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De ontspannen vakantiesfeer van hotel 'De vrolijke zeerover' wordt ruw verstoord door de moord op Arlena Stuart, een beeldschone en - naar men zegt - gevaarlijke vrouw. Heel wat hotelgasten blijken een motief voor de moord te hebben, wat het werk van de politie niet gemakkelijker maakt. Gelukkig logeert de beroemde Hercule Poirot ook in het hotel en doordat hij zijn medegasten goed bestudeerd heeft weet hij de dader aan te wijzen.

Bespreking

You can't go wrong with this one!

Every summer tourists swarm out over the coast of Devon. Also the famous sleuth Hercule Poirot is hoping to spend a few relaxing days in the converted Georgian mansion called the Jolly Roger Hotel on Smuggler's Island, Leathercombe Bay. But it doesn't take long for him to suspect that there is 'evil under the sun'. He has studied the characters of his fellow guests and can only conclude that he does not like it at all. When the startlingly beautiful Arlena Stuart Marshall arrives on the island every man's attention is focused on her enjoyable appearance. except one. Poirot would like to find out why, before it is too late.

The murder in Evil Under the Sun is a quite elaborately planned affair and that is probably the only weak point of this brilliant novel. So many things need to be planned on time that it is likely that one mistake could have ruined the whole affair, which of course does not happen in Agatha Christie's world. Nevertheless, because it is such a complex murder the reader will quite enjoy unraveling the little sub-plots that are cleverly entwined in the main story line. In the meantime the reader will get a little bit closer to the solution of this enigma. But in the end it is still up to Hercule Poirot to unveil the mystery and catch the murderer. The highlight of the story is clearly the explanation of Poirot on how he came to his conclusions. His monologue takes a few pages, but is masterly clever in its composition.

Evil Under the Sun should be on the shelve of every mystery lover.