Easy Evil Under the Sun (1941) Trivia Quiz | Evil Under the Sun

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The Belgian detective who solves the crime with his little grey cells; he is on holiday but even at this beautiful island resort, he finds evil under the sun.

Answer: Hercule Poirot

The novel opens with a short history of the Jolly Roger Hotel on Smugglers' Island at Leathercombe Bay, followed by a brief description of one of the guests, Hercule Poirot, "resplendent in a white duck suit, with a panama hat tilted over his eyes, (and) his moustaches magnificently befurled". He has come for a quiet holiday but this is interrupted by murder.

2. The victim; she was very beautiful and glamorous, previously an actress on stage. Poirot accurately assessed her as "the type of woman whom men care for easily and of whom they as easily tire". Other characters were not so kind, describing her as a vamp, a gold‐digger, a parasite and a man‐eater.

Answer: Arlena Stuart Marshall

Arlena Stuart was born as Helen Stuart. Arlena Stuart was her professional name as an actress. She was also known as Arlena Marshall, wife of Captain Kenneth Marshall. They had been married for four years but this did not stop her flirting, and possibly having affairs, with other men. Arlena had no time for friendships with women and other women universally disliked her because of her behaviour. Little wonder that she was murdered.

3. A clergyman from London; he was a fanatic on the subject of the Devil and saw evil all around him, particularly in the form of Arlena Stuart.

Answer: Reverend Stephen Lane

The Reverend Stephen Lane was quite vocal on the subject of evil. When the police investigated his background, they discovered that he was a "bona fide" clergyman but that he had resigned his position on the grounds of mental ill-health. He subsequently spent over a year in a nursing home for mental patients because of "an obsession about the devil-especially the devil in the guise of a woman-scarlet woman-whore of Babylon".

This, coupled with the fact that he had been in the vicinity of two previous murders, made him a prime suspect in the eyes of the police.

4. A spinster with a deep manly voice who is described as a tough athletic woman with grizzled hair and a pleasant weather‐beaten face; she and Patrick discover the body.

Answer: Emily Brewster

Emily Brewster made it clear to the police that she did not care for Arlena Stuart and stated that Arlena herself was the best clue to her own murder.

Emily was never seriously considered as a suspect because Poirot himself was able to give her an alibi for the time of the murder. Inspector Colgate mused that "It's a pity in a way that she's got a cast‐iron alibi for the whole morning. Did you notice her hands, sir? As big as a man's. And she's a hefty woman-as strong and stronger than many a man, I'd say...'

Although there were a number of women who had a strong motive, the police were focusing on male suspects because Arlena was strangled: "...she was strangled by a man. Big hands-powerful grip. It's just possible, of course, that an unusually athletic woman might have done it-but it's damned unlikely".

5. Husband of Arlena; he was aware of her flighty nature but defended her when she was criticised by others. He told Rosamund that he would not consider a divorce - he believed in "till death us do part".

Answer: Captain Kenneth Marshall

Rosamund tried to persuade Kenneth that he should divorce Arlena. Kenneth rejected the idea, stating that "Dash it all, there's got to be such a thing as good faith. If you marry a woman and engage yourself to look after her, well it's up to you to do it. It's your show. You've taken it on. I'm sick of quick marriage and easy divorce. Arlena's my wife, that's all there is to it."

Naturally the police suspected the husband but Kenneth had an alibi which was corroborated by Rosamund.

6. Stepdaughter of Arlena Marshall; she was an unhappy and awkward teenage girl who hated her stepmother and wished her dead.

Answer: Linda Marshall

Linda's mother died when she was born. She hated her stepmother, Arlena, and Rosamund tried to persuade Kenneth Marshall that Arlena was "not good" for Linda.

Linda borrowed a library book ("A History of Witchcraft, Sorcery and of the Compounding of Untraceable Poisons"), made a wax doll representing her stepmother, and stuck pins in it. When Arlena died that very day, Linda was riddled with guilt and thought she had caused Arlena's death by magic.

7. One of London's best-known dressmakers and childhood friend of Kenneth Marshall; she provided him with an alibi for Arlena's murder.

