This is a Hercule Poirot Mystery first published in 1956.
A very rich man, Sir George Stubbs and his wife Lady Hattie Stubbs organised a fete for the village people to view their expensive house on a sprawling ground facing the river. To make it interesting for those who come to the fete, a murder hunt was planned by the crime writer Mrs Ariadne Oliver. There was going to be a “murdered victim” in a secluded place and those participating in the hunt were to find this “victim” based on the clues provided. Mrs Oliver felt uneasy based on her intuition that something sinister was going to happen. She could not put a handle to it and she asked her friend Hercule Poirot to come and assist her.
Indeed Mrs Oliver’s hunch came true. Someone died during the day of the fete. The question was why would an unrelated person to the Stubbs’ household was killed in the manner that resemble the murder hunt game.
Suspicions were thrown at several people in the murder crime. At the end, the police could not bring evidence to capture the murderer. It was then left to the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot to crack this case. This did not happen until the last two chapters of the book. The case was so clear and so obvious once Hercule Poirot explained how and why the murder(s) took place. It was convincing and I wondered why I could not guess it. It was because the missing information was only revealed towards the end of the book. Still it is an ingenious story line.
Copyright © 2018, limkimtong for Living Investment
