The next day, Poirot is witness to a scene that seems strangely staged. John walks Veronica back to her cottage, and returns home at 3 am. Another cottage is occupied by Hercule Poirot, who has been invited for Sunday lunch. The beautiful Veronica Cray, an old flame of Christow's, suddenly appears in the house on Saturday night to borrow a box of matches. John Christow is carrying on an affair with Henrietta Savernake, a talented sculptor. The eccentric Lucy Angkatell has invited the Christows, along with other members of her extended family, to her estate for the weekend. Modern French novelist Michel Houellebecq, an admirer of the book, described it in his 2001 novel Platform as 'a strange, poignant book these are deep waters, with powerful undercurrents.'

In 2004, the novel was broadcast as a television movie featuring David Suchet as Poirot, Sarah Miles as Lady Angkatell, Megan Dodds as Henrietta Savernake, Jonathan Cake as John Christow, Lysette Anthony as Veronica Cray and Edward Fox as Gudgeon, as part of the series Agatha Christie's Poirot. His late arrival, jarring, given the established atmosphere, led Christie to claim in her Autobiography that she 'ruined by the introduction of Poirot'. Christie, who often admitted that she did not like Poirot (a fact parodied by her recurring novelist character Ariadne Oliver), particularly disliked his appearance in this novel. The novel is a fine example of a 'country house mystery' and was the first of her novels in four years to feature Christie's Belgian detective Hercule Poirot-one of the longest gaps in the entire series. The extracts from Tennyson’s poem give the story a more darker feel and it is from here that the title of the story is taken.The Hollow is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the United States by Dodd, Mead & co. His bafflement and the unease at the instinctual feel that something was wrong that comes with experience was very exciting to watch and his steps to reconstruct the events leading to the crime and the solution is just marvelous!Ĭhristie’s writing style is simple, engaging and she keeps ahead of the reader all through.

Although, the author felt like she had ruined the story by introducing Poirot, I feel the story became more appealing because of him. The plot is novel, ingenious and simply awesome. There are other characters of interest as well like Midge, another cousin of Lucy Angkatell Edward, a yet another cousin of Lucy Angkatell who has been in love with Henrietta for ever and been rejected several times by her David Ankatell, a cousin of Lucy who has come to The Hollow for the first time and is not liking it there and finally, Lord Angkatell, Lucy’s husband who is honorable, simple and often worried for his meddling wife.

The hollow agatha christie characters