Poirot has a poetic, romantic side to his persona - a part of him wants to believe

RACHAEL DAVIS HEARS FROM DIRECTOR AND STAR SIR KENNETH BRANAGH, AND AGATHA CHRISTIE'S GREAT-GRANDSON, ABOUT THEIR SPOOKY NEW THRILLER A HAUNTING IN VENICE

OF ALL the places to choose for a self-imposed exile, Venice is perhaps the most beautiful option.

Sun-soaked days, gorgeous architecture, charming gondola rides... it's no surprise the famous detective, Hercule Poirot, has chosen the Italian city for his retirement.

When we meet the celebrated sleuth in A Haunting In Venice - the third Poirot film directed by, and starring, Sir Kenneth Branagh - it is Halloween. But the world, quivering in the wake of the Second World War, has seen quite enough horror.

Poirot, too, has seen enough. His career has been dedicated to weeding out the worst of humanity by solving crimes and investigating mysteries, and the terror of war and genocide has led him to give up on detecting once and for all, spending his time doing all he can to avoid thinking about crime.

But when he receives a visit from an old friend, top mystery writer Ariadne Oliver, played by Tina Fey, Poirot finds himself investigating once again though Ariadne insists it's not a crime, rather a séance in a haunted Venetian palazzo that she's trying to prove isn't real.

When one of the guests at the séance is murdered, the moustachioed detective is plunged back into a world of sinister secrets and sleuthing, this time with a supernatural edge.

Based on Christie's 1969 novel Hallowe'en Party, A Haunting In Venice adds a thrilling twist to the mystery stories Poirot fans know and love, and shows a new side to the detective.

"Our goal was always to try and produce that sort of knot-in-the stomach, edge-of-your-seat experience for audiences," says Sir Kenneth, 62, speaking before the Sag-Aftra (Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) strike action.

"We wanted to take them to Venice and give them that vicarious thrill of being in this really quite beautiful, labyrinthine, electrifying city."