Why Didn't They Ask Evans? - Agatha Christie
First published 1934.
I hunted out this book when I heard that Hugh Laurie had made a miniseries based on it. It is classic Agatha Christie in that it has a twisty mystery plot, and a little different in that it has a little more humour than most of her books, and also in that the protagonists are two very amateur youngish sleuths who are investigating mostly out of boredom, rather than being one of Christie's more established sleuths.
Bobby is the first character to get involved in the mystery. He is the fourth son of a vicar, is fairly absent-minded and clumsy, and when playing golf (badly), comes across an almost-dead man who, presumably, has fallen off a bluff and is now near death. The man utters his final words, the mysterious phrase "Why didn't they ask Evans?", before dying in front of Bobby. There seems to be nothing suspicious about the death, and this leads to the first part of the plot meandering quite a bit, with Bobby and his friend Lady Frances Derwent (Frankie) only realising something is afoot when Bobby survives a poisoning attempt, and then when Bobby learns a piece of evidence found on the body had been altered after he had left the scene.
Frankie is the more impulsive of the two, and develops a convoluted scenario that will enable her to gain the trust of their prime suspects and, hopefully, learn what is going on. And then, of course, the plot takes off and many twists and turns abound.
There are occasional moments in Evans that stretch the belief of the reader, but by the end the mystery is solved, the villains unmasked (with one villain even indulging in the traditional "I might as well tell you everything now" spiel) and Frankie and Bobby have declared their feelings for one another.
A slow beginning, but a fun diversion.
Completed 24 April 2022.
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