That Hercule Poirot is one clever chap. Crime after crime, the great Belgian detective steps forward, and with a twirl of his famous moustache, puts the clues together, solves the mystery, and saves the day. And Agatha’s ability to have her famous character reach his conclusion on the last page is both impressive and an artform. And yes, Agatha, you had me thinking once again that it was the butler, when in fact it was the……

I do admire the great Poirot, and I do think that he would make short work of that crime scene of the empty tomb, with its vacated funeral bier, folded facecloth and strips of linen. But I do wonder how he would go with the Great Mystery, whose first clue is laid down in the Book this way: ‘So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you …. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”’

Well, well! That’s enough to twist your moustache right off! What a murder mystery. A double murder? A serpent cursed and doomed to have his head crushed by a descendant of the woman. A viscous wound inflicted on the heel of the slayer. I’m not sure that Poirot could have solved it. But a little child could. And anyone for that matter who knows the Christmas story and Easter glory.