Poirot Retrospective #22: Evil Under the Sun

 

Poirot Retrospective #22: Evil Under the Sun

I really WANTED to like this one - it has some nice characters, nice scenery (at a south Devonshire coast resort), and an interesting crime in a highly restricted area (one of Christie's hallmarks), drug running, a crazy priest, not one but TWO robust old blowhards, Poirot and some stodgy local cops... in short it has ALL the pieces.

But they don't come together at all, and the ending is offensively ridiculous. Perhaps the second-worst ending of any of these novels - only The Big Four is worse. I don't think it's possible for a clever, astute, aware reader to actually guess this crime. In fact, I'd say it's basically impossible: Poirot provides several key clues necessary for the solution only in the denouement, after he's wrapped it all up.

And that, my friends, is a cardinal sin in the mystery world. You have to give the reader a fair chance - or you need to make them realize it's unfair from the beginning, so they can then enjoy the ride without having to invest in the process.

The plot: Poirot on holiday on the south England coast, at an island resort near Christie's hometown of Torquay. Various couples and individuals are sunning August away when one woman - an actress and vamp, a hopeless seductress - is strangled on a beach. But everyone seems to have alibis...

The core problem is that Christie wants to have her cake and eat it too. She sets up a crime where everyone has alibis... then the solution bends the rules until they snap.

A subsidiary problem: the crime is executed with the perfect timing and precision of a Mission Impossible movie. It's simply not within the realm of reality that the crime could have been committed in the way it's described: the timing is too tight, like a jewel heist or something. Ludicrous.

What is fascinating to me is that all the fan clubs and scholars tend to like this one - it's commonly ranked around 15 out of ~40. I guess that's because the scenery, the characters, and the setup are so good. The podcast All About Agatha gave this a 7/10 in their "credibility" ranking, which is crazy - I will have to listen to the episode and see what their reasoning is.

Anyway, this is my last Poirot review for a while, the final 15 or so novels I have to read all have poor-to-middling reviews, and they are all full price, so I'm going to wait until there is a fire sale or I can find a cheap used paperback.