Boredom is the enemy in this world. Style is everything — the weapon as well as a defense. Even when the mots are not especially fresh, they are delivered with the kind of elegance that only the rich, famous or heedless can affect with confidence. Come what may, everyone dresses for dinner at 8, including the gentleman whose beloved wife that morning was found on the beach in untimely death, strangled and, for good measure, bashed about the head. — Vincent Canby

If you like the sort of convoluted plot that is a hallmark of Agatha Christie‘s mysteries, you won’t be disappointed by Evil Under the Sun. The cast is uniformly excellent, especially Peter Ustinov, and the setting is delightful. — Barrie Maxwell