Tangled Web UK Review February 1999
Why Didn't They Ask Evans? by
Agatha Christie
pbk out December 01
(HarperCollins)
at £5.99
The riddle of why Evans wasn't asked, what Evans might have been asked, and
indeed who Evans was, has entertained a legion of readers for 65 years.
This non-series mystery features Bobby Jones, a vicar's son, and his friend
Frankie - alias Lady Frances Derwent - and is thoroughly entertaining.
Bobby's game of golf is interrrupted when he discovers the body of a dying
stranger, whose last words pose the titular question. The dead man has
evidently fallen from a cliff and an inquest records a verdict of
accidental death, but Frankie speculates that he may in fact have been
pushed: "it would make it much more exciting, wouldn't it?" The couple's
yearning for adventure soon leads them into becoming mixed up with a
murderous conspiracy.
This is thoroughly agreeable fare. Christie's sense of humour, so often
under-estimated, is much in evidence yet never heavy-handed. The
explanation for the conundrum is wonderfully satisfying; one can see why
the book's alternative title is "The Boomerang Clue". It is a matter for
regret that, having solved the problem and seen justice done (or, at least,
partly done), Bobby and Frankie emigrated to Kenya and failed to reappear
in Christie's later work.
(
Martin Edwards
- author of the highly acclaimed Harry Devlin Mysteries)
New Books by Agatha Christie at Amazon.co.uk
Secondhand and Out of Print Books by Agatha Christie at Alibris.com
