text: Plot summary Hercule Poirot takes a quiet holiday at a secluded hotel in Devon. He finds that the other hotel guests include: Arlena Marshall, her husband Kenneth, and her step-daughter Linda; Horace Blatt; Major Barry, a retired officer; Rosamund Darnley, a former sweetheart of Kenneth; Patrick Redfern, and his wife Christine, a former teacher; Carrie Gardener, and her husband Odell; Reverend Stephen Lane; and Miss Emily Brewster, an athletic spinster. During the initial part of his stay, Poirot notes that Arlena is a flirtatious woman, who flirts with Patrick much to the fury of his wife, and that her step-daughter hates her. One morning, Arlena heads out for a secret rendezvous at Pixy Cove. By midday, she is found dead by Patrick and Brewster, who were rowing by. An examination by the local police surgeon reveals she had been strangled by a man.
  Both Poirot and the investigating officer, Inspector Colgate, interview the possible suspects about their movements during the morning – Kenneth had been in his room typing letters; the Gardeners had been with Poirot all morning; Rosamund had been reading above Pixy Cove; Blatt had gone sailing; Linda and Christine went to Gull Cove and didn't return until before midday; and both Lane and Major Barry were absent from the island. At noon, Christine, Rosamund, Kenneth and Odell all met to play tennis. Poirot learns that during the morning Brewster was nearly hit by a bottle thrown from one of the guest rooms, while the hotel chambermaid recalls hearing someone running a bath at noon. At a cave within Pixy Cove, Poirot notes the aroma of Arlena's perfume. Poirot later invites everyone to a picnic, at which he  secretly observes their behaviour and tests their reaction to heights. Following the picnic, Linda attempts suicide with Christine's sleeping pills. Poirot later discovers she felt guilt-ridden, assuming she killed her step-mother through voodoo.