Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly by Agatha Christie

Published by Witness Impulse/Harper Collins on November 12, 2013

"Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly" was intended for magazine publication, with the proceeds going to Agatha Christie's church, but it proved to be too long to publish as a short story and too short to sell as a novel. Christie used much of the material in her 1956 novel Dead Man's Folly. This newly released novella-length work is the genesis of that novel.

Hercule Poirot receives an urgent call from Ariadne Oliver, the detective novelist, who summons him to Devonshire where a Fête is soon to begin at Greenshore House, the mansion recently purchased by Sir George Stubbs. Oliver has been hired to stage a murder and to plant clues so that the guests can compete in their attempts to solve it, but her celebrated intuition has convinced her that a real murder is afoot, and she hopes Poirot can prevent it.

The typical Agatha Christie cast includes Sir George, a "rich and plebeian and frightfully stupid" businessman, his young wife Hattie, a West Indian who is beautiful but "dumb as a fish" (or "feeble minded" or diabolically clever, depending upon the opinion you credit), Hattie's wealthy cousin, a secretary/housekeeper, an architect, a local Member of Parliament and his wife, the widow of Greenshore's original owner, several people who live near Greenshore, a couple of foreign backpackers, and the hordes of people attending the Fête.

The plot is every bit as complex as a longer Christie novel, and if the characters are not as fully developed, that's only due to the story's abbreviated length. As Ariadne Oliver talks about the problems of being a mystery writer and plotting a murder (thinking of things is less difficult than deciding which things to omit after the story exceeds a reasonable length) and dealing with fans who want her to talk when all she wants to do is write, it seems clear that Christie has written herself into the story. This isn't Christie's best work, but it is a solid example of her mastery of intricate plotting.

RECOMMENDED