Agatha Christie's Devon: Greenway to Burgh Island

In The A.B.C. Murders the third murder takes place in Churston, the 'C' of the title. The victim, Sir Carmichael Clarke, is a wealthy man from Churston, and like the other victims he has a copy of the A.B.C. Railway Guide left by his body. Churston sits two miles from Agatha Christie's own Greenway estate, and the station here is the stop before Greenway Halt on the Dartmouth Steam Railway.

訪問のヒント: Churston is a stop on the Dartmouth Steam Railway; check the heritage timetable before travelling.

Eight people are invited to a small, isolated island off the Devon coast, and are told that their hosts, Mr and Mrs U.N. Owen, have not yet arrived. Burgh Island is named as the inspiration for Soldier Island. It also gives Evil Under the Sun its setting, where Poirot takes a quiet holiday at a secluded hotel. The Art Deco hotel was a 1930s retreat for London's rich and famous, and a 2002 TV adaptation of Evil Under the Sun was filmed here.

場所の精度: Christie never names the island, and the novels transform it; the pin marks Burgh Island as the inspiration.

訪問のヒント: Burgh Island, where the hotel stands; check access before visiting.

Sixteen years after Caroline Crale was convicted of poisoning her husband Amyas, her daughter Carla asks Poirot to reinvestigate. The story leans on a real garden: the main house, the footpath to the battery overlooking the River Dart and the battery itself, where the murder occurs, are described in detail, and they match Christie's own Greenway.

場所の精度: The novel does not name Greenway; the pin marks the estate, not the battery itself.

Across the River Dart from Greenway lies the village of Dittisham, and in Towards Zero that river view matters: the estate's position opposite the village plays an important part in the alibi and in a nightly swim by one of the suspects. A ferry still carries pedestrians from Dittisham to Greenway Quay, next to the estate, which is the easiest way to see the same stretch of water.

場所の精度: The novel does not name Greenway; the pin marks Dittisham on the Dart opposite Greenway.

訪問のヒント: The Greenway Ferry runs from Dittisham to Greenway Quay; check seasonal times.

Ariadne Oliver invites Poirot to Nasse House, where she is staging a Murder Hunt at a summer fête. A Girl Guide, Marlene Tucker, waits in the boathouse to pose as the dead victim, and Greenway's real boat house is the spot where the first victim is discovered. The lodge is the home of Amy Folliat, the former owner of Nasse House. Greenway is now owned by the National Trust, and its house and gardens are open to the public.

場所の精度: Nasse House is fictional; the pin marks Greenway Estate, which shares the pin with the Five Little Pigs stop.

訪問のヒント: Greenway is a National Trust property; check opening times and booking before a visit.