Is ‘The Hollow’ Hercule Poirot’s most twisted case yet? Find out when Agatha Christie’s ‘The Hollow’ comes to the Theatre Royal in Newcastle this November.

Hercule Poirot doesn’t really have quiet breaks. I mean, he tries to, but whenever he dons his metaphorical flip-flops, there’s always someone getting it in the neck (or the back). Anyway, this time he’s at an elegant country estate, and a glamorous circle of guests are having something of a knees-up one summer evening. But surfaces can be deceptive. For beneath all that bonhomie lies something darker. Old passions? Well, they just refuse to die – unlike the body that is soon discovered. It’s very much dead. What’s more, a smoking revolver is seen in an unsteady hand. The scene appears a little too neat, but this “straightforward” crime is anything but. ‘The Hollow’ stars Peter Polycarpou (Birds of a Feather, Evita, The Brutalist) as the ever-meticulous Belgian sleuth in one of Agatha Christie’s most compelling mysteries. DP

The Hollow, 10-14 November, Theatre Royal, Newcastle, 7.30pm (mats Wednesday & Thursday 2pm, and Saturday 2.30pm), from £19, theatreroyal.co.uk