2015 Agatha Christie Festival: Day 3 - Poisons, Portraits & Prosecco

Torre Abbey

Day 3 (14/09/15)

Today started off with a really interesting talk by Kathryn Harkup: A is for Arsenic. Dr Kathryn Harkup is a research chemist and an avid Christie fan - which makes her the perfect person to write a book on the poisons Christie uses in her novels.

Kathryn gave a great analysis of the poisons used in Christie's novels, and described three in particular - Strychnine (The Mysterious Affair at Styles), Phosphorus (Dumb Witness) and Arsenic (Murder is Easy). All three used to be quite readily available - Strychnine was given as a medicine, Phosphorus was used on match heads and Arsenic was available over the counter in rat poison. There were some really interesting facts, apparently, in the olden days, people used to eat match heads as a form of suicide! We found out how to spot the various poisonings, how to slow down the effects and what the antidotes are. Kathryn even explained the dosage that was considered lethal. Luckily, nowadays, these poisons are not so readily available.

Following this excellent talk, I went to have a look at the Unfinished Portrait exhibition. The exhibition is on in Torre Abbey until 18 October, so there's plenty of time to see it. If you're an avid fan like me, then I would recommend going along. I've seen many photos of Agatha in her autobiography, books she's written, books about her and online but this exhibition gives you a insight into Agatha's personal life, including some of her personal photos in photo albums. Definitely worth a visit.

Sturdy Table, Torre Abbey

After the exhibition, I decided to go and have a look for some of the Sturdy Tables dotted around Torquay and I found three. The first one at Torre Abbey, in the Medieval Garden. I sat there for a while to listen to the wind blowing through the trees and smell the lavender as the bees buzzed busily by.

The second Sturdy table I found was in the Artizan Gallery - it was a lovely table, decorated with Agatha Christie book covers. There was also a matching lamp and wine bottle! The art gallery, also had a number of Agatha Christie based art - all done by local artists. It was a lovely little gallery.

I found my third and final Sturdy Table for today at Dot's Pantry on Union Street. The table was in the window so you could watch the world go by while enjoying a bit of cake. I decided to buy some cake to take out and took a piece back to my husband - he was a little concerned, considering I had just attended a talk on poisons and visited Torre Abbey and the poisons garden...! But don't worry, he's fine and well, no red berries, glowing icing or taste of almonds in sight!

What a better way to finish off the day than with a Murder Mystery! This event was not part of the official Agatha Christie Festival, but arranged by the Dartmouth Railway Company. It's a Murder Mystery on a train! We arrived at Paignton Station and were greeted with a glass of Prosecco. The characters came and mingled with us while we waited to board the train. Once we boarded the train, and settled in, we set off. The view was lovely, we went past Goodrington Sands and Broadsands. Then the food arrived while the characters acted around us. We made a 'unscheduled' stop at Churston Station where the actors left the train and acted out scenes on the platform. As soon as we arrived in Kingswear there was a scream! The butler had been found strangled. We were then given the opportunity to question three remaining suspects and then deliver our verdict. It was good fun!

Here are a few more photos from the day...

Sturdy Table, Artizan Gallery

Cakes, Dot's Pantry

2015 Agatha Christie Festival - Programme has been released!

Agatha Christie

The Agatha Christie Festival programme has been released! Good timing too - I'd just finished reminiscing about last year.

There's so much more to do this year, and each day has a particular theme - which is a great idea. The events all centre around this theme. There's a Mystery Film event, Murder Mystery Dinner, Afternoon Tea, Tea Dance, Garden Party, talks, walks, exhibitions and much, much more!! Every night there's also the opportunity to meet up with Agatha Christie fans at the Grand Hotel.

Greenway

So much to do - so little time!

I've been through all the events and booked us tickets. I've also booked us onto some events that aren't organised through the Agatha Christie Festival but that are going on in and around Torquay - such as the Murder Mystery Dining Train. I found these on the English Riviera site, by searching for events during the festival week. It's quite a good site and has lots of information about Agatha Christie and the Agatha Christie Mile and Literary Trail.

I've created a spreadsheet again with all the events we've booked so I can plan our time most effectively (I love spreadsheets)!

I was so excited about booking our tickets that I tweeted about it - I don't often tweet - but it was favourited by the official Agatha Christie Festival! How exciting :). I might have to tweet more often.

All that's left to do now is to work out what we're going to wear. I've already bought a flapper-type dress and have some costume-pearls. I'm still not sure how to do my hair. I've been looking on Pinterest for ideas. Not long now!!

Three months to go (and counting). So excited!!!

2014 Agatha Christie Festival: Part 6 - Murder Mystery Dinner Party

As with all good things, our week at the Agatha Christie Festival had to come to an end. But before it was over, we spent our last night doing a bit of sleuthing at a Murder Mystery dinner!!

The evening was hosted by The Man in the Brown Suit - a little reference there to one of Agatha Christie's books. In fact, there were quite a few references - apparently we couldn't ask Mrs McGinty any questions, because she was dead (Mrs McGinty's Dead), Miss Honeycott was carrying a copy of The Mystery of the Blue Train, on the front cover it mentioned The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Albert said there was a wasps nest in the potting shed (The Wasps Nest) and there was some discussion as to why nobody has asked Doris Evans (Why Didn't They Ask Evans?)!!

Our Host, The Man in the Brown Suit

Our host set the scene for us - it was 1930, we were dining in the private members club of the Sunningdale House Hotel where a Mr Anthony Shepherd had recently been found murdered. The police already had a suspect in custody - a Miss Doris Evans (his mistress). It was our job - along with the help of Tommy and Tuppence - to find who had really committed the crime!!


Tommy and Tuppence

We were given a list of suspects and there were a number of witnesses to question. They were dressed up and kept in character all the way through the evening. One thing we learnt was to get there early - the characters were there and you could mingle with them and ask questions before being seated. We found this out afterwards...

At first I found it a bit odd, asking them questions but we soon got into it. At the end of each round, Tommy and Tuppence summed up their findings, to make sure we were keeping up with the story. They also visited each table during question time to help and lead us in the right direction.

In between questioning, we had a three course meal - for once I didn't take any pictures of my food! We were too busy questioning the witnesses and making notes!!


We were also given the opportunity to send a telegram to Doris Evans, who was in prison. We were told that Mr Shepherd had been stabbed with a hatpin so I asked whether Doris ever wore hatpins. This is the reply I received....


A Telegram

Not so helpful! In hindsight, maybe I should have asked if she had lost one of her hatpins. There were other clues, all supposedly belonging to Mr Shepherd - an almost finished painting (which had some of the trees painted brown instead of green), a pair of walking boots and socks (with one red and one green sock) - all very odd because the victim was not colour blind. However, one of the suspects was!!

Clues!!

We had already worked out who the murderer was, but to be honest, it all seemed a bit familiar to me. I was sure I had read the story somewhere, but a long time ago. I only remembered things when they happened or when someone told us something useful. But it meant some of the more obscure clues made sense.

At the end of the night we had to write down who we thought the murderer was and why. I wrote an essay and included all the clues we had picked up along the way!! It was such good fun. And, we came second!

All too soon, it was time to go back to our apartment and finish packing, before we set off early the next morning back to Yorkshire. It was a really enjoyable week and we met lots of other Agatha Christie fans, from all over the world - Scotland, Belgium, Germany, America and even Australia! We're going back this year and have already booked an apartment. However, there's still no news on the programme :(. But it's been fun reminiscing about last year.

I've been re-reading all of Agatha Christie's books and I recently read The Sunningdale Mystery which is a Tommy and Tuppence story. And that's the one! It was the story that this Murder Mystery dinner was based on. I knew I'd read it somewhere before. I think I've also seen it on television.

Mystery solved....!