SUMMARY (EVIL UNDER THE SUN)

1.“Evil Under the Sun” is Agatha Christie's classic detective novel in the series about the
Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. First published in June 1941 by the Collins Crime Club in
Britain.
The plot of the novel of the first one hundred pages began with the introduction of Hercule
Poirot.
Hercule Poirot had been spending a quiet holiday in a secluded hotel in Devon. The other
guests of the hotel were discovered encompassing Arlena Marshall, her husband Kenneth and
adopted daughter Linda; Horace Blatt; Major Barry, a retired officer; Rosamund Darnley,
Kenneth's former sweetheart; Patrick Redfern and his wife Christine, a former teacher; Carrie
Gardener and her husband Odell; Reverend Stephen Lane; and Miss Emily Brewster,an athletic
spinster . During Poirot's first time in the house, he noticed that Arlena was a flirtatious woman
flirting with Patrick, much to his wife's vehement fury, and that her stepdaughter hated her. One
morning Arlena goes on a secret rendezvous in Pixie Cove. She was found lying dead at the
next midday. Patrick and Brewster discovered that she had been dead while paddling. An
examination by a local police surgeon revealed that she had been strangled by a man.
Poirot and the investigating officer, Inspector Colgate, questioned possible suspects about their
movements during the morning.
On reading this part of the book I was impressed. I liked Hercule Poirot as the main character .
he really knows his own business and won't stop there.
2. – Kenneth had been typing letters; the Gardeners had been with Poirot all morning;
Rosamund had been reading above Pixy Cove; Blatt had gone sailing; Linda and Christine went
to Gull Cove and didn't return until before midday; and both Lane and Major Barry were absent
from the island. At noon, Christine, Rosamund, Kenneth and Odell all met to play tennis. Poirot
learns that Brewster was nearly hit by a bottle during the morning, thrown from one of the guest
rooms, while the hotel chambermaid recalls hearing someone running a bath at noon. At a cave
within Pixy Cove, Poirot notes smelling perfume that Arlena used there. Poirot later invites
everyone to a picnic, which he uses to secretly observe their behaviour and test their vertigo.
Following the picnic, Linda attempts suicide with Christine's sleeping pills. Poirot later
discovers she felt guilt-ridden, after assuming she killed her step-mother through voodoo.
Via a request for similar cases to the current one, Poirot receives details on the strangulation of
Alice Corrigan from Surrey police – her body was found by a local teacher, while her husband
Edward had an alibi. Poirot is supplied with a photo of both people. Bringing together the
suspects, Poirot denounces Patrick and Christine Redfern for Arlena's murder. She had been
murdered to prevent her husband learning that she had been conned into investing a large
inheritance towards "fabulous opportunities". The murder was well-planned to falsify the time
of death.
3.While Christine was with Linda, she set Linda's watch forward twenty minutes, asked for the
time to set her alibi, then returned the watch to the correct time. Afterwards, Christine returned
to her room and applied fake suntan makeup, which she concealed from sight, before tossing
the bottle out the window. Sneaking out to Pixy Cove, Christine made certain Arlena saw her;
Patrick had instructed Arlena to hide should his wife turn up before their rendezvous. Once
Arlena was gone, Christine impersonated the dead body to fool Brewster, who immediately left
to get help while Patrick remained behind. After Brewster's departure, Christine rushed back to
the hotel to remove the makeup. Patrick then called out an unsuspecting Arlena and strangled
her.
Poirot reveals that Christine lied about having a fear of heights, as she managed to traverse a
suspended bridge during the picnic, and foolishly threw out the bottle of makeup from her room
when Brewster was present outside. Linda's attempt at suicide was provoked by her. As further
proof, Poirot reveals that the murder of Alice Corrigan happened in the same manner – the
photo from Surrey Police identified Patrick as Edward Corrigan, who killed her, and Christine
as the teacher who found the "body", before the murder had been committed. Poirot goads
Patrick into a near-violent fury to expose himself, despite his wife trying to keep him quiet.
With the case closed, Poirot tells Linda she did not kill Arlena and predicts she will not hate her
next "step-mother", whereupon Kenneth and Rosamund rekindle their old love.