I may well have read a Poirot short story without Hastings in it before, but if I have I don't recall it. In his place as sidekick is Miss Lemon, who is an unimaginative mechanical delight... I hope there are more stories with her in them. As for the mystery itself, it's clever and interesting and related to gardening and fish, which I enjoy. I also enjoy Poirot's immediate sympathy for the underdog, and how determined he is that she should be exonerated. He really is a very nosy little man, but that does work out well for Katrina here.