The Greenway Literary Festival trip

June 4 saw the tenth anniversary of the National Trust coming into possession of Greenway House, the house in south Devon which was the home of Agatha Christie and her family from the late 30s onwards. When I was invited to take part in a literary festival there, and to talk about crime fiction on the anniversary date, I was delighted, and the pleasure was doubled when I was offered the opportunity to stay overnight in Greenway itself. No Christie fan would think twice about accepting, and I certainly didn't hesitate to say yes.

I first visited Greenway back in 1990, when Rosalind Hicks, Agatha's daughter, hosted a small visiting party of crime writers at the time of her mother's centenary. I returned many years later in the company of John Curran, but this time I had the wonderful experience of roaming the lovely grounds when all the crowds had gone on a delightful June evening as well as of staying in the house. The National Trust people looked after us very well, I must say. It was truly memorable and I acquired a couple of Greenway plants for my garden as souvenirs...

After I'd given my talk the following morning, we headed off on the ferry to Dartmouth, along the river Dart, and then did the short hop across to Dittisham and back (I now know where Agatha found the name for Lady Dittisham, of Five Little Pigs....) Because south Devon is a very long way from Cheshire, I decided to turn the trip into a tour of the south west. It seems to me to make sense, whenever possible, to turn event appearances into touring experiences, a chance to see a different part of the world as well as to meet crime fans. And it makes one feel better when sitting in endless traffic on the motorway when finally heading back home...

We had the chance to catch up with some friends who now live in the delightful cathedral city of Wells, and also stayed for a night in the resort of Paignton. The prospect of a return journey on the steam train that runs from Paignton to Kingswear, across the water from Dartmouth, which passes by Greenway, proved irresistible. I suspect the train was the original of the train which provides a clue in Taken at the Flood. A visit to Brixham, which I last saw as a child, surprised me: I had no idea it was a place of such historical importance. And it's very pretty too. Nearby Churston Manor, which proved to be an atmospheric lunch venue, is in the village of Churston, which features in The ABC Murders.

Among other highlights in Somerset were a climb up to the top of Glastonbury Tor, a trip around Glastonbury Abbey (said to be the burial place of King Arthur, among much else), and a visit to Bath, a city I've long been fond of, as well as to Totnes and Dartmouth (the original of Kate Ellis' Tradmouth) in Devon. All in all, a terrific experience. I just need to get a bit of writing done before I set off again...

David Suchet and Poirot

ITV 3 repeated a documentary from 2005 the other day, which took us ‘behind the scenes’ with a year of Poirot stories for the small screen. I found it interesting, and a reminder of what a fine actor David Suchet is, and of how completely he has made the role of the Belgiam supersleuth his own.

There were clips from four episodes. One (The Mystery of the Blue Train) was based on a mediocre book, but the other three stories – Cards on the Table, After the Funeral, and Taken at the Flood, all boast high calibre plotting. But as one of the galaxy of talent in the various casts said, you can’t spot the murderer by figuring out who is the most famous star in the show, ‘because everyone is famous’!

Whenever I’ve seen Suchet interviewed, he comes across as a charming and modest man (the same seems to be true of his brother John, who was an affable news reader for many years.). It’s clear that he is a perfectionist, and that his attention to detail has helped to bring out the human side of Poirot. I think that, in original concept, he was something of a cipher, a great reasoning machine, with a personality that was largely composed of a collection of eccentric mannerisms. But out of Agatha Christie’s raw material, Suchet has fashioned a very appealing character. Among classic tv interpretations of detectives from novels, he is right up there with John Thaw’s Morse and Joan Hickson’s Jane Marple.

To my mind, Suchet is a better Poirot than Peter Ustinov, and far better than Albert Finney. One Poirot I haven’t seen is Tony Randall, who played the part in The Alphabet Murders, based on The ABC Murders. This is apparently a case of a very fine book and a rotten film adaptation, but I’ve always wanted to see it, to check whether the universally scornful reviews are justified, and just what the screenwriter did to mess up such a good story. But the film is unavailable on DVD and I’ve never seen it on telly. Maybe that speaks volumes?