Dead Man’s Folly by Agatha Christie. Short summary

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Poirot arrives at the estate of Sir George Stubbs at the request of the writer Ariadne Oliver. The woman suspects that a murder will take place at the village fete.

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A novel in the Hercule Poirot series. The famous writer Ariadne Oliver turned to Poirot for help. In the village where the estate of Sir George Stubbs is located, there is to be a feast and a «game of murder.» But Ariadne suspects that there may be a real crime. Mrs. Oliver turns out to be right—a local girl named Marlene Tucker, who played the role of the victim, is strangled.

Mrs. Oliver thinks that Marlene may have known someone’s secret. In addition, Lady Stubbs is missing somewhere, and her husband is concerned about her absence. Lady Stubbs’s hat is found in the river, and the police continue their search. Soon an old boatman is found drowned — he got drunk and fell into the river. Poirot discovers that the boatman is the grandfather of the murdered girl.

In the finale, Poirot tells the police who the murderer is and where Lady Stubbs’ body is hidden. The murderer turns out to be Mr. George Stubbs, who turns out to be the deserted son of Amy Folliat. He had cheated his wife of her fortune and killed her. George-James disposed of the old boatman and his granddaughter as witnesses.