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Would you read a mystery novel which you had read before? Often the answer is no, and particularly if it is a murder mystery. What is the point, one might quite reasonably think, if you already know “whoddunit��.

Yet some of the classic murder mysteries are read over and over again. Perhaps it is a strange sort of comfort reading, knowing what will happen in advance. Evil Under the Sun is one such. I’m not sure how many times I have read it, and seen and listened to various dramatisations. This time I listened to a reading of the text, by arguably the best ever Poirot, David Suchet. I enjoyed trying to pick up the clues, and occasionally noticing a red herring, alongside our favourite Belgian detective.

Incidentally, David Suchet was excellent! As it was a DAISY disc it had no visual cover, so I did not know who the narrator was until nearing the end, I thought to look it up. This shows how convincing he was at all the different voices, and also at having a neutral, non-distracting narrative tone. It was recorded in 1986 and is 6 hours and 23 minutes of great entertainment.

Evil Under the Sun is a popular one to dramatise, although directors sometimes take a liberty with the location and make it more exotic than it actually is. Agatha Christie set her novel in a hotel on Burgh Island, just off the coast of Devon. Perhaps there is a bit of wish fulfillment here ...

The year was 1941, and Agatha Christie was working for three half days and Saturday mornings in the dispensary at University College London Hospital. While World War II was raging through Europe, Agatha Christie was helping the war effort as best she could - and also publishing at least one novel a year, often two. The Blitz was on, and she had to write in the evenings in the blackout, aware all the time that the bombing could come nearer. During her afternoons she would also fill in for any missing members of staff who had been affected, or whose loved ones had been affected by the bombing. No wonder she fantasised a little about a holiday in her home county, in a grand hotel where she had been happy.

So Agatha Christie sends Hercule on holiday too, for a quiet holiday at a secluded hotel; a welcome escape from the Blitz. Of course, it will not stay quiet for long, and with the mix of guests being how they are, the sparks soon begin to fly, and Poirot thinks that murder is inevitable.

The setting is perfect for a variation on the “locked room�� mystery, in that Burgh island is inaccessible from the mainland when the tide is in. It does have extensive grounds, but none of the select company venture out from there. The island is - as it still is - virtually cut off from the outside world. Its seclusion is seen as part of its attractive exclusivity.

We suspect very early on that we know who will be murdered. Hercule Poirot detects sexual tension in the seaside air, and is sure there will be a crime of passion. On this luxury retreat, everyone could be a suspect. Altogether there are perhaps a dozen players; perhaps not a great number by Agatha Christie standards, but each and every one has a motive for killing the designated victim. Each of them is a great cameo role. There is an American couple, with a fussy wife and long-suffering husband (affectionately drawn, so as not to alienate her American readership.) There is a priggish and overly pious Reverend, and a hearty, athletic spinster. There is a glamorous film star whom nobody likes much, but who nevertheless flirts with all the men, to their evident pleasure. There is her writer husband, her quiet step-daughter, and a former lover of her husband. There is a bluff retired army officer, and an ex-teacher.

As they follow various holiday pursuits, chatting, and engaging in banter and more serious arguments, we get a good impression of their characters. Despite the circumstances the novel was written in, this is a light and amusing read, with a baffling explanation. In case you are wondering whether you have read it, I will just say that a bronzed body is found (view spoiler)[ face-down and strangled (hide spoiler)] on one of the secluded beaches, but nobody seems to have been able to sail around the cove at the right time to commit the crime.

Not everything is as it seems �� but is it ever, in an Agatha Christie story? The novel follows the same themes as her earlier short story, “Triangle at Rhodes�� (1936), where Poirot fills the role of (view spoiler)[liaison between two marriages (hide spoiler)].

When it was first published in June 1941 ‘The Guardian�� wrote:

“Is it going too far to call Mrs Agatha Christie one of the most remarkable writers of the day?��

The ‘Daily Telegraph�� enthused that its author:

“had never written anything better than Evil Under the Sun, which is detective story writing at its best.��

‘The New York Times�� was more cautious:

“The murder is an elaborately planned affair �� a little too much so for credibility, in view of the many possibilities of a slip-up somewhere along the way �� but Poirot’s reasoning is flawless, as it always is��

and ‘The Scotsman�� wrote:

“All of these [surprising discoveries in the book’s solution] the reader may best be left to encounter for himself in the assurance that the quest will prove as piquant as any this skilful writer has offered.��

These original reviews were perhaps not as eulogistic as they sometimes were, but it has been perennially popular. Not surprising, as we have a heady mix of swindling, concealed past crimes, drugs, religious mania, black magic and of course the all important ingredient, lust. It’s quite a cocktail. Look out for the red herrings, and try to work out what will be significant about a clock, a wristwatch and an empty bottle.

This popular novel has been adapted multiple times. My personal favourite is the TV adaptation from 2001, starring David Suchet, although this made perhaps the most alterations to the story. To fit in with the series, it included Inspector Japp, Colonel Hastings, and Miss Lemon, none of whom appear in the original novel. It was filmed on location at Bigbury Beach in Devon.

An earlier feature film was made in 1981, which was the second one to star Peter Ustinov as Poirot. Again, changes were made to the plot and additionally the setting was moved from Devon to the Adriatic.

In 1999 there was a BBC Radio 4 adaptation of the story, with John Moffat as Poirot: a role he reprised for other adaptations. There is even a graphic novel of the story published in 2013. I’ve enjoyed all of these more than once, except the latter, which I have yet to track down. It’s a fun read, so when you need a gentle pick-me-up to tax those little grey cells, why not give Dame Agatha’s 24th novel starring Hercule Poirot a try?

A final few words from 1941? How about ‘The Observer’’s disjointedly enthusiastic review:

“Best Agatha Christie since ‘Ten Little [Indians]�� �� and one can’t say much more than that �� ‘Evil Under the Sun�� has luxury summer hotel, closed-circle setting, Poirot in white trousers. Victim: (view spoiler)[redhead actress man-mad (hide spoiler)]. Smashing solution, after clouds of dust thrown in your eyes, ought to catch you right out. Light as a soufflé.��