Burgh Island, which inspired some of Agatha Christie's murder mysteries, is 250m (820 ft) from the beach.

BBC: Devon film-set beach due to be auctioned

She tells me that at 65 years old she had hoped to start her retirement re-watching Midsomer Murders and Poirot, the British murder mysteries she loves, but the cause is too important.

BBC: Obama keeps eye on Ohio ground game

The founder of a company producing features for cable television stations, who is obsessed with film noir -- murder mysteries shot in black and white "with warped gangsters and neurotic heroes and dangerous women, shiny wet streets and big black cars with their headlights on" -- has disappeared.

FORBES: Fact and Comment