The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor

David Renwick wrote the 'The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor' and adds his brand of humour rather well. Such as Poirot and Hastings arrive at a hotel hastily to meet a man who has an important case to solve. It turns out to be the hotel owner who has written a mystery book and has got writer's block regarding the denouement.

Pretty soon after stumbling on to his own waxwork model, Poirot comes across the death of the wealthy owner of Marsdon Manor, Jonathan Travers. He was recovering from an operation on his ulcer which seems to be the cause of his death.

Poirot suspects foul play, his younger wife, Susan believes supernatural elements are at work. That her husband died of fright. There is a mysterious traveller from Africa who checked in at the same hotel as Poirot who has swiftly disappeared.

This is a nifty mystery, well balanced with humour and Poirot always one step ahead. The reveal is a little difficult to buy but works well in context as you always suspect the culprit was someone closely tied to the victim.

There are Christie's works (essentially short stories) which deal with supernatural.Some of her best novels ,although "rational", have a "horror and fantasy " side: "And then there were none" "Peril at end house" "five little pigs" ....

"Tragedy at Mardson Manor" is a delight for Christie's fans :it features a good dose of humor (the innkeeper who calls Poirot cause there are murders in his village : actually he is writing a novel),a mansion which may be haunted ,a young woman in distress,and even a man who rises from the dead ,à la "les Diaboliques" .

Poirot(David Suchet) is in top form,his interpretation of the painting is brilliant.And last but not least ,in the wax museum ,when he hears his colleagues go into raptures over a statue,he is as vain as ever ...until he realizes they're speaking of Charlie Chaplin's one.

Like many of the Poirot episodes, this came from a short story, and the writers needed to invent a number of details in order to fill things out. In this case they chose to add details both spooky and silly. On the spooky side, the wife of the dead man seems to be obsessed with the ghosts that allegedly haunt the house. The atmosphere is made darker through the effective use of both the soundtrack and an especially sinister looking cedar tree. On the other hand, comic relief comes in by way of a local innkeeper who invites Poirot and Hastings to have a look at the mystery novel he's in the middle of writing. Add in a painting and a local wax museum (where a room with statues of Poirot and Charlie Chaplin provides an excellent backdrop for the amusing final moments of the episode) and you have all the elements of a charming case for our favorite detective to solve.

Poirot and Hastings visit the village of Marsden Leigh, at the request of the local hotel owner, Samuel Naughton. Poirot thinks he has been invited down to solve a crime but is disappointed to discover that Mr Naughton simply wants him to read the draft of his book, a murder novel. Poirot's disappointment is compounded when, out of boredom, he reads the book and discovers that the crime is unsolvable! Fortunately, or unfortunately, for Poirot an actual murder has just been committed, at nearby Marsdon Manor, and he police seek Poirot's assistance. The owner, Jonathan Maltravers, was found dead under a tree, a tree that is believed to be haunted, leading to the suspicion that he was frightened to death. Poirot immediately ascertains that foul play was involved, and calls in Chief Inspector Japp.

Quite intriguing, with a few good twists and turns. The ultimate clue is quite clever too. Not easy to tell for sure who the murderer is, though the suspect list is quite short.

Some good sub-plots too, in particular the crime novel/novelist and the wax museum.

The climax feels a bit contrived though, and takes some of the shine off the episode.

It's ok. None of them are bad but a few aren't very faithful adaptations. This is one of them. The plot lines and sub plots felt very contrived for TV. It didn't feel too much like Poirot or Christie.