Dead Man's Folly
A Murder Hunt at a summer fête where the pretend victim is really dead.
Dead Man's Folly is a Hercule Poirot novel by Agatha Christie, first published in the US in October 1956 and in the UK on 5 November of the same year, featuring Poirot and Ariadne Oliver. Mrs Oliver invites Poirot to Nasse House in Devon, where she is staging a Murder Hunt as part of a summer fête.
Quick Facts
- Author
- Agatha Christie
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- Series
- Hercule Poirot
- Genre
- Crime novel
- Publisher
- Dodd, Mead and Company
- Released
- October 1956
- Format
- Print (hardback & paperback)
Lore & Background
Nasse House belongs to the wealthy Sir George Stubbs and his much younger wife, Hattie; it was sold by Amy Folliat, the last of the family that had owned it for centuries, who now rents the lodge. On the day of the fête, a local Girl Guide, Marlene Tucker, waits in the boathouse to play the dead victim - and Poirot and Mrs Oliver find her really dead. Hattie cannot be found.
Reader's Guide
In the dénouement Poirot explains that Sir George Stubbs is really Amy Folliat's younger son, James, a war deserter, whom she had paired with the wealthy Hattie without knowing that he had already married a young Italian woman. Dead Man's Folly was the last episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot to be filmed, in June 2013 on the Greenway Estate, Christie's home.
More in Cases & Stories
Elsewhere in Hercule Poirot
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced