Dead Man's Folly
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Dead Man's Folly (Hercule Poirot #31)

3.71 of 5 stars 3.71  ·  rating details  ·  6,392 ratings  ·  248 reviews
Whilst organising a mock murder hunt for the village fete hosted by Sir George and Lady Stubbs, a feeling of dread settles on the famous crime novelist Adriane Oliver. Call it instinct, but it's a feeling she just can't explain...or get away from.

In desperation she summons her old friend, Hercule Poirot -- and her instincts are soon proved correct when the 'pretend' murder...more
ebook, 240 pages
Published July 5th 2005 by William Morrow Paperbacks (first published 1956)
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Lisa Kay
Greenway Boathouse, bought by Ms. Christie for £6,000 in 1932, was the setting for a murder in Dead Man's Folly.

★★★★☆ (This is a review of the audiobook.) What can I say about a talented actor such as David Suchet narrating a classic Agatha Christie mystery? The same actor who has not only won awards for his audiobook narrations, but actually played Dame Christie’s iconic fictional Belgian detective, Poirot? Only that he kicks this one up a notch - or a star, anyway.

If you haven’t listened to...more
Dislike. I found the explanation TOO outlandish to be considered convincing.
Convoluted tale of murder and mistaken identities at a magnificent mansion during a fete, filled with peculiar characters and interesting twists. A Girl Guide gets herself murdered in a boathouse where she’s supposed to be *pretending* to be a dead body for a peculiar game that starts out being partly “solve the mystery” and part treasure hunt, but soon escalates to something far more deadly.

Sharp characterizations and florid plotting make this fun even though it’s not one of her best - it’s ra...more
Laurel Young
Dead Man’s Folly is one of Agatha Christie’s jolliest stories, evidently one she had fun writing. It is set in a country fête held in the grounds of a large country house, so the cast of characters includes the whole span of village life from “Sir George”, through foreign hikers from the next-door hostel, to the locals being obligingly colourful. “Du ee want the ferry, sir?” There is, fortunately, a list of characters at the front of the book in case you get lost.

Christie fans will spot many of...more
Dead Man’s Folly I think I have read twice before – and have seen a TV adaptation too – so maybe it was no real surprise that I began to remember things after about 60 pages. It all remained very muddled in my head though and so I had to read on to see what I had remembered correctly.
In Dead Man’s Folly, Hercule Poirot is summoned to Devon by Ariadne Oliver – a character of Agatha Christie’s that is quite obviously a thinly disguised self-portrait. I’ve always really rather liked Ariadne Oliver...more
Dead Man's Folly is another mystery featuring the infamous Hercule Poirot but what makes this book different is that a murder has not been committed...yet. Adriane Oliver, the crime novelist, has been asked to help create a murder mystery game and calls Poirot to come assist her as she believes that a real crime is about to be committed. She gives Poirot little to go on though as all of her suspicions are based on a "feeling" that something is off. And then a murder does happen and of course Poi...more
The ‘folly’ of the title is actually an architectural term defined as “an eccentric, generally non-functional structure erected to enhance a romantic landscape.” Of course, the play on words using the more commonly understood meaning of the word is intentional. In this classic Christie, Adriadne Oliver arranges a mock Murder Hunt for charity and calls in her friend Hercule Poirot when a real body is discovered. Although this was published in 1956, it has the feel of one of Christie’s slightly ol...more
Sep 07, 2012 rabbitprincess rated it 2 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommended to rabbitprincess by: the David Suchet adaptation
Shelves: agatha-christie, 2012
* * 1/2

It's a village fête with a twist: instead of a treasure hunt, noted mystery novelist Ariadne Oliver has been tasked with devising a "Murder Hunt". Sounds like a lot of fun! However, Mrs. Oliver is concerned. She has a strange feeling that things could go wrong. So she calls in Hercule Poirot, on the pretence of being the prize-giver for the Murder Hunt, but unfortunately he is too late to prevent a real murder…

This will be one of the final novels adapted for Agatha Christie's Poirot, and...more
This was an easy book to listen to. Author Ariadne Oliver helps set up a fete in which she has developed a skit which includes finding someone murdered in the boathouse. There are lots of plot twists and all is not what it appears. Hercule Poirot has been invited to attend by Mrs. Oliver who felt that something was not quite right. Well guess what, a real dead body was found in the boathouse where the fake dead body was supposed to be, and the mistress of the house, Hattie Stubbs, goes missing o...more
Dead Man's Folly does not make my list of top 10 favorite Agatha Christie mysteries. The victim, to me is inconsequential and I simply didn't care whether she was throttled or not. The characters (suspects) are not as developed as in some of her other books like Death on the Nile and the ending, albeit satisfactory is abrupt. However, it is still a Christie mystery and it has twists and turns that will entertain most mystery-lovers. The clues are there for the sharp reader to pick up and sort, a...more
أمّجاد محمد
رائعة من روائع أجاثا، مبهرة حد البكاء
بقدر الشهقه التي أطلقتها في الممر اليوم عند إكتشافي للحقائق،
بقدر الإدمان الذي زاد عشقي لكتابات أجاثا ذلك الإدمان الذي جعلني لا أنام حتى أكملها،
ولا أركز بالمحاضرات حتى أتعرف لتسلسل الأحداث،

سيد بوارو يا مبهر يا فذ يا عبقرينا الصغير
سيدة ستبيس ومارلين والسيد صاحب الميناء العجوز
ضحايا أنتم لهذا العالم الشرير تماماً كما قالت
السيد فوليا " العالم مليئ بالشر والأشرار"

السيدة أوليفر تتحدثين بسرعة لا أحد يفهمك تشبهين احدهم كثيراً ذلك الذكاء وذاك الشعر المجعد، وسيل من...more
Dead Man's Folly is one of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot mysteries. It also features Ariadne Oliver and a Murder Hunt. As the story opens, Miss Lemon, Poirot's super-efficient secretary, has answered the telephone. It is Mrs. Oliver calling from Devonshire. She tells M. Poirot that she needs his assistance immediately. When he queries her, she says she can't go into details as the telephone is not private. She informs him that a car will meet him at the station and rings off without another c...more
A murder mystery role play (to put it in modern terms) turns into a real murder which for all practical purposes does not make any sense as the victim is a harmless girl.

I dare anybody to solve this one without waiting for Poirot to explain everything in the end of the book; all the clues are there, none of them is hidden. The plot is so complicated you will have my greatest respect if you do. I was lost somewhere in the middle of the book, until this time I was able to follow Poirot.

5 stars t...more
الرواية حقا ذكية
ربما تكون بعض الشيء مملة بالبداية
خصوصا ان الأحداث المشوقة تبدأ بالفصل السابع
والكثير الكثير من التفاصيل الدقيقة التي لا تستطيع تفويت ايا منها

اجاثا كريستي هو اسم يلمع بين المؤلفين وعنوان للغموض والأثارة
اتذكر قراءتي لبعض القصص القصيرة الخاصة بها
والتي لم تعجبني ولم احببها بعد تلك القراءة
لكنني اندهشت بعد هذه الرواية
نهاية غير متوقعة مطلقا بل وتتمع بذكاء عالي ايضا
تحليل الجريمة كان ممتعا بشدة
Matteo Pellegrini

Organizzare un delitto! Questo è quanto spetta alla signora Ariadne Oliver, scrittrice di gialli. Un finto delitto; una specie di caccia all'assassino per sostituire l'ormai classica e noiosa caccia al tesoro. Una sagra campestre con qualcosa di nuovo. Un finto cadavere, dei finti indizi e un famosissimo investigatore a consegnare il premio al vincitore: Hercule Poirot. La giornata di festa ha inizio nel migliore dei modi, moltissima gente disposta a pagare per partecipare ai giochi o solamente

I love how you can never predict who the murderer is with these books. I tried to pay close attention and then bam! Stuff just comes out of nowhere and the reader is left thinking well okay I totally didn't see that coming. I also love how these books just transport you to a totally different time, post-war England. It's so interesting.
SOOOOOOO good! Agatha always comes through with flying colors...what a wonder! So nice to read a mystery that keeps you guessing. So many mysteries now-a-days rely on the characters to hold you because the mystery sure won't. Agatha is good for the soul!
A truly enjoyable read. Though not one of Christie's best, I still was very engrossed in the story and the ending caught me by surprise. I'm now left eagerly awaiting the next chance I'll have to read a book by Christie.
Karen Chow
I didn't like the reveal at the end. It was totally out of left field and uncharacteristic of Agatha. However, I really liked her portrayal of mystery writer Ariadne Oliver; perhaps it was a little salute to herself?
Agatha Christie's mysteries have been a delight to me from the time that I first began reading adult books. And The guy who plays Poirot on PBS (David Souchet?) reads this so well.
I am rather fond of Adriane Oliver and like all the Hercule Poirot's that partially star her. This plot actually had obvious flaws, but I still enjoyed it.
Daisy Madder
Not one of her best. The point of Christie is to be able to look back (or even re-read) and see the clues hidden in plain sight, the solution that was there all along, if only you'd seen it. With this one, there just didn't seem to be many clues, and far too much time wasted on Poirot and the police wandering around thinking how baffled they are. And the denouement, when it arrives, wraps the whole thing up too quickly, as if she realised her plot didn't make sense. On the plus side, it does fea...more

During a game of Murder Hunt at a fete, the supposedly fake murder victim turns out to really dead! And no one knows who the killer is and why the simple, ordinary girl is murdered. Even Hercule Poirot is defeated by the murderer at first, and he has to give up and return to London. It takes another death to get him to finally put all the clues together and solve the case.

This is such a convoluted tale of murders, mistaken identities and plot twists; I pity the detectives who have to work on thi...more
A murder mystery game, with Poirot and Ariadne Oliver! Dead Man's Folly had all the makings of a fantastic Agatha Christie novel. Unfortunately, while the story was very well done, the mystery itself left much to be desired.

I enjoy the mysteries that showcase Ariadne Oliver. I love the character, who seems very much to be a caricature of Agatha Christie herself. Her calling for Poirot to help her prevent a murder that hasn't happened yet set the stage for a wealth of possibilities. And Dead Man'...more
An Odd1
"Dead Man's Folly" by Agatha Christie is an architectural frivolity, built by new owner Sir (by name, not title p47) George Stubbs, in a seemingly purposeless location(view spoiler). Hercule Poirot "magnificently mustachioed Belgian detective summoned to Devon" (cast list preface pg) by friend mystery writer Ariadne Oliver, suspicious that the manor summer fête clue hunt game will come true. Marlene Tucker, sniffling Girl Guide, is strang...more
A história começa com uma ligação. Hercule Poirot, o detetive belga, é chamado pela famosa escritora Ariadne Oliver, para fazer uma viagem até a cidade de Nassecombe.
O motivo da visita de Hercule Poirot é que na Nasse House está sendo organizada uma quermesse, e uma caça ao tesouro - ou melhor, ao assassino/vítima/motivo. Sua missão é entregar as prendas aos vitoriosos.
Ariadne foi requisitada para montar esse caça ao tesouro, e tem fortes suspeitas de que a vítima realmente será assassinada, poi...more

I returned to Agatha Christie, having not read her for about 30 years. It was a book club choice by a member who has recently visited Agatha's Devon country home, Greenway, where much of the action takes place.

I like the idea of a story within a story, ie, the Murder Hunt at a country fete, where an actual murder takes place in the same style as in the clues of the Murder Hunt, HOWEVER, the identity of the murderer was revealed right at the very beginning of the book, when the devi...more
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“I mean, what can you say about how you write your books? What I mean is, first you've got to think of something, and then when you've thought of it you've got to force yourself to sit down and write it. That's all." ~ Mrs. Oliver” 7 likes
“I have always noticed that these artists and writers are very unbalanced” 4 likes
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