very well. Not to say that most of her novels are poor, but this one really shines. The suspects are both interesting and entertaining. Poirot is at his best as he works through things in his fashion with his little remarks raining dry humor at just the right moments. The location of secluded island resort is a refreshing change, and the mystery itself definitely kept me engaged from start to finish.

I've read a number of Hercule Poirot novels, and found some very good and a few not so good. Evil Under the Sun is an excellent mystery novel that I would recommend as a great starting point to readers new to Agatha Christie as well as established fans of her work. It's both funny and compelling and features one of the best fictional detectives at his very best. Other Christie novels that are well worth trying include Death on the Nile: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Agatha Christie Collection) and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Agatha Christie Collection).

The book is fabulous. I have read all of her mysteries since early childhood and reacquainting myself with her work was refreshing from most of the dreck that is written today.

"Evil Under the Sun" is a fast-paced enjoyable mystery set at an almost hidden seaside resort. One would think that vacationing with the inimitable Hercule Poirot would be motive enough to curb a murderer, but such is not the case. This is a classic Christie mystery - a closed setting, too many likely suspects, and a unique twist at the end.

Arlena Marshall was an extremely beautiful woman - the kind that men fell instantly in love with and women fell instantly into hate with. While vacationing at the Jolly Roger, she fans the flames of rumor with the attention she pays to Patrick Redfern, a handsome and married young man. So when Arlena's body is discovered strangled on the beach of a secluded cove, Patrick is the most obvious suspect, but he was no where near the scene of the crime when it happened. Therefore, it must be Arlena's husband, the almost unemotional Captain Marshall, who was well aware of his wife's proclivities toward other men. Yet he has a rock solid alibi (perhaps one that is too rock solid for Poirot's liking). It seems obvious that Arlena was killed by a male, but there are plenty of women on the island - Patrick Redfern's scorned wife, Captain Marshall's daughter from a previous marriage and an old friend from his youth - who would've also liked to see her dead. Hercule Poirot must separate the facts from the fictions and the true clues from the false, all while guaranteeing that another death does not occur.

"Evil Under the Sun" is a delightful mystery with enough puzzling clues to keep readers guessing. Anyone familiar with Christie's works, especially some of her short stories featuring Poirot, may find the general plot a little too similar to other works. Although aspects of the plot are familiar the ending offers a completely fresh twist to a common story of apparent jealousy, for looks can be very deceiving indeed.

I have to say that this audio book accomplishes a very great deal for being only 2 CDs long, worth mentioning. I also wanted to remark on how perfectly David Suchet captures the wide variety of characters involved. I also find reviewers noting the visual acuity of this area, with its craggy bays, caves and cliffs: Christie does very well in capturing the allure of the area in this work. I was less pleased with what felt like a somewhat forced resolution, which felt insufficiently developed. Still, predictability is to be avoided in all matters mysterious, and so I can give it 4 stars of 5.

Hard to believe, with all the books I read, that I've never read an Agatha Christie before, but indeed, I have not. This was my first, and I can certainly see why Christie is the world's most-published novelist. If there's one thing Christie can do, it's tell a good story. And that's precisely what she does in Evil under the Sun. I can see why readers find Christie's work compelling; she draws her readers in quickly, with a large cast of thickly-described characters and a vivid sense of surroundings. Evil under the Sun brings us to a seaside resort, where a group of holiday-makers, including Christie's famous Inspector Poirot, find themselves attempting to deal with a broad range of personalities. Likely the most abrasive of all is the beautiful and capricious socialite Arlena Marshall. When she turns up dead in a remote part of the beach, it becomes Poirot's calling to determine her murderer. The resort's island location makes it unlikely that anyone outside the hotel could be responsible. Thus, Poirot must discover the murderer in his midst. Everyone, it seems, had a motive. Yet everyone too had an alibi. The answer turns out to be far more complicated than anyone had anticipated. Christie's gift is clearly to tell a gripping story. While there are no great lessons on morality or statements on the human condition within this it is certainly entertaining, enjoyable, and just a bit scary.

"Evil Under the Sun" is one of Agatha Christie's best mysteries, right up there with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None . To my knowledge, it's been filmed twice, a rather melodramatic feature film starring Peter Ustinov as the famous Belgian detective, and then more sedately with David Suchet as part of the ongoing television series. It's also been adapted as a video game!

At first glance, it's a typical mystery set-up: a group of colorful characters are gathered together in an isolated area, a murder is committed, everyone has motivation, but not all have opportunity. Throw in your usual red herrings, obscure clues, false leads, and a detective that can successfully puzzle it all out, and you have a perfect whodunit.

Hercule Poirot is enjoying a sunny holiday at the Jolly Roger Hotel, built on the idyllic Smuggler's Island. Around him the talkative guests sunbathe, gossip, knit, swim and watch each other. An observer of human nature, Poirot is in his element, and it's with interest (but little surprise) that everyone's attention is on Arlena Marshall, a retired but beautiful film actress, who revels in the attention. Tall, slender and bronzed, with curly red hair and oozing sex appeal, all the men are left dumbstruck in Arlena's presence, whilst the women gnash their teeth in disapproval. Not even Poirot is left unaffected by her beauty, but he's amply aware of the chaos that the woman is causing.

The man-eating Arlena enjoys toying with men, and currently has her hooks into Patrick Redfern, a young man who seems completely under her spell. The fact Arlena is a married woman and that Patrick's young, distressed wife is watching her husband engage in an affair right before her eyes, seems of little importance to Arlena.

Naturally, she ends up dead, and having already engaged in conversation with a rather fanatical reverent in which both men acknowledge that there is evil everywhere under the sun, Poirot is not hugely surprised to hear that Arlena has been strangled on an isolated beach on the island known as Pixy Cove. The only access to the island is via a causeway, though the police can't rule out someone coming by boat to the isolated Pixy Cove, Poirot instinctively suspects that one of the guests is the culprit. As the last one to see Arlena alive, pushing a dingy out to sea and clearly on her way to meet somebody, Poirot begins his investigation.

Who's the murderer? Everyone seemed to have a motive to kill her, from a resentful stepdaughter, a cuckolded husband, a jilted lover, a jealous wife, a romantic rival with designs on Arlena's husband...or was it something less personal? Was she the target of a religious fanatic? Did she disturb drug-dealers using Pixy Cove as a drop-off point? Was she being blackmailed? The possibilities keep piling up, as do the obscure clues scattered about: a bottle thrown out of a window, a pair of scissors on a beach, a bath drawn in the middle of the day - it all means something only to Poirot.

The atmosphere of "Evil Under the Sun" is brilliant; after first introducing the island as the home of a reclusive captain who never had a family, the story starts some years later after his house has been renovated into a resort (and most copies of the book even come with a map of the island). Despite the warm sunshine and sandy beaches, Christie infuses the book with a clammy sense of foreboding, danger, and even - evil. The characterization is vivid and as always, the twists and turns keep you guessing right till the end.

If you've never read Christie before, then this is a perfect place to start.

This book represents Agatha Christie at her absolute best. But then, it's so hard for her not to be at her best...Anyway, I read this book over the summer in a day. I just couldn't put it down. No one can. Besides having a brilliant mind that can create these fascinating plots, Agatha Christie also had that way of writing that keeps the reader hooked. I will not go into the plot because that would be spoiling it, but I will say that this book is set at a high class beach resort in the early twentieth century, and of course, involves a murder (maybe more!). There is nothing more I can say without spoiling the book for you, so, now, after reading my brilliant and insightful review, leave a comment saying it was helpful and order or check this book out of a library immediately!

This is a great Poirot story. I can't say anything more about the mysteries, they are all fabulous!!! I love how they take place in an era where there were big hotels, and people went away for holiday and met others at resorts. Everyone dresses for dinner etc.