Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings are invited to a country inn by landlord Samuel Naughton (played by Desmond Barrit) who also writes murder mysteries under a pseudonym. Poirot is furious to discover that he had invited him along to provide the solution for his latest novel as opposed to solving a real crime. However, before long the detective has a suspicious death to look into, that of businessman Jonathan Maltravers (played by Ian McCulloch) who lived at Marsdon Manor with his young wife Susan (played by Geraldine Alexander). She says she has been haunted by a malevolent spirit, supposedly that of a young woman who had climbed to the top of the large oak tree in the garden and committed suicide by throwing herself off centuries before. She believes that her husband died from the shock of encountering it since his body was found at the foot of the tree. Poirot soon discovers that Maltravers was murdered and Chief Inspector Japp's enquiries reveal that he was on the verge of bankruptcy, but carried a large life insurance policy for £50,000. Susan narrowly escapes death after someone fills her gas mask with chloroform at the local Civil Defence meeting. Captain Black (played by Neil Duncan), a friend of the Maltravers family, and who is in love with Susan, had recently returned from Kenya when he gave her an occult woodcarving as a gift is initially the chief suspect since he cannot fully account for his movements at the time of the murder and tried to flee when Susan collapsed at the Civil Defence meeting. A page from an old newspaper, a painting of the garden that Susan was working on at the time of the murder and some broken birds' eggs provide the detective with crucial clues as to how the murder was committed and by whom.
An admirably eerie mystery due to a combination of attractive set work, locations chosen for their gothic effect, atmospheric photography and mood music. Acting is of a very high standard throughout with Geraldine Alexander and Neil Duncan being of particular note. Desmond Barrit is also good as the innkeeper-part-time mystery writer who initially annoys Poirot for calling him down to help him get over his writer's block by providing the denouement to his latest book. Yet, in the end, Poirot does and asks him to perform a trick in return to frighten the murderer into confessing his or her crimes. He is overjoyed saying that it will be something to tell his grandchildren about how he helped the celebrated sleuth solve a genuine murder mystery. There is also some great comedy relief between Suchet's Poirot and Hugh Fraser and Philip Jackson as Hastings and Japp who all offer their usual fine performances. They visit a wax museum where Poirot tries to draw Hastings and Japp's attention to a figurine of himself, but they deliberately pretend not to have noticed it by looking at the one of Charlie Chaplin instead. The assured direction is by Renny Rye who made several films for this series.
An admirably eerie mystery due to a combination of attractive set work, locations chosen for their gothic effect, atmospheric photography and mood music. Acting is of a very high standard throughout with Geraldine Alexander and Neil Duncan being of particular note. Desmond Barrit is also good as the innkeeper-part-time mystery writer who initially annoys Poirot for calling him down to help him get over his writer's block by providing the denouement to his latest book. Yet, in the end, Poirot does and asks him to perform a trick in return to frighten the murderer into confessing his or her crimes. He is overjoyed saying that it will be something to tell his grandchildren about how he helped the celebrated sleuth solve a genuine murder mystery. There is also some great comedy relief between Suchet's Poirot and Hugh Fraser and Philip Jackson as Hastings and Japp who all offer their usual fine performances. They visit a wax museum where Poirot tries to draw Hastings and Japp's attention to a figurine of himself, but they deliberately pretend not to have noticed it by looking at the one of Charlie Chaplin instead. The assured direction is by Renny Rye who made several films for this series.