However, during the murder investigation that follows, Poirot keeps coming back to that first gut impression of something artificial and staged. Several other people hover around in pretend shock… or so Poirot thinks, until it dawns on him that the red paint is real blood and the man in front of him is really dying. Upon arriving, he’s very much irritated by the cheap melodramatic scene clearly staged for his benefit: a man lying at the edge of the pool, dripping red paint into the water, while a woman stands over him with a gun in her hand. Hercule Poirot is invited by the eccentric Lady Angkatell to spend a weekend at her country estate, The Hollow. Recommend, but with that observation about it.The Hollow may not be one of Christie’s most ingenious and inventive mysteries, but it stands out as one of her more unusual crime novels, where the crime itself is a distant second to the character study. Christie is always good, but this is one of the weaker ones, in my opinion. He does figure it out, but the style is just so different, I felt some disappointment to miss the usual presentation. But this never turns out to be one of his classic mysteries, where he lines everyone up at the end, and reveals the murderer. Poirot happens to be visiting for lunch on the day of the murder, and arrives just seconds after it has occurred, and becomes involved for that reason. There are a lot of interactions between the characters, even (unusually) a fair amount of internal, private thoughts for some of them. There are a few other people: Midge, a cousin, Edward a son, David-who considers them all snobs, Henrietta, a sculptress, and a movie star who appears into the doctor's life after many years, and a couple of loyal servants.
John Christow is doctor who brings his wife Gerta to a weekend party at the Angkatell's house. He has taken a summer place near two houses where the main characters are staying. His role is very slight, and the book could easily have been written without him. This is one of Agatha Christie's books that features Hercule Poirot. Hugh Fraser excellent narrator for Agatha Christie
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