Answer: Rosamund Darnley

Rosamund thought Kenneth was a fool to stand by his wife, Arlena, and tried to persuade him to divorce her. Like Emily Brewster, she told Poirot that the clue was in Arlena's past.

8. A married man whose close "friendship" with Arlena Stuart caused great distress to his wife; he was seemingly oblivious to his wife's feelings or the disapproval of the other guests.

Answer: Patrick Redfern

Most of the guests believed that Arlena was a man-eater who pursued Patrick and that Patrick was a weak and foolish man but Poirot did not agree. He saw through Patrick and believed that Patrick was an "adventurer who makes his living, one way or another, out of women". He felt that it was Patrick who was trying to take advantage of Arlena, not the other way round.

9. A school-teacher and neglected wife described as "anaemic-looking"; the other guests felt sorry for her because her husband was so attentive to Arlena Stuart.

Answer: Christine Redfern

When prodded by the police, Christine gave her true opinion of Arlena Stuart: "She's the kind of woman that to my mind is absolutely worthless! She did nothing to justify her existence. She had no mind-no brains. She thought of nothing but men and clothes and admiration. Useless, a parasite! She was attractive to men, I suppose-Oh, of course, she was. And she lived for that kind of life. And so, I suppose, I wasn't really surprised at her coming to a sticky end".

Christine Redfern also told the police that she overheard a conversation between Arlena Stuart and an unknown man and it was clear that Arlena was being blackmailed.

10. An extremely talkative American tourist from New York who spent most of her time knitting and "people-watching".

Answer: Mrs Carrie Gardener

Mrs Carrie Gardener liked to talk and most of her conversations ended with seeking confirmation from her husband, Odell. His usual response was simply "Yes, darling".

Through Mrs Gardener, reference is made to another Agatha Christie novel, "Death on the Nile". Mrs Gardener tells Poirot: "You see, M. Poirot, I'd heard a lot about you from Cornelia Robson who was. Mr Gardener and I were at Badenhof in May. And of course Cornelia told us all about that business in Egypt when Linnet Ridgeway was killed. She said you were wonderful and I've always been simply crazy to meet you, haven't I, Odell?" (Which earned the inevitable response "Yes, darling").

Source: Author MotherGoose

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Questions		Choices
1. The Belgian detective who solves the crime with his little grey cells; he is on holiday but even at this beautiful island resort, he finds evil under the sun.		Mrs Carrie Gardener
2. The victim; she was very beautiful and glamorous, previously an actress on stage. Poirot accurately assessed her as "the type of woman whom men care for easily and of whom they as easily tire". Other characters were not so kind, describing her as a vamp, a gold‐digger, a parasite and a man‐eater.		Christine Redfern
3. A clergyman from London; he was a fanatic on the subject of the Devil and saw evil all around him, particularly in the form of Arlena Stuart.		Patrick Redfern
4. A spinster with a deep manly voice who is described as a tough athletic woman with grizzled hair and a pleasant weather‐beaten face; she and Patrick discover the body.		Linda Marshall
5. Husband of Arlena; he was aware of her flighty nature but defended her when she was criticised by others. He told Rosamund that he would not consider a divorce - he believed in "till death us do part".		Emily Brewster
6. Stepdaughter of Arlena Marshall; she was an unhappy and awkward teenage girl who hated her stepmother and wished her dead.		Rosamund Darnley
7. One of London's best-known dressmakers and childhood friend of Kenneth Marshall; she provided him with an alibi for Arlena's murder.		Reverend Stephen Lane
8. A married man whose close "friendship" with Arlena Stuart caused great distress to his wife; he was seemingly oblivious to his wife's feelings or the disapproval of the other guests.		Hercule Poirot
9. A school-teacher and neglected wife described as "anaemic-looking"; the other guests felt sorry for her because her husband was so attentive to Arlena Stuart.		Captain Kenneth Marshall
10. An extremely talkative American tourist from New York who spent most of her time knitting and "people-watching".		Arlena Stuart Marshall

Evil Under the Sun (1941) Trivia Quiz

Match the major characters in this novel with their description. (NO SPOILERS)