User Reviews

Tommy and Tuppence receive a visit from Lois Hargreaves, a young woman who received a box of chocolates in the post, which are laced with arsenic, but only a small amount, designed to cause illness not death, others in the House are also affected.

It's perhaps my favourite story, I really like the plot and the ideas. The result here is a bit of a mixed bag, I understand they were attempting a certain feel and style, but some of the acting is way over the top. Annis and Warwick are as ever a delight, Joan Sanderson is also rather good, and looks suitably sinister. I adore Liz Smith, but this isn't one of her best outings, Lynsey Baxter is too over the top as Lois.

It feels a bit clunky, lacking the whimsical sparkle of other episodes. It's a bit melodramatic, and the ending isn't well executed, but the unveiling is a surprise at least.

6/10

Francesca Annis, very good and beautiful actress, I was in love with her after I've seen her in "The Walking Stick" and "Coming Out of the Ice". Here she is very good too, a role fit for an intelligent woman.

Episode aired Oct 30, 1983

Death is like a box of chocolates

Agatha Christie's "The House of Lurking Death" was adapted by Jonathan Hales.

Lois Hargreaves (Lynsey Baxter) receives a box of chocolates. She naturally shares them with others later to find that the chocolates were laced with poison. Not enough to kill but to make everyone sick. Being private and figuring that the anonymous chocolates came from someone in that very house. Mary contacts Mr. Blunt (James Warwick) and Miss Robinson (Francesca Annis) of the International Detective Agency.

Naturally, as with their first two episodes or movies, Tommy and Tuppence are both wise beyond their time and do some of the dumbest things that lead them to the solution of the problem. Will they be there in time to save Mary or if not, will they be able to figure out who and how it was done. More important why.

As with most of the Partners in Crime series we are far ahead of them on the whom. The fun is to watch them figure out not only the why but the other details. This story is a period piece of just after The Great War.

Lois Hargreaves consults Tommy and Tuppence as she believes that her family suffered from arsenic poisoning from a box of chocolates. Tommy does not take it too seriously. He thinks that the poison was mild and that a family member would had been involved.

However later on, there has been another poisoning in the household with fatal results.

Tommy and Tuppence are determined to find the killer. Finding a castor oil plant in the house is an important clue.

I did find some of the acting was a bit starchy, even bordering on the hammy at times. The ending was a bit histrionic and also spoilt by some bad special effects.

I did enjoy the mystery when it got going and I liked how clues were planted here and there.

James Warwick and Francesca Annis do make a good team, Annis looks simply divine.