Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie

While I had not read this novel before, I had seen both the TV versions of this Hercule Poirot mystery. One was with Peter Ustinov and the other with David Suchet as Poirot. I have seen the TV film many times, a nice gentle murder mystery unfolding. The book, of course, has more details and one can use imagination to fill in the scene, in the mind’s eye.

Poirot is taking a rare holiday at a hotel that is off shore at high tide. There are other people staying there and the early chapters provide a good picture of the people and their relationships with each other. There is a young couple, wife is a teacher and looked delicate, the husband was young man who was spending a lot of time with another man’s wife who was a well-known actress. The actress’s husband and step daughter are not very happy with this development. There are others who do not approve of this relationship either and gossip is rife. 

Then the body of this well-known actress is found on a small lonely beach which is only accessible via a ladder up the cliff or via a boat. The police come and the investigation begins. Poirot, of course, takes part in the investigation and spends time not only listening in the interviews by the police but also goes about asking questions himself. The victim was not liked by anyone it seemed except the young man she was encouraging. However, his alibi was strong as he had been on the beach in front of the guests at the time of the murder. The other obvious suspect was the husband, who also had an alibi of sorts and on further questioning it was strengthened by another guest. There was also some hint of blackmail. Why is the vicar so driven to talk about evil? Was he really out for a walk as he stated?  What does he know? The other single gentleman is very vocal but starts getting nervous when being questioned, so what is he hiding? He was out alone sailing he said. The step daughter is secretive and does not wish to open up to Poirot. 

The timeframe for the murder was very small and all guests seem to have an alibi, so did someone come from outside and commit the murder? I found the story to have the usual level of intrigue and twist to the plot as befitting an Agatha Christie novel. The little grey cells are truly put to work. The end when it comes is fast and unexpected in the identity of the murderer. There is some difference in a couple of details between the book and the film but it does not detract from the plot and so works out well. I would recommend that you read and see the film.

Endless Night by Agatha Christie

Auguries of Innocence by William Blake 

    Every night and every morn,

    Some to misery are born,

    Every morn and every night,

    Some are born to sweet delight.

    Some are born to sweet delight,

    Some are born to endless night.

This is a novel from 1967 and the central character Michael Rogers is the narrator of the story. He is a happy-go-lucky young man doing various short-term jobs. He manages to travel in some of these jobs too. He sees an old property called Gypsy’s Acre with land around it and fantastic sea views and  he wants to buy it and built a house. Clearly this is a pipedream as he is a poor man. While walking around the place he comes upon a young girl and falls in love with her. They spend some time together and realise that the attraction is mutual. Fenella had to go away and they made a date to meet up in London. Soon they decide to get married but in secret, as Fenella informs him she is a rich girl and her family would object, should they find out she is marrying a poor man.

Only after they marry he realises the extent of her wealth and that she has bought the property Gypsy’s Acre and also commissioned the architect to rebuild the house that they both had been talking about and dreaming of living in forever. He suddenly is confronted with the ‘family’ and the trustees looking after Fenella’s fortune. But all is not well in the rosy romantic world of Michael and Fenella. The local gypsy lady keeps giving out dire warnings of dark deeds and befalling of bad fortune. The first day they move in there is a stone through the window with a threatening note attached to it. Who is trying to drive them from their dream home? Why are they against people living at Gypsy’s Acre? 

A nice slow unfolding of the story, showing an idyllic life in the country. The menace is always unclear, a dark spectre hanging about but with no clear focus that can be tackled. The reader is kept wondering for the first part exactly what is the root of the darkness and in the second half a tragedy befalls and then one wonders what exactly happened? I must say the end was surprising and most unexpected. It was a good read and would recommend it as it is an unusual Christie novel.

The Satan Bug by Alistair MacLean

Another old friend that I got reacquainted with this last week and it was such a pleasure reading this book. While this is a thriller, it has not been set during any war time as such. The plot starts with Cavell, a private detective, being contacted by someone who wants him to courier a package to Europe. This package supposedly had a vaccine to the most virulent bug created by a research lab, which could protect people should this bug be used as a weapon for bio warfare.

This bug that has the potential to wipe out all life on earth has been created by the Mordon Laboratories under the auspices of the defence department. This would be the ultimate lever for peace in the cold war. Cavell used to be the head of security there, before he had to resign. As the story progresses we find that Cavell has to return to the research lab to investigate the murder of his friend and successor at the lab. The head researcher is also missing and getting into the lab where the most dangerous of bugs, the botulism and Satan bug, are being researched on had become imperative. What if this is a communist plot to steal the Satan bug and thus change the balance of power?

If it is not the communist then who could be mad enough to steal it? What is the gain from holding the government at ransom of complete destruction of the lab? Cavell is working with the government to thwart this plot but can he work fast enough, as the deadlines to release the Satan bug are very tight? He is convinced that this is an inside job and that the supposed break in through the perimeter defence was just a red herring. The pool of suspect surely lies within those working in that specific lab? It is a matter of meticulous interviewing and background plus financial checks of each individual to get to the villain of the story but all this takes time. Cavell works round the clock without sleep and in adverse conditions to get to the bottom of this mystery.

It is quite interesting the number of times you think that you have got to grips with the crux of the plot only to have it turn into something else. It was hard to put the book down and I read it as fast as I could to get to the resolution of the problem. I shall read it again in a few weeks to get the fine details of the plot. I would certainly hope others read this good story.

The Last Frontier by Alistair MacLean

It must be about 30 odd years since I read this book. When I was young I had bought all the books by Alistair MacLean and I was most upset when I found that my mother had given away all after I had left home. Over the years I managed to buy one or two, until, a couple of years ago I got all as ebooks. I have been slowly making my way through them and it is like getting reacquainting with old friends.

This book also is a war time spy story where the hero is sent out to bring back an important scientist who has been forced to defect to the Communists. His wife and son had been taken and held as a lever to get him. Now the West would take them back and use them again as a lever to bring the scientist back. The story begins with Reynolds getting caught trying to enter Budapest. He is picked up from the police by the secret service officer and taken off to be interrogated.

How is he going to complete his mission if he going to be taken to the dreaded secret service HQ as no one returns from there? How will he meet up the resistance group who are supposed to help him get the scientist out of the country? The story does give a lot of details of history of the war as it pertained to Hungary during the cold war. The argument put forward by the leader of the resistance, who is himself an old soldier, for peace and not revenge is compelling. It is even true for today’s world as it was for the time that is written about. There is, of course, the usual heroism of the central characters that are larger than life in the story. There is also a careful weaving of the plot but by far the large part of the book is given to this history and the ideology of peace arising from it. The story twists and turns with the luck changing time and again, but for once I will not go into the details of the plot as the suspense begins on page 1.  It is hard to give more than a fleeting background in the fear of giving too much away.

Since it has been so long that I have read this book, I have a feeling that I will have to read it a couple more times to get to grips with the ideology discussed, for as usual with the first reading I am eager to know that the hero has been successful and so skim through some of the details. It is thus different from other books where generally the moral of the story is implied or just alluded to. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and will do so again soon, no doubt